Thoughts

I was reading through one of my Calvin and Hobbes collections yesterday and came across this strip:

(You may have to click on it to read it)
It got me thinking how often this scenario comes into play in my daily routine. With my family and certain friends, the phrase "did you watch ____ last night?" will never come up, mostly because these people don't watch much, if any, television.
However, at my night job, this becomes a constant means of smalltalk.
"Remember that episode where____?"

I'm not sure if it's really harmful or not, since (at night job) it seems to help a very diverse group of people find some common ground. Or does it stifle deep, meaningful conversation because we are too busy gossiping about fictional scenarios? And do I really want to have deep meaningful conversation with some of my co-workers?