Flat Screens For Flat TV Shows

Watching television cures insomnia... NOT!

To help pass the time I chose to watch what my dad calls the 'boob tube', otherwise known as television.

With Cable, Direct TV, Pay Per View, HBO and so many others to watch on a 60" Flat Screen, today's television watching resembles a displaced mini-theatre for millions of us TV viewers.

My question: "Watch what?"

I graduated with a B.S. - Mass Communications in 1977, and despite the fact I have since forgotten most of what I was taught, I do remember studying a speech titled "Television, the Vast Wasteland". The overwhelming opinion of those who study television's impact on society saw the boob tube for what it was 50 YEARS AGO!

If you remember having the ability to watch only 3 stations with a picture reception resembling a snowstorm, then you know broadcasting certain words were absolutely, positively forbidden. That was then!

Last night I navigated an earstorm of "F's" and "S's" and "GD's"... try as I might, I could not dodge them. I'm far from being prudish, but in MOST cases, these words had no payoff other than shock value.

My all-time favorite comedian is George Carlin. Very popular in the '60s and '70s, his shows contained some expletives, but he was brilliant in his ability to place these words in context. His ability to use the banned words of the time made him one of the all-time great comedians. The fact his usage of banned words were 'bleeped' did not remove the 'funniness' from his material.

In the 1950's, '60s into the 1970's and just beyond, the thought of using certain words in a television show was unthinkable, and if a network or local station had the kahunas to verbally insert a curse word on air they were fined so heavily, budgets for the next 5 years had to be adjusted.

The Vast Wasteland makes its points with this example of Reality TV.

I do admit watching "The Osborne's" occassionally; but, 2 or 3 attempts at deciphering Ozzie's speech proved to be a lot of work on my part, so I soon quit them.

"The Osborne's" opened the floodgates for more Reality TV. Every week, a new show would appear. Who could forget "Jon & Kate Plus Eight", or "Dog, The Bounty Hunter" and the ever-popular "Growing Up Gotti"... 3 of probably 133 reality disasters forced on us by the big networks.

I know what you may be thinking; "turn the channel if you don't like it", and in most cases you would be right. Problem was (is) trying to find ANYTHING worth watching was not only a chore, it was nearly impossible! EVERY other network, or so it seemed, was giving us another take on reality.

Television is a reflection of what is happening in all segments of American society. I remember Jay Leno's "man on the street" interviews. Leno would choose people at random and ask them a question that pertained to current events.

9 times out of 10 the questioned person could not answer correctly. Even worse, the given answer was embarrasing in its stupidity. This would get a huge laugh from the audience.

I guess, to a certain degree, this set-up is funny; but looked at another way, it's very sad.

I write copy for a living. One of the first items on my check-off list is that I write everything as if my audience was 6th. grade level.

That's saying Americans are, for the most part, reading, understanding and learning at alarming non-ability.

Television is not life; nor is it necessarily the way life should be lived with all the color, action and special effects. Yet, Americans spend MUCH more time in front of the boob tube than they spend with their families.

Reality TV? No, me thinks it's TV Reality affecting America in a way that is very frightening.