Why is it whenever I watch a science fiction television series there is inevitably an episode with children who have formed a society without adults. Is this some secret of the genre that must be revealed time and time again? And why is it that the adults who find this civilization/culture/group must introduce the kids to the "real world" shattering their fragile existence with rules and authority? I don't have the answer, but it irks me to see these formulaic themes being rehashed again and again in a genre that prides itself on being original and fantastic. I theorize that somewhere in an underground bunker in the hills of Hollywood there is a secret group of writers that take ideas and decide how best to drive a theme into the ground while maintaining that it's a "new" concept. And for that matter, what is it with television anyway? I understand that there is a limit to the number of things that can be made into decent programming on TV, but for all that's holy I can't understand why we need 1200 programs devoted to police, or hospitals, or some kind of crime solving unit. Where has all the original programming gone? I have hundreds of channels and lately I don't think I have been getting my money's worth of programming. I watch exactly 4 hours of scheduled television a week; Deadliest Catch, Burn Notice, Warehouse 13, and Eureka. Granted it's the off season for network television, but still, I have the HD, DVR, Digital Cable and I don't even use it enough to justify the hefty price tag. To be honest I watch more TV by renting it on Netflix.
So with all the channels I should be able to find something to watch when I turn on the tube (funny, not many TVs are tube anymore...wonder if the next generation will even say tube...) but I can't...a child can turn on the TV and find something no problem...how many kid channels are there now...5...6? And yet when I was a kid and wanted to watch TV it was from 2-5PM weekdays and Saturday morning, that's it. So as a kid I wasn't satisfied with TV and now as an adult I am not satisfied. On top of all of this, why is it that 95% of the time when I turn on the TV it's during a commercial break? And why is it when I change the channel during a commercial break I generally find commercials on all of the channels?
They are screwing us...I think it's time to toss the cable box back to its owners and reclaim a little of the wasted cash. When I was a kid I did things when the TV wasn't showing something I wanted to watch...time to get more of that other stuff going again.
Lars T.
"The television, that insidious beast, that Medusa which freezes a billion people to stone every night, staring fixedly, that Siren which called and sang and promised so much and gave, after all, so little." -Ray Bradbury
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