• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, December 7, 2006

There's another report of non-kosher food on an El Al plane. In a separate incident, more E. coli was found in another two Long Island, New York Taco Bells. With that in mind, I'll pass on the shrimp this weekend--as well as some undernourished TV shows.

It's getting tougher to put together the right ingredients for a show--and the end of this fall period has shown TV viewers just where taste can go bad. But there is also the good. On-the-bubble programs like "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" just got renewed for the rest of the season. No matter. I still worry about where I'll get the mental TV sustenance to take me into 2007.

Is "Veronica Mars" still going strong? Looks that way. But others could be in trouble. Only 7 million viewers for the return of "Scrubs" on NBC at 9 p.m.? I can't feast any longer on chalupas, knowing that some of my favorite TV shows might end up in the deep freeze, or worst, set to sea on some small canoes.

I feel for those El Al customers--especially the uncertainty about what you are going to get. TV networks leave me in the same lurch, offering a bunch of shows that can cause indigestion. ABC's "The Nine" did that. And now it's gone. Good riddance. I was more interested in the actual hostage situation than the personal story line with little dramatic effect.

The "Gilmore Girls" seem to have gone sour. I'm tired of the fact that Lorelai can't seem to get her life together, even when she is seemingly happy and her daughter has found a nice groove. Luke should just make Lorelai a nice home-cooked meal--and maybe one for Christopher as well?

Is other video content leaving a bad taste in your mouth? How about the YouTube video of a Bank of America executive singing the praises of a recent merger with credit-card issuer MBNA? In the video, corporate-looking types dressed in bank-issues ties and white shirts sing an all-too-serious adaptation of U2's "One," touting the wonderful attributes of said companies.

U2 should ask for residuals--and then sue. It's the best TV in a long time--showing once again the pathetic underbelly of some corporate culture. It's perfect branding for a bank merger. That's right; I said "perfect."

Bank of America should take that video and spoof it with an actual commercial. A commercial could show the clip and then a voiceover could say: "Our executives take themselves way too seriously--and work way too hard. That's good news for you. We don't pay them a whole lot, though we are working on giving them singing lessons."

Bad PR, you say? I say pee-r, schme-r! Everyone takes a hit, sometimes. In this easily digestible--and truthful--media world, you can expect a complete picture. Get used to it.