Well, I’ve already been out in the snow shoveling, clearing, moving cars so the plow can get through, delivering hot chocolate to our maintenance guy, etc., and now I’m sitting here in the living room thawing out.
Who knew that there was 200 channels of absolutely nothing at all worth watching on Sunday?
In my inimitable way, let me turn to a complaint. I have a satellite receiver, and get nearly 200 channels. Did we once think that the multichannel universe was going to open up new worlds of choice? That our entertainment and information opportunities would be enormous? That it would usher in a new era of enlightenment? Well, surprise!
It seems to me that the more channels (which, in a odd homage to the past call themselves “networks” even though they are just one channel), the less good programming there is. I suppose that back when there were 3 or 4 channels of free, over-the-air television, the limited time available meant that only the best got on the air. (That’s not to say that what was on the air was fantastic, just the best that they had.)
Now, with an average of 200 available channels, that means there are 4,800 hours of programming available to me every day, an incredible 1,752,000 hours per year. (In an average TV market before cable TV came along, you had about 100 hours a day.) How in the world can you fill 4,800 hours of airtime per day? With crap, repeats, light entertainment masquerading as news, and commercials, commercials, commercials. I should have known what the future held when the first infomercial appeared – the ultimate indignity, a half-hour (or longer) commercial! And I had to pay to watch it! What an amazing scam has been perpetrated on the American public. The same public which owns the frequencies these broadcasters use to pump crap into our homes.
I will be the first to admit that I am a TV junkie – I always have the TV on for the background noise, kind of as a companion to someone who lives quietly and alone. But there are maybe 1 or 2 hours of TV per day that I actually WATCH. [For those who care, they are: Judging Amy, The Practice, BBC World News, Futurama (if it’s on), The Simpsons, Washington Week, The West Wing, Will & Grace. Optional viewing: Life With Bonnie, Enterprise, NOVA, Good Morning, Miami.
God, I’m bored. You can tell when I start writing about television.
