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Nebulosity & A Bagel

Last evening I was feeling very sleepy and so, instead of writing, I laid upon the couch and read. The reading were varied and consisted of my local newspaper, the latest issue of American Biology Teacher, The New York Times newspaper, Popular Photography Magazine (I am contemplating becoming active in this hobby), and the latest detective novel in the Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly.

One thing that is very quickly growing tiresome is the "Writers Strike" for the entertainment industry. While television viewing is not a "do-or-die" situation for me or anyone in my family, I think the way the industry has manhandled the media of television over the last 20 years is appalling and this latest strike (although perhaps understandable for the writers) is only going to deflect further viewers.

I am not sure how many of you are of an age (probably anyone over the age of 40 would recall this) where you remember when television programs would have 40-42 episodes a season. This was THE NORM for a good many years in television, from the 1950s through into the early to mid 1980s. In the 1980s a few "special" television programs broke that tradition by claiming they were so "challenging and 'high brow'" that they could not possibly produce that many episodes a year. They instead started producing 20-22 episodes a year. To me, this notion is really a big load of crap. This began the transition in the late 80s to the present where all shows have only 20-22 episodes a year. This means that reruns are rampant nearly all season long, with only a smattering of new shows presented at any given time.

Now, the 10 week old writer's strike has basically ended the 2007-2008 television season with most shows having produced only 8-10 episodes. Mark my words... this will quickly become the "new norm" for the television industry. It is foolish and annoying. It is no wonder most people are gravitating towards either watching mostly reality television (they are much more prolific and tend to be expansive about providing MORE content, not less) or forgoing television all together. A case in point is the program "The Biggest Loser". This show has been changing over the last two seasons to typically being TWO hours in length each week as opposed to one. Even though the show itself may be only moderately interesting, the stories of the people are captivating and I think the show offers a good message. Other reality shows that are watched in my household (in descending order of quality) include The Amazing Race (excellent enough to compete against ANY television program), Survivor, Project Runway, Top Chef, the aforementioned Biggest Loser, and even the inane Apprentice series. The scripted programs we used to enjoy watching even in their limited run have included House, The Law & Order Series of programs, the CSI series of programs,
Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, and even the tired old, ER.

So, this is what I have been ruminating about as I sit here in my back office, hazlenut coffee in my mug, bagel with honey on the plate before me, and a strong, vanilla tinctured burley leaf in the bowl of my pipe, I am getting a rather nebulous, but calm start to the day.

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