There's a bad moon rising

If it is October, it means we are currently experiencing one of the most difficult and horrifying parts of the year. That's right: it is the start of the new television season for the major networks.

This can be a dark and foreboding time. Maybe I am an entertainment snob, but most of what is served to us by the television networks is garbage. Most of it is lightweight and lacking merit. These shows are the equivalent of eating dry toast. They are satisfying in no way and are forgotten as soon as we consume them.

The refreshing part of this is that many of the new shows will likely be cancelled by the time this posting ends. Networks tend to have a quick trigger finger when cancelling new shows and that can be good because many of these terminations are mercy killings.

Still, it never ceases to amaze me that we have so little good entertainment on television these days. The amount of television programming we have access to has exploded during the last 30 years.

When I was a boy, cable television consisted of viewing three stations out of Nashville, Chattanooga, and Huntsville. That was it. Back then, this access seemed like an extravagance, but it was nothing compared to what was to follow.

Beginning in the late 1970s, we got access to 24-hour-a-day movie, sports, and news channels. For a time, it felt like we were exploring an entertainment frontier, but soon, the novelty of it all faded.

Today, we can have access to hundreds of channels, depending on what type of channels we subscribe to. I only have access to about 60 channels on my cable package, but I must admit that I only watch a handful of those.

Some nights I aimlessly surf my channels, looking for entertainment. However, most nights I am disappointed.

The explosion of 'reality' programming has contributed to this lack of entertainment. While there are a few good reality programs, most seem uninspired. One evening, I spent some time watching one channel that dedicated most of its programming to shows in which cars were repossessed from people.

I'm not kidding. The plots of these shows consisted of employees from repossession companies going to get cars from people. Inevitably, people would see their cars being taken, and they would run out and confront the workers. Profanity and violence often followed, and then I realized that I just wasted 10 minutes of my life watching that.

How am I going to get those 10 minutes back? Of course, I can't. It was yet another entertainment decision gone up in smoke.

I'm not naïve enough to think that those shows actually reflected reality. The confrontations appeared staged, and the people involved played for the cameras. So, it's come to this? Fake reality programs?

Reality programs are not the only culprit. There are a lot of bombastic and over-the-top programs. Many of the news and sports programs presented to us are a lot more sensationalistic than they need to be.

Many mundane news stories are presented to us as if they are of vital, national importance. The slightest tilt in the stock market is covered as if it is the end of life as we know it. I know the market can be a good barometer of where our country is economically, but sometimes investors just need to grow a backbone and calm down.

The older I get the more I realize that I am happier when I turn the television off. It can be a bad presence in my house.

Maybe I am the only one who feels this way. However, I don't think so.

Television hurts holiday season?

Thanksgiving was on Thursday, and I hope everybody got to spend time celebrating the holiday in a meaningful way.

It's hard to believe that another year is already winding down, but 2008 only has a little more than a month left.

As we observed Thanksgiving, we all should have taken some time to consider the parts of our life for which we are grateful. It's great to be an American, and the freedom we enjoy is just one of the many things for which we should feel gratitude.

However, it doesn't mean that we don't have challenges facing us.

The economy is slumping, and there seems to be a general sense of uneasiness in our land. This uneasiness is especially rammed home if a person spends a lot of time watching the many all-news channels that we have at our disposal.

Negativity and endless analysis of that negativity rule the day. At least, that is the way it seems to me.

Because of this negativity, an obvious question is: How much does this impact people?

Obviously, the media has a responsibility to report the news even if there is a lot of bad news right now. However, too much negativity must influence people in some way.

Consider this finding that was discovered as part of the General Social Survey, according to Yahoo! News.

According to that survey, people who identify themselves as unhappy people watch a lot more television than those who say they are happy.

The survey's findings showed that unhappy people watch 30 percent more television than happy folks. Unhappy people watch 25 hours of television per week compared to only 19 hours by happy people. The survey was of 30,000 Americans between 1975 and 2006.

The survey, however, did not determine whether unhappiness caused people to watch more television or if the actual viewing caused the unhappiness. It did state that happy people attended more religious services, voted more, and read newspapers more often than the unhappy television watchers.

I thought these findings were especially interesting because of the time of year we are in. Among other things, the holiday season is a time of togetherness when people spend extra time with family and friends.

However, a lot of people don't have access to family and friends. The void caused by this isolation and loneliness has to be filled some way, and it would be natural that television would help fill that void.

Perhaps the extent in which a person depends on television plays a role in personal happiness. While a person needs a certain amount of privacy, there is a fine line between enjoying privacy and being cut off from the world.

Television is one of the greatest inventions of the last 100 years, but like any invention, bad results can occur if it is overused. The entertainment it provides can be good, but if we overindulge we may find ourselves cut off from the very things we need to help our happiness.

As the results of this survey show, people who are happier tend to have a more well-rounded life that includes activities outside the home with less television watching.

Whether we care to admit it or not, we all need each other. Television may help some people temporarily escape the unhappiness they are feeling, but in the long run, it is them that will suffer the consequences of choosing television over interacting with others.

Don't make the mistake of falling into that trap.

It will only hurt you and others around you.