Spring Break
End of era for quality
prime-time programs
UNRAVEL
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The only reason I’ve lost touch with the tube is because I’m cooped up in this newsroom about 60 hours a week — I have no time.
And I’m sure I’d still be connected to a few of my favorite shows if those kind gentlemen downstairs in the journalism department’s programming room would let me watch the — ahem — WB.
No, damn it, I’m not ashamed to admit it.
But, I digress.
I guess my time constraint saves me from a whole lot of grief, now that I think about it.
This weekend, I discovered just how much garbage is on television.
First off, I was floored to see that “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” is still all the rage on ABC.
I sat on the sofa thinking, “My God, this show is still on the air?” and wondered when the rest of America would figure out that trivia is not important, hence its name.
But I suppose couch potatoes aren’t the only people who love trivia.
Fast-food frequenters are fans as well, which explains why McDonald’s offers customers chances to win big (yeah, right) on cartons of its french fries.
Wait, wait, shhh ... don’t tell me. Just give me a second to figure out who endorsed that one.
And of course, we can’t forget about “The Weakest Link,” a show that I have yet to watch, yet know enough about.
Maybe I should rephrase that. After all, the only thing I know is that it’s another trivia game show starring an impatient, quick-witted and annoying — not to mention, Sally Jessy Raphael-ish — host, who regularly ridicules contestants. That’s anything but entertainment. Sorry. Try again, NBC.
Recently, I heard about the newest “reality-based” TV show, “Chains of Love,” where a participating man or woman is chained to four strangers of the opposite sex for four consecutive days in order to find Mr. or Ms. Right.
Oh, and if you were one of the few who has watched this program, I beg you to stop by the newsroom to tell me what has been unraveling.
On second thought, don’t — unless you want me to look at you funny.
Save yourself the embarrassment, because you might tempt me into mentioning you in my next column about sad, ethically challenged people who have way too much time on their hands and no concept of quality programming.
Shucks. I forgot. There’s no such thing.
I have come to the conclusion that Americans are being cheated out of their right to worthwhile prime-time television.
What happened to sitcoms like “Seinfeld” and “I Love Lucy?” And how about dramas like “The Wonder Years?” It wasn’t that long ago when television shows actually had plots, humor and substance.
I’m not looking forward to summer. In about a month, not only will I feel I have no purpose in life except for being at the Daily, I’ll find that I’ve been dumped by my true love: television.
Minal Gandhi is the Spartan
Daily Opinion Editor.
“Unravel” appears Mondays.
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