The End of Good TV

I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that practically every night, each and every one of us sits down in front of the television with the vain hope of being entertained for at least an hour....two if we're lucky.  I'm not a good TV watcher.  First of all, I can't sit still for very long, I always feel like I need to be up doing other things.  My usual TV watching pattern consists of picking a station, watching for a few minutes, then getting up to either put away the dishes, put away some laundry, or just get up to walk around and see if there's anything else in my house that needs doing.  So by the end of a regular 1/2 hour show, I've maybe watched a total of 10 minutes. 

However, there are those times, usually in the evening, when I feel just lazy enough to actually sit down and watch a program from beginning to end.  And it was recently during one of these lazy interludes that I came to the shocking, almost horrifying conclusion that there is absolutely nothing worth watching on TV anymore.  No, wait, the Thursday night lineup on NBC may be the only exception to this rule (Parks and Rec has pleasantly surprised me with its humor and entertainment value, and I will forever love The Office).  That being said, any other night of the week one is usually forced to wade through the atrocity which is mistakenly called Reality Television.  Now don't get me wrong, I will usually pay attention to American Idol (once the actual competition starts....I really have no desire to watch the try outs where people make complete fools of themselves and then are absolutely dumbfounded when the judges inform them that, believe it or not, their voice sound like crap).  But I want someone to tell me, really and truly, where did all the good TV shows go?

Some of the classics are still hanging strong.  The Simpsons just aired their 450th episode a couple weeks ago, The Office is lingering at least for the foreseeable future, and if you enjoy a good murder mystery every now and then you can still indulge in Law and Order.  But seriously people, on the whole TV is going through a serious downfall and I fear there is nothing we can do to save it.  And I'm not just talking about prime time.  Have you taken a look at what is playing on MTV these days?  News flash:  music videos are not on the docket, instead you have to suffer through riveting, drama filled episodes of timeless classics such as Bully Beatdown, Jersey Shore, and one of my all time favorites, Parental Control.  If this is reality, then we officially live in the Twilight Zone.

My husband says that I'm a TV snob, which might be true.  And I don't plan on backing down from my standards anytime soon.  I wish the American public would do the same, but it's quite possible that the glory days of TV are gone.  Now and for the rest of your days, you will have to be content with watching people lose weight, act bitchy to each other on deserted islands, and compete with other men and women to win the hearts of Bachelors and Bachelorettes.  Me....I'll be rewatching my DVD's of Seinfeld.