Some Real Men Respond to the ‘Problem’ With Them

I was a little furious when I finished Brian Lowry’s column “The Problem With Men” (Jan. 12). My favorite lineup on network television is the Fox Sunday night one that includes “The Simpsons” and “The X-Files,” but does that mean that I fit into the stereotype that he so neatly sets up? No.

The bottom line is that the networks are not the only show in town and the quality of programming on them has decreased dramatically over the last several years. As a regular guy, I’m proud to say that I have watched the shows that he mentioned as being “Emmy-winning” and they just don’t have the stuff to keep me coming back the way a “Seinfeld” did.

Choices are what I want and what I pay almost $80 a month on cable to have! I am proud of the fact that I’m not swayed into being a loyal viewer of any show and I hope that the networks lose billions of dollars trying to figure out my tastes and viewing patterns.

PEDRO SARQUIS

Los Angeles

*

There are many types of men. Just because we enjoy seeing some violence or sports occasionally and TV execs cater to our desires, it doesn’t mean we are all football-crazed morons crushing beer cans on our heads. It’s in our nature to be attracted to sex and violence.

I, for example, am not very fond of “Frasier.” While it is mildly humorous and it won Emmys, it doesn’t have the general appeal and magnetism of shows like “The Drew Carey Show,” “Just Shoot Me” and “Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place.” I would never watch “V.I.P.” (I tried) nor “Xena” nor any of the other shows with cheap plots based on a woman in tight clothing. Now if Pamela Anderson did a cameo on “Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place,” that would be a different matter.

I don’t think I am the odd male out because I like “good” shows (according to male friends and relatives). I put “good” in quotation marks because I like the shows whereas the next man may not. The next man’s favorite show may be “Jerry Springer,” a “bad” show, though as bad as it is, I challenge Lowry to watch the whole show without laughing at the craziness of it all.

OMARI CHRISTIAN

Los Angeles

*

Being a man, I was unable to read Lowry’s article, but I really enjoyed the cool picture of Pamela Anderson.

TERRY SAUTTER

Thousand Oaks