Enough

You know things are bad on your morning talk show when I would prefer to watch Jerry Springer. Let me back up. I hate the Today Show. Let me back up some more. I used to watch the Today Show semi regularly whilst dressing for work when Katie Couric was still the host. It was a non offensive, sometimes pleasant way to wake up and get the day going. Fast forward to now...once the ten o'clock hour hits we are tortured by the Kathie Lee and Hoda Show posing as the Today Show. They are, I can only assume, paid oodles of money to sit around, eat chocolate, talk about their fabulous weekends, not to each other, but at each other and over each other. I think it has been about a year of them between ten and eleven in the morning and every time I stop and look for even a moment, they seem to really dislike each other.

Today I woke up early as usual and I went to sit on my couch. I wanted to read my book with some background noise so I left it on NBC. Everything was fine until all of a sudden, i felt really hostile and irritated. I looked at the TV and there they were. I flipped to the next channel, which was KTLA (which turns into theWB at night so you can imagine the quality of programming), and there was a Jerry Springer episode. I felt a sudden feeling of relief. Then I felt stressed that Springer was the better option. My dad once expressed to me his hatred for the Whitney Huston version of I Will Always Love You (an opinion I share with every ounce of my being, not only for the horrible song but also the vision of her with Kevin Costner in the movie from which the song spurt forth). He said that he thought all bank robberies occurred immediately after hearing that song on the radio. I suddenly understand exactly what he meant.

Other Worlds

So I have a problem (other than only posting once a month). Let me start over. I don't watch that much tv. Granted, I have a lot of shows that I watch religiously and sometimes I have been known to plan my week around them (shut up Lost, you know you own me) but overall, I don't really watch that much tv. There are some shows that I have never seen, or at least not a whole episode (Law and Order) and entire genres of television shows that I tend to blanketly avoid (cop shows and lawyer shows, which makes the lack of Law and Order in my life abundantly clear) I get really tired of the formula show (Law and Order, sorry it is just the best example for everything I don't like on television) which means that most of what I really like gets cancelled really quickly because Americans seem to want answers and predictability. I however, want to get lost and live in a different place even if it is just for thirty minutes to an hour a week.

The thing about the shows I do watch, I tend to get really involved and obsessed. The characters become real and they become my friends and neighbors. I am just about finished rewatching Six Feet Under, arguably one of the greatest shows that has been on television, cable or not. When I get to the last episode, it is almost inevitable that I will be really sad and lonely when I have to say goodbye to the Fishers. I will miss Claire and her art school freak friends, who are also my friends. And I will miss that crazy family. I become such a part of the world while I am watching that when I am done, things around me seem gray and dull. This is the burden with watching amazing shows. I don't think I would give it up though because it is nice to get away once in a while. The up side is, though, that I can start over again with episode one whenever I feel like it and I can be with the Fishers once again.