A start

Happened to catch an old episode of Fraiser. I hadn't seen that particular one, so it was a treat. The writing was clever, lively, and compassionate. The writers really liked those characters and had affection and respect for their foibles. Contrast that with Two & a Half Men. Sad, isn't it?

You can find good shows on TV these days, but you have to search, maybe more than you want to. Here's my current list of good shows: Chuck, NCIS, Leverage, White Collar, The Big Bang Theory, Bones (although they've hit a rough patch in their scripts), and NCIS: Los Angeles (although this isn't a must see, I do enjoy it when I catch it). Other decent shows that I catch sometimes are: The Mentalist, Castle, Modern Family, Merlin, Covert Affairs, and Sanctuary (also on the way down). And of course, I like Monster Quest and Finding Bigfoot because they make me laugh (although I don't think they're supposed to).

I've been trying to limit my TV time. Watching TV is not productive. Not that I think we have to spend all of our time being productive -- downtime is necessary, too -- but as a nation in general and me in particular, we spent too much time watching TV. And absorbing the values it teaches. That's the catch. We spend hours and hours watching characters lie, cheat, steal, engage in casual sex, commit adultery, cheat on their lovers, and maim and murder. In many cases, these actions are presented as exciting and desirable. Supposedly, we know enough to distinguish between reality and these fantasies, but when you look at our nation, you can't help but doubt this.

I don't know how to fix our problems, but I think a good step would be if we'd turn off the TV more and clean our house, clean our yards, donate to our local charities, develop our spiritual and family lives, work to be better people, be frugal, rejoice in the skies above and the earth below.

It's a start.

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