7 Gripes About Television

Television is for the most part what Alistaire Cook once termed it - audible wallpaper. Still, television here to stay and there are programs we all enjoy. But it's not hard to see that we've become inured to the slow eating away of our viewing time and viewing space. I've got seven grips I'd like to throw out.

Gripe One: Permanent logos on the screen. First it was the station logo, then it moved to logos advertising new shows on that station in the middle of a regular program.

Gripe two: Little people running along the bottom of my screen. I mean, why should I be in the middle of a movie and suddenly have a figure prancing about taking up maybe 20% of my screen?

Gripe three: The number of ads. It's really getting to the point where it seems as though programs are reluctantly slipped into the ads. I did a little non-scientific experiment using AMC. For the past three months at different times I'd tune into AMC to see if I hit a movie or an ad. At least 95% of the time I hit an ad. This was truly a random process not just at the top of the hour or while an ad is on another channel.

Gripe Four: Streaming inofrmation along the bottom of the screen. I'm sure this one has its adherents, but all I see is a big percentage of my screen disappearing.

Gripe Five: This one is about civility. when ads come on the decibel level shoots up. It's really annoying having to put the sound down each time an ad comes on. Sometimes it's very loud. They've talked about limiting the sound increase in England and they should do it here. It does nothing but subject us to unnecessary noise so ads can get out attention. If everyone has to keep the ad noise level low then everyone is being treated equally. For some people such as those with tinnitus this rise in the noise level is very uncomfortable.

Gripe Six: I really hate having stations I'm paying for trying to sell me colonics, chicken fryers, or foreclosed homes. I'm sure plenty of people like this but shouldn't we have the opportunity to get rid of them and get something else or a reduction in our rates?

Gripe seven: If you're going to show movies at least try to vary them a little. I mean, did they get a discount on Sandra Bullock movies? I can recite the dialogue in Jaws in my sleep. Many stations show the same movie twice in one night and then again the next day. Of course, all this is just filler between the ads. Apparently cable producers are right when they think the public will watch anything over and over.