The Decline of Quality TV....

It was another dreary day today. It rained a little but mostly it just threatened to pour without actually doing more than spitting at times.

It wasn't as bad in the office though. My coworker was out which means there was a little less interruption than normal. While I don't mind a chat, we tend to use Instant Messaging in our office to communicate without disrupting others. My coworker gets rather bored and likes to IM me to tell me she's bored. Yesterday, she spent 30 minutes discussing a haircut. She has short hair. It's not a very interesting subject, particualarly when you're trying to work on a project that requires toggling between two windows and when an IM window pops up, it ruins the toggling.

Still, today wasn't bad which is always a good thing at work. Tuesdays are nice merely because they're not Mondays. Besides, they're good TV nights. Well, for now, at least. My very favourite show, Lost is coming to a final end this coming Sunday. Even though I admit that my relationship with the show hit a rocky patch in Season 3, once I gave it another chance, I became completely addicted. Just don't ever try to watch the show without watching every single episode because it will never, ever make sense. Well, actually, to be honest, even if you watch every episode, it doesn't really make sense but I'm hoping it will. If not, well, it's been fun anyway.

Lost isn't the only show ending for good. Jack Bauer and 24 are ending next Monday for good. It's high time in Jack's case. Last night, he did a very good Iron Man impersonation which would was quite funny except he wasn't supposed to be funny. It was quite entertaining though. Our Jack has gone rogue (yet again) and he's out for blood. He's also reached the stage where he is now officially a superhero, moving at the speed of light, delivering death like an out-of-breath avenging stubbled-beaten and worn angel Also, he's never, ever stopped to go to the toilet and, well, if that doesn't make you a superhero, I don't know what does.

Both of those shows are due for their end. However, there are others that aren't returning next season which I'm sad about. I am one of the people who anticipated FlashForward because I was hoping it was the next Lost. Well, it isn't but, for the most part, it's been interesting and entertaining. I was hoping it would get renewed so it would find its footing completely. If they'd just have lost that whole government-conspiracy-that-caused-an-ordinary-ex-alcoholic-to-sneak-into-Afghanistan-and-rescue-his-kidnapped-soldier-daughter, it would have been WAY better. Still, I'm sad it's over. Also, I've been increasingly fascinated to watch it and see how many more European actors they can add. Seriously, many of the actors on there are English and every week, there's a new one. It's quite fascinating. The male lead, Joseph Fiennes, is a Brit. His wife on the show, a former Lost actress is also British. Her lover on the show, played by Jack Davenport...also British. His science partner is played by Dominic Monaghan who is Scottish. The ex-alcoholic rescuer man...Irish. The new villain...British. You get the idea. It's quite entertaining, actually.

I was sad that they cancelled that show and renewed V instead. I tried to want to watch V but, well, after the pilot, I accumulated a ton of episodes on my DVR and never wanted to watch it so I just realized that there was no point in keeping them. It just couldn't keep my interest.

It seems like networks are giving new shows far less chance to succeed. My parents are fans of both Mercy and Miami Medical, both medical dramas that were new this TV season. I've watched both and they're both entertaining but, apparently, they didn't have enough of an audience to keep them going and they're both cancelled.

It's sad. There's more and more reality TV popping up and less and less quality 'fictional' series. I know it's to do with budget. It's far cheaper to follow an annoying quasi-celebrity around and watch him/her make an idiot out of his/herself than it is to get good writers, good actors and a good crew together to make a real TV show. It seems as though the guilty pleasure shows have become the norm and real TV is fading away. I still watch Glee but I worry about that show a little. It was fun and original when it started but now it's a powerhouse hit and it's spinning off more CD's than American Idol. I used to like American Idol but it's become a formulaic little show these days. There are stereotypes that are filled every season: The rocker, the country-singer, the folksy-earthy one, the girl who can sing rock songs but still surprise with a ballad, the nerdy little boy with a big voice....it's just boring these days and without the insanity of the questionably-drunk Paula Abdul, it's lost its sense of humour. I've flipped it on before another show starts and it's just nothing but filler or the kids talking about how the song they're singing is important to them because, you know, it's, like, well, they can just feel the song inside them.

I'm rambling. My point is...what's going to happen to TV? Sure, the good stuff is still on cable. There's still True Blood and Dexter to look forward to this summer. But the regular old quality TV, the type you don't need a satellite dish to access is fading slowly away from the networks and being replaced by dancing, singing, boss-trying-to-be-one-of-the-people, wife-swapping, bachelor(ette)-seeking-love type of shows.

I know in the grand scheme of things, TV isn't exactly a necessary thing in life. Yet, for me, it does enhance my life by providing a little escapism. After a bad day at work, there's nothing more therapeutic than watching Jack Bauer eviscerate a Russian terrorist. There's nothing more fun than trying to figure out what exactly Lost is really about. In short, it's just a fun way to relax and if I didn't have it, I'd miss it.

