TV’s bigger ills

According to a recent report by the Parents Television Council, profanity and other vulgarities increased by nearly 95% during the “family hour” time slot. Unfortunately, foul language is the least of the networks’ ailments.

What about shows that have built their ratings featuring people eating live insects and performing foolish stunts? What about talent shows that feature mean-spirited humiliation of competitors? What about absolutely idiotic sitcoms which are nothing more than a string of disconnected one-liners with the omnipresent and inexplicable canned laughter designed to let the audience know when something is meant to be funny. Hey, if bad words on network television have doubled in the last year or two, then bad acting, terrible writing and unoriginality have quintupled.

The former chairman of the FCC, Newton Minnow, once described most television programming as a “vast wasteland.” The wasteland isn’t what’s on television. It’s what is sitting in front of it.

John Johnson

Encino