World’s top ‘Couch Potato’ stares way to title

Suresh Joachim breaks Guinness record by watching TV for almost 70 hours

	Suresh Joachim did his TV viewing as part of the "Guinness World Record Breaker Week" on the syndicated "Live With Regis and Kelly" television show. He finished early Friday morning with 69 hours and 48 minutes. Regis and Kelly took a peek at Joachim during his pursuit.
Guinness World Records / AP

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updated 11:40 a.m. ET Sept. 16, 2005

NEW YORK - Couch potato, thy name is Suresh. Suresh Joachim broke the Guinness world record for the longest time spent watching TV. He finished Friday with 69 hours and 48 minutes.

After passing the previous record of 50 hours and 7 minutes Thursday, Joachim continued until shortly after 7 a.m. Friday morning (EDT).

Joachim did his TV viewing in the lobby of WABC-TV as part of the "Guinness World Record Breaker Week" on the syndicated "Live With Regis and Kelly."

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Sitting on a brown leather couch, he watched nothing but ABC shows.

"I'm going to be a little tired of watching TV after this," Joachim told The Associated Press by phone during a brief break.

Rules for the couch potato honor, as stipulated by Guinness, allow for a 5-minute break every hour and a 15-minute break every 8 hours. The viewer must otherwise be constantly looking at the screen.

The hardest part, Joachim said on "Regis and Kelly," was "I couldn't watch the people" — the many, waving passers-by on the street outside the ABC studio.

Joachim, who lives in Toronto but hails from Sri Lanka, now holds more than 16 Guinness records, including the longest duration balancing on one foot (76 hours, 40 minutes) and bowling for 100 hours. He does it, he says, to raise awareness of suffering children.