Still, for tonight, at least, I shall kick back and enjoy the last regularly scheduled episode of Lost...ever. The thought makes me sad but there's nothing I can do about it.

Maybe something will come along next season that will get me just as hooked. There's always hope.

As always, thanks for reading. Happy Wednesday!

Random Musings and Babblings...

I'm finding trends in advertising are getting slightly weird. I'm currently watching television and I just watched a commercial for the Ford Swap. In this ad, apparently families and friends of people who didn't drive Fords are secretely having their cars exchanged for a Ford for a week.

Now, these people are a lot nicer than I would be. For example, if I found out my family had swapped my Toyota Corolla for a Ford Focus, I'd be a little upset. Firstly, I'm rather pleased to drive a Toyota despite their recent flurry of bad news. Secondly, I'm a control freak. The idea of anyone thinking that it was ok to swap my car is just a little bit disturbing. It's just...not right!

Then I see an advertisement for Lunestra, the sleeping medication. Have you ever read the fine print for that? I have. Let's just say that it warns you that if you take this medication, it might cause you to do things that you won't remember when you're awake. Um, is that disturbing to anyone but me? I mean, how are you supposed to know what you did if you won't remember it? You could rob a bank and not remember it! You could eat the entire contents of your fridge and only discover you did it when you wake up and you're throwing up raw meat and eggs. Trust me, I saw an episode of Oprah or something where she talked to people who have a disorder that causes them to do exactly that. It made my stomach turn when you hear about the people who devoured whole raw steaks. I'm glad I could share it with you.

Then there's the lawyers. I think everyone has these advertisements, no matter where you are. They're the commercials that start, "Did you take this medication?" or a"Did you work somewhere where there was asbestos present?". The bottom line is they imply that they can get you a lot of money if you say yes. So...people do say yes and it creates a lawsuit that wastes millions of dollars and ends up not going anywhere.

I'm actually watching Dancing with the Stars while waiting for Lost to come on. I simply don't get this show. It's bad music and dancing. I usually quite like dancing but this is just...boring. I mean, you see one bad celebrity trying to hoof it up and you've seen it all...right? What am I missing here?

All in all, I think I'll mute the volume and watch the puppies instead. They're currently fightin over a piece of plastic they found from somewhere. I just confiscated a piece of tree that they hauled in. They really like to chew the strangest things....

This is the type of evening I've had...rather random. I did have a bird fly in my house which, again, was rather random. I have two doors leading outside on opposite ends of the family room. I had them both open so the puppies could go out. I heard this loud chirping sound and thought, "wow, that bird sounds close!" only to discover it was, actually close and sitting on top of my entertainment centre. He flew out again but he seemed quite happy. The puppies chased him outside. They haven't quite got the hang of the fact that birds can fly. They sidle up to them when they land in the garden and then try to pounce but, alas, the bird flies away. They tried that with a bumblebee. I don't think it would take more than one encounter to teach then that chasing bumblebees is not a good idea.

The Dog Whisperer also tried his nightly attempt to coax the puppies to visit. They, as always, ignored him and he sat there, crouched by the fence, waiting for them to come. It makes me laugh how they ignore him but if one of the other neighbours does the same thing, they go. I suppose I should feel sorry for the Dog Whisperer but since he allowed his dogs to yap while we grilled dinner tonight without so much as a token, "quiet!" I don't feel that bad. In addition to his dogs, the neighbours' dogs on the other side of them came to hang out after climbing through the broken fence. They have a very large black dog, the size of a German Shepard. What I find interesting is that large dog seems to go to the Dog Whisperer's garden specifically to do his, uh, business. Then he usually goes back home. And, let me tell you, he has big business.

I apologize for the randomness of this blog. I didn't have the best day at work; my boss, is, again proving that he doesn't honestly give a crap how I fill my time, just that I do it while he irritatingly actually grants the requests of my coworker to work on projects she wants to do. Given that I've talked to him about this three times, you can see why I'm a wee bit bitter. It's all good, however. I've found a new project, one that's near and dear to my geeky little heard and rather than ask if it's ok for me to work on it since it's technically not my job, I just told him I was going to do it and asked if he had a problem with that. He said no, naturally...which is why I told, rather than ask. It works better that way.

Anyway, I did think about spending the whole blog whining about the unfairness of my job but then I decided that there was no point. It's just a job...it pays for the food for me and my puppies. It lets me have the luxury of cable television and a DVR and, most importantly, it lets me go home at the end of the day...even if that means sitting through Dancing with the Stars before the good stuff begins.

Ah well...It could be worse. It could be American Idol.

Happy Wednesday!