Thanks to TV programmers

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It struck me that TV programming has been on a ten-year roll. Starting with the Gulf War, live TV has been riveting. Every day there is a new real-time adventure. Some are bigger than others, but they keep coming and are masterfully staged.

Yesterday there was the LAX shooting, already today there is the mystery-car trapped on a Palo Alto Xway. There are mass-murders at High Schools and work places. There are real life car chases and urban riots. There are the ongoing touchie sagas of Chandra, Elizabeth Smart and JonBenet. There is high court-room drama with OJ and the soon-to-be Robert Blake trial (I can hardly wait). And for comic relief, there has been Monica-gate, Lizzie Grubman-gate, Martha-gate. "Nothing is out-of-bounds"!

Oh maybe sometimes the programmers go to far. I think 9/11 was tasteless and outre'. But that is just me. Billions of people were enthralled/appalled with the vicarious thrills of balls of flame, buildings falling, body parts flying. And that was just the beginning. No good drama ends with an outrage. There must be equally dramatic justice. So we have laser-guided munitions and special ops. Celebrities emerge---Geraldo reporting from the front lines, the brilliant and sexy Ashleigh Banfield (Christiana Amanpour is soooo "yesterday"). The continuing mystery of Osama--is he dead or alive, will he be found, will he write a book? I want to see him interviewed on Larry King or Bawa Walters. Heroes and anti-heroes emerge, from the NYFD to the revolting John Walker Lindh.

I don't know who scripts all this stuff. Ted Turner? Roger Ailes? Whoever, I can only offer my humble thanks. You have enriched my pedestrian life.

God bless. Encore, encore!

-- (lars@indy.net), July 05, 2002

Answers

How could I have forgotten the heart-stopping stock crash? Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!

-- (lars@indy.net), July 05, 2002.

"Natural tragedies" are cool too. Imagine all the digital art-work to bring those forest fires into our living rooms? Or am I naive? Did TT buy the state of AZ just to set it ablaze for TV? Bravo, Ted!

-- (lars@indy.net), July 05, 2002.

It's all true lars. Better now to feed the cat or dog and not think about it. Better yet shut off the TV.

-- Carlos (riffraff@cybertime.net), July 05, 2002.

Larsie be one sick mofo. Yo, submit to "Def Poetry".

-- (roland@hatemail.com), July 06, 2002.

Mildly clever satire but not very original.

-- (Jim Carrey@The Truman.Show), July 06, 2002.


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