I despise it also - it's actually "visual overload". Television programming stinks these days anyway, and either they are trying to turn us all into driveling, confused, zombies or they are trying to distract us from the crappy content of the actual program! Another thing, a 30 minute show, for example, consists of 10 minutes of actual program, 10 minutes of commercial/advertising, and 10 minutes of telling you what is coming up next! I never remember tv being so bad when I was younger, and to top it all off, in this day and age, we have to pay for the "privilege" to watch this crap! The reality is that when you are retired, television becomes a big part of your day to day life and that's a shame. Reality shows, Real whatevers of whatever, Athletes wives/girlfriends lives, nasty pornographic music videos, disgusting waste of airways if you ask me. Thank goodness for $1.20 Redbox movies, and the $5 senior theater ticket, or I'd probably just get rid of it. You know it seems like I remember way back in the dark ages when cable television introduced itself to the world that we were told we'd be paying for television channels, but they would be commercial free to make the cost of paying for something we had gotten for free for all our lives a little easier to take - am I the only one that remembers that?? wow, now we pay megabucks every darn month for television, albeit trashy, distasteful, useless drivel.....!  not all change is good......
@magnoliamam: so make your life simple. put up an antenna. some of them work fine in your attic so you don't have the mast and wire outside. watch more pbs. check dvds out of the library. check their catalogue and request the ones you want. you can do a dll to get things you want to watch that they don't have. life can be simple
4951