I try not to watch TV commercials, especially during the five, six and 10 o'clock new hours. If I'm viewing a movie over on Channel 48 or 49, I'll mute the ad and either catch up on my reading -- usually Rural Arkansas, The Writer or Harpers. Sometimes, I continue reconciling my bank statements. (Would you believe I'm four months behind?)
Sometimes at social gatherings, i. e. lunches after bell rehearsals, I hear someone say, "Did you see that commercial..." and everyone but me will nod or laugh or react in some way. I've even heard a person say he watches nothing BUT commercials. Eek!
But back to the news. When a commercial comes on, I flip to a neighboring channel. One night last week... Well, here are my notes:
"At 5:16, all channels from two through 10 were on break except for the PBS station which has been off the air 'until February 19.' The switch from analog to digital, you know. That cut out most of my Friday and Saturday nights programs: Arkansas Week, the McLaughlin Group, and the BritComs.
"I can usually depend on CNN (Ch. 2 on my set) to be there, with their ubiquitous and exaggerated gravitas, but tonight, no Wolf. No David.
"Channel 4 - Lifeline and Reba, my favorite sit-com rerun, is also "gone." Channels 5 and 8, local NBC, ABC affiliates respectively -- all out to break. ESPN, channel 6, like CNN, is alway there. But not this time. Even the Weather Channel ( channel 7) is in advertising mode. Channel 9, which can be depended on for a cartoon or game show, or Sex in the City -- out to "lunch."
"The CBS affiliate, Channel 10, (KATV)'s news is on, but I've made a vow not to watch D. S., whom the station had hired back from the West Coast, giving the boot to an excellent male anchor. Oh, she had paid her dues, all right. I remember her as a fresh young reporter in blue jeans and pony tail trailing the survivors of a tornado in this area."
I don't suppose the local powers-that-be could get together and space their breaks more conveniently for us? Naw. That might be too easy.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Not only are most of the commercials obnoxious, they are louder than the regular programing. I don't "get" many of them today and I don't like the ones I do get. I hate watching movies with commercial breaks. You get five minutes of movie and six minutes of commercials. I guess TIVO or some other recording device might allow you to see the recorded replay and fast forward when the commercials come on. Pappy
ReplyDelete