The Waste Land of Television

The night before last, I thought I would go another route and try to watch something worthwhile on television besides ALL these reality shows. So I turned to PBS and started watching Frontier House. This is where they take three families and turn them into families living in 1883, which means no electricity, no plumbing, no shopping centers, etc.

It was very interesting to see how 21st Century people react to 19th Century standards

But--

One family whined and complained the whole time about not having enough food, not being to use make up or cosmetics. They always seemed to be at odds with their neighbors. The neighbors, though, got along better and really dove into the frontier lifestyle, but the wife was a henpecker. Therefore she and her husband were always going round and round, having fights, and such. She said she had to answer no one but herself.

The other family was a man and his grandfather. They were building a log cabin for his fiancée who joined him later and they got married – but then she started fussing, such as she couldn't make pancakes on the prairie. Well, maybe they did not have pancakes but had griddlecakes or something fried. She did not know what baking powder or baking soda were used for in cooking. If she were actually in the 19th Century, she would have been brought up to KNOW what they were for – because that is the way it was back then.

Then I suddenly realized – I AM WATCHING ANOTHER REALITY SHOW DRESSED IN 19th CENTURY EDUCATIONAL CLOTHES

I cannot get away from it. Therefore, I turned the television off.

Nevertheless, that did not stop me from last night when I watched the end of the The Bachelorette. The way they cooed and mushy talked – was it rehearsed? My cat even starting gagging fur balls.

Afterward, then, there was the most awful:

It was I'm a Celebrity! Get Me Out of Here. A bunch of type B actors, etc. was sent to live in the Australian outback or swamp. So I spent a whole hour watching them bicker and have hissy fits.

Let's see tonight – CSI – at least that's good.

Then I wonder why I haven't finished one book this year. This is worse than getting hooked on Jerry Springer.

Oh I am in the process of reading PORTRAIT OF A KILLER by Patricia Cornwell and the fourth Harry Potter book.