Is it possible to use an LG without ever connecting it to the internet in the first place?

Maybe related: I bought an LG TV in 2014 or so, I was interested in what its calls home communicated, so I MItM'ed it to capture the http (no s!) traffic. I never did bother to analyze the requests and responses..

But I got a newer LG model 2 years ago, I was still redirecting requests to LG's servers to a local web server (using DNS), but I guess due to https, the certificate checks failed and the attempts to call home failed. This meant that I never got asked to agree to the T&As.

But of course many apps don't work..

I am currently using one that is prevented from connecting to the internet via firewall rules from my router and all media comes from a separate jellyfin server. Had to allow enough of an internet access to install the app but once that was done, everything going outside lan is blocked.

Also most tvs have usb ports so maybe either raw media or some third part dongle can service as well?

Also also, most tvs of this caliber have hdmi you can plug your computer to.

Yes. I just got a new LG C3 OLED. I skipped the guided setup, then disabled any “smart” video manipulations. I connected it to an Apple TV, made sure the ATV’s remote worked, and Velcroed the LG remote to the back of the TV. The TV works great and hasn’t yet nagged me for internet access.

Yes. You can install firmware updates over usb.

I've done that with both LG OLEDs that I've had.