Once Upon Daytime TV

For Monday, November 28, 2011

With an aching back keeping me out of work today I managed to make it down the stairs from my bedroom to the couch in the family room. I tried to do some work but it felt awkward to hold papers up over my head in an attempt to read and mark them. So I put away the folders of papers and got hold of the television remote control. Flipping through the channels I had a difficult time finding a show that was worth watching. The choices were trashy, dark, or otherwise disturbing. On one channel there were people standing in a televised court room. On another people were showing up at a hoarder’s home with “Got Junk?” trucks in tow. Another pair of channels featured alcohol and drug interventions televised alongside a fashion police duo awarding $5000 to a woman whose crime appears to be a set of shoulder pads. I put the remote down and returned to my work.

When my children arrived home from school my daughter and I turned to our dvr taping of our favorite new series, a modern take on fairy tales, a show brimming with magic and make-believe. As we follow the tale’s twists and turns, Emma and I root for the good guys and mock the bad guys. We make predictions and guess at which fairy tales will weave themselves into the plot next.

Daytime TV leaves little to the imagination. It is true that the scenarios of true life are often stranger than fiction but I find it hard to be entertained by the frailties of fellow human beings as depicted on daytime tv. It’s true I watch several reality shows in the evening but the contestants on The Amazing Race or Survivor seem a bit more prepared for what will occur when the cameras are rolling than do the individuals who are battling emotional or mental issues on the shows that others deem to be entertaining.

Tomorrow, if I should have to take another day off from work, I think I’ll try a game show or two. Or better yet, a book.