T.V.

T.V.

I DON’T WANT TO GIVE AWAY MY AGE, but when I was a kid, television was a very different media than it is today. I can remember watching on the old black and white set, complete with rabbit ears ( for you youngsters: hearing organs for a fury creature, or aluminum twin antenna to pull in a television signal broadcast thru the air)

In any case, I can remember watching T.V. when there were only 3 or 4 channels to choose from. And in case you don’t remember, the shows would go off the air around 11 p.m. while showing the American flag and playing the national anthem. (I can still remember seeing my grandfather standing there with his hand over his heart). A couple of them were broadcast from some distance away and the reception was not always crystal clear. (the picture was distorted with what we called “snow”) In fact, we would wrap the “rabbit ears” in aluminum foil to try to enhance the signal, and gently move the antennae around to just the right spot for maximum reception. Also, and I know this is hard to believe, when we wanted to change the channel we actually had to walk up to the set and push a button or turn a dial. That’s right, I was born B.F. (or before flipper).

Ok, fast forward to the future. Now it’s 2008 and television has changed a lot. Today most of us receive our television service by cable or satellite. In fact, by next year the broadcast of analog signal will be a thing of the past and everything you see will be from digital or High def.

Today, we have hundreds of choices for our entertainment pleasure. There are news channels, music channels, Military channels, movie channels and sports channels. With all those choices, you would think there just aren’t enough hours in the day to watch all that quality programming. (but that’s because we can “Tevo” shows so we don’t miss a thing)

In fact, there are so many channels that they even have one channel that does nothing but tell you what’s on the other channels. Gone are the days of the T.V. Guide ( a T.V. weekly magazine style information guide) and the local Television listings in the local paper. Either way, most people don’t even use them, we just start at channel #1 and flip thru the rest. (now that’s hi-tech)

The problem is that most of the channels are crap. First of all, every other channel is what the industry refers to as “Paid programming”.. hmmm.. that’s what I thought I was doing when I send the cable company a check for half my mortgage payment every month. It seems, they then increase their revenues by renting out the space to different promoters, who then develop and market their product thru the use of “Infomercials”. Talk about exciting and educational television viewing. Now, I’m paying to see a mini documentary on a vacuum cleaner, mini rotisserie, or some super absorbent cloth, 24/7 and ad nauseam.

Listen, these things are out of control, even if I do want flatter abs, cleaner floors, sharper knifes, my vegetables to last for weeks, or to be able to vacuum seal my entire wardrobe in a sandwich bag, it just doesn’t make for good T.V., especially on a medium like cable that we have to pay to get in the first place.

I have to assume that the manufacturers of these products are making a killing, even though they are probably causing physiological damage to half the country. I’ve even found myself sitting there in a half mesmerized state with spit running down the corner of my mouth, with a telephone in one hand, and my credit card in the other, as I watch grass seed growing on a bare concrete block. (don’t tell me those fellows don’t know what they are doing).

Ok, if that is not bad enough, we also pay for and get several channels that do nothing but try to sell us stuff all day and all night long. You can’t run thru the channels without finding The Nervous Home Shopping Channel, or QV-lets see T.V.… I think they somehow secretly hypnotize viewers with that little ticking count down clock they put on the bottom of the screen. One night I started watching it at 2:30 am and when I snapped out of the shopping trance it was almost 4 am and they still had 12,223 toasters still available on the “count down clock”. (and to think I can own one for only 27 payments of $19.95)

Sorry, I digressed… Anyway. .When I strip away all the static and paid programming junk, it leaves me with about 12 channel to actually watch. Well, it turns out that 3 of them are “Pay for View”, which again, I thought I was already doing. Another 3 of them are in a language I can’t understand, and still another 3 are those “women only”, bad acting movie channels. Well, that leaves me with about 3 channels, that I actually would want to watch, which coincidentally is about the same number I got many years ago for free with those stone age “rabbit ears” and half a box of aluminum foil, for free. Wow… so much for technology…

P.I.B.