I keep buying old used ones. Haven't seen any new ones that aren't "smart"

Look for “commercial monitors”.

Walmart has one https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sceptre-65-Class-4K-UHD-LED-TV-HDR-U650CV-U/48874705

Why not just buy the tv you want and leave it disconnected from the internet?

I've read that new TVs will not work until they are "activated" and to do so they need an internet connection.

What part about it being 'smart' do you hate? You can use most samsung or sony tvs and never interact with the smart functions. I know my sony has an option to simply go to the last used input on start, which if not using the smart tv functions would go to whichever HDMI i'd been using.

For the most part they just throw in the smart features because most people want them. They can be ignored pretty easily.

I have never once gone through what you're describing in the 4 TVs I've purchased in the past 5 years. I just plug in an apple TV and it works fine. You don't have to connect them to the internet. You're going to be sacrificing picture quality looking for some no name brand without a smart interface.

Non issue. Literally just use the tv with an hdmi input instead of the built in functions

Good points.
I just do not like more possible points of failure than needed.
With simple HDMI in and sound ... it's less tech
Add other stuff an more to fail.

Thanks. Good to know