Commentary

TV Sets Running Scared From Irate Viewers

by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, March 4, 2009

Hard times and some hard drinking can do a television set no good.

A couple of weeks ago, one Missouri man got a little frustrated over losing his cable signal, and being unable to get his new digital TV converter box to work, according to KARE-TV Minneapolis - St. Paul.

So he shot his TV.

The man was reported to have been drinking and was arrested, charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm.

This column has railed against TV -- but has never risen to such violent acts. There have been occasional bouts of yelling, fist-pounding, and foot-stomping -- but at a good nine feet away from the screen. Most response to pressing TV issues has been a shrug of shoulders.

My wife is disturbed by my take-it, and most times, leave-it, attitude towards TV. "It's just TV"," I say, which gets her even angrier. That's because, like the man in Missouri -- and most other people -- she'll tell you she watches TV for relaxation. (Sometimes I don't get how TV makes you unwind, especially when watching severed body parts on "CSI: Miami" -- but, whatever.)

Forget about the digital changeover. Economic frustration might grow in the coming months, with more random acts against all types of screens. Find out that your 401K has lost another 5% while on your mobile? Your aggravation could turn your pricey iPhone into a pricey highway-moving Frisbee.

A less violent, more common, act of TV rebellion is just turning off the set, leaving it -- in some anthropmorphic way -- to rethink badly written scripts, annoying commercials, or upsetting world news events.

If only solving our entertainment problems were so easy -- and bullets so hard to find against defenseless objects

2 comments about "TV Sets Running Scared From Irate Viewers ".

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William Hughes from Arnold Aerospace, March 4, 2009 at 12:15 p.m.
Two years ago, I got so frustrated with whats being offered on TV these days that I did more than just shut off the TV Set, I CANCELLED my subscription to Cable TV.
Two things cause me to do this.
1. The declining quality of the programming itself, as quality drama and comedy shoes keep getting cancelled and replaced with cheaply-produced "Reality", Game and News Shows. Many of the "scripted' shows have also gone south, as many of them will often put a Political Sermon in the Storyline. What ever happened to good old escapist TV? After Spending all day in the Real World I want to relax and unwind at day's end.
2. The Plague of Advertising a Viewer is forced to contend with. The Number of Commercials shown during a show has nearly doubled in the past decade. Many of the Advertisments are for products I have absolutely NO interest in purchasing, and are often presented in an obnoxious or even offensive manner. You dont even have to wait for the Commercial break to begin anymore! During the show itself Viewers are barraged with On-Screen advertisments in the forms of Logos, Banners, Scrolls and "Pop-Ups". None of these occur during the Commercials though. Advertisers don't seem to care who is watching their commercials. Time and again I have seen Ads for "Adult Products" such as Prescription Drugs dealing with Sex or other "Private Functions" shown at times of the day when Children are certainly watching, such as Weekend Afternoon Sporting Events, or even during Children's Shows themselves!
I finally decided enough was enough, and in January of 2007 I discontinued my subscription to Cable TV. The Money that was formerly used to pay for my subscription is now used to purchase DVDs of my Favorate Shows and Movies. In the past two years I have able to accumulate a library of over 9,000 Hours of TV Shows, along with over 1,000 Movies and over 400 Movie Serials. My Evening Viewing is now devoid of Advertising. All I watch is the Program, free from having sume huckster butting in an order to convince me to purchase the product he or she is trying to sell. Best of all, when I am done watching the program, I GET TO KEEP IT!
Reply

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