This scenario with its out

of control executives and tv-crazed public looked like science fiction,

a parody of near future excess. Not anymore.

With the upcoming "The

Littlest Groom", a dwarf dating reality show, the Fox network has

broken the mold, so to speak. Arguments on both sides have validity, but

in the final analysis, this is just sensationalistic programming.

Perhaps it will allow the

"height challenged" to be viewed with respect as people like

everyone else. Of course, one would hope that people already felt that

way. On the other hand, most people will probably watch with a smirk and

possibly become more insensitive than they already are. Then again, this

is America, land of television.

"Survivor," "The

Surreal Life," "The Simple Life," "Fear Factor,"

"Surviving Nugent," "Average Joe," "The Osbournes."

All of these shows would have

been greenlighted by UBC. It is no longer enough for the average TV viewer

to sit and watch a scripted drama or sit-com, there has to be some humiliation

involved. People eating worms, people lying about their millions, people

arguing with their kids, it's all so fascinating!

We are approaching that point

of no return when we have seen everything and done everything in the name

of entertainment. Sure, we can turn the channel, but as a nation we are

too lazy even to grab the remote. There is something insidious about the

way we overdo every trend that arises as if not being in the know about

the latest obsession is a mortal sin.

I'm just as guilty as

the next guy though. I can't help but be flabbergasted by the antics

of people so desperate for their fifteen minutes of fame that they will

appear before the nation in the most grotesque situations. I will tune

into Jerry Springer, "the worst show in the history of television"

to watch the flotsam and the jetsam of the world try to scratch and claw

each other's eyes out. It's jaw-dropping fun, but after a while

I have to stop.

I begin to feel sickened. I

can only take so much real life depravity. Eventually I turn over to the

Love Channel and watch "Grease" for the millionth time. Is it

just that we feel superior to these idiots when we see them behave badly

for our amusement? Is it wrong to laugh at such obvious misery? Maybe

in the privacy of our own living rooms, it's a little less cruel.

On the other hand, the live audiences of the Jerry Springer show frighten

me. To think that this is who we are in reality is very sad.

I think I prefer the more educated

banter of "In the Actor's Studio." Hollywood may have its

own forms of depravity. I get more out of the comments of Kevin Spacey

or Julianne Moore and the attending audience than the bile being spewed

amusement.

Network television has plummeted

a long way since the advent of cable. They have taken the easy way out

so many times now that it seems like the thing to do. HBO and Showtime

and a slew of other non-commercial stations are doing what regular TV

never really could. They make intelligent programs for intelligent people.

Network TV and its sponsors remind me of the special interest groups that

lobby for the homogenization of the nation.

It's the lowest common

denominator, that old nemesis, that has brought us to even consider Paris

Hilton as a celebrity. It may seem simple-minded of me, but I tend to

think that the responsibility to culture by the media is an important

factor in the growth of this country as a people. There are too many camps

working to stupefy us with the banality of their ideas.

I suggest a good book in its

place. Has anyone read any Dickens or Dreiser lately? How about Paddy

Chayevsky? He's the one who said, "Television is democracy at

its ugliest."

Back

to the Top of the Page