Technology

Just not feasible though. Smart TVs have everything in an integrated line, from the screen controller, down to the external ports. It's like saying "Hey, I just want to take the North Bridge out of my motherboard because I don't use the features". Not gonna happen.

Now, in an alternate universe, if somebody went down this route and made replacement parts to remove all the cruft, you'd essentially be buying an entire new TV. There is no cost savings there. Buy a monitor, and hook up whatever smart shit you want at that point.

We gotta get in there and disconnect the antennas

But I've heard of a few models that don't function at all until connected.... yikes

Why go through all that when you can just build a time machine and go back in time to be in the boardroom when someone presents the concept for a smart TV and then hide under the podium and tickle their genitals to distract them during the presentation and then spend the next 20 years in prison for sexual assault where none of the televisions have smart features?

Yeah, if you want to get fancy with your routing, you absolutely can.

I'm considering doing just that, having my TV and whatnot connect to a wireless SSID that only allows DNS to lookup certain streaming services. I'm not sure how difficult it'll be, but I'll probably play with it later this month.

The sensible approach is to get an Android TV device that you have more control over. You basically have the same freedom with it as with an Android phone or tablet. Plug it into the TV and use the TV only as a monitor/speaker.

Warning: Do not buy cheap Chinese off-brand Android TVs from drop-shipping hellholes like Amazon. These commonly come with malware from the factory. Invest in a quality device with the features that you need.

If you're on a budget, it's possible to make do with a Fire TV Stick, which are often on sale for next to nothing - just don't expect blistering performance or a good UI. They are still Android underneath that awful UI though. You have to fight Amazon's attempts at funneling you towards their own content, but it's doable.

If you want a device that you can easily use for a long time without having to worry about it getting obsolete, get an Nvidia Shield TV or Shield TV Pro. Pricey, but - in my eyes - worth it. At first glance, these may look like every other streaming box, but they justify their relatively high asking prices. For starters, the support for these devices is astonishing, with even the first generation from 2015 still receiving updates. While the current hardware generation is from 2019, it has features you can't get anywhere else, like for example real-time AI upscaling of low-res content in certain apps and (on the Pro model) the ability to serve as a media server instead of just a client:

Hook a storage device up to it (or mount your NAS), add media to them (digitize your home media collection or acquire media from other sources), and use the Plex server application to turn this tiny thing into your own private Netflix that never sees anything delisted. It has enough power to allow you to watch video locally and, at the same time, transcode (=turn media into a format the other device can handle in real-time) up to two more videos (depending on the video files) for other devices in and outside of your home network. This means you could watch something on your TV and at least one other person could watch content you have curated (they don't need a Shield TV - Plex clients are on a wide variety of devices). Given that this is a device that fits into the palm of your hand and needs less than 10W, that's quite astonishing.

AdGuard has click-to-block service blacklists. Super easy. Just block everything you don't want, and keep what you do. Should get you 95% coverage.