Saturday, August 06, 2005

Blinded by the Trite

I was just surfing the channels here in the newsroom and discovered that the in-house cable system carries Current -- the Al Gore channel! I nagged for three years to get Fox News in the newsroom but they plopped the Algore channel onto the system right out of the chute. I've managed to watch for a full half-hour, but feel a tension headache coming on . I'm either too old, or my taste is too good. I get the distinct impression that this channel would be far more impressive if viewed under the influence of some mind-altering drug. They're paying $1,000 per piece for their features -- called pods. They are basically 5 to 9-minute mini-documentaries about anything that interests the producers. Unfortunately, they are not about anything that interests me. One of my uber-liberal co-workers just walked up to tell me she couldn't believe how boring this channel is. Nothing but random shots backed by rock music. So far as the pledge that this station would not be political, well that went out the window with the newscast -- presented by some shabbily dressed young punk who couldn't resist a snotty remark about CAFTA. Luckily, my cable system at home doesn't carry it, so I don't have to consult the manuals to learn how to deprogram it from three TVs, a TiVO and eight VCRs. I'm taking the rest of the night off. My head is throbbing.

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