AMEN!
I have a deep, dark confession to make: I watch * The Young and the Restless. * Outrage almost paralyzed me when they interrupted the show to bring “Live team coverage!” of the hometown football team returning from The Big Game. Fifteen minutes of inane interviews, (“Well, we just went out and gave 100%!”) and analisys . . . I sent a heated e-mail to the station that the demographic who is watching daytimes soaps is unlikely to give a rat’s ass about the football team’s arrival back in town, and recieved a form e-mail in return thanking me for my interest.
“Storm Watch” interrupts programming as well, even if nothing interesting is going on at the time. A storm is on it’s way, and updates need to be given, even if they consist of “Well, it’s drizzling out here right now, Kent, but signs are things are going to get MUCH, MUCH worse!”
Then there’s the ever-pleasant Victims on Parade, complete with lingering close-ups of weeping family members. If the family is not crying, questions are seemingly designed to make them break into tears so that this can be filmed at length. What is even more bemusing is how local news tries to tie ever national tragedy to local people. “Meet the second cousin of a friend who’s neighbor knew a man who met someone who was related to a victim of the Shuttle Columbia disaster. He lives right here in our city, and we’ll be talking to him tonight, only on Action News!”