Word: abc
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...ABC, on the other hand, is virtually daring us not to watch. More TV ads ($40 million buys a lot of advertising) show flickering bug zappers and mounds of gelatin and ask, "TV. What would you watch without it?" But, as low ratings demonstrate, the public has already accepted that dare and is looking for entertainment elsewhere...
Whenever the ads run longer than a few words, ABC's confusion becomes even more evident. A one-page essay-style ad that appeared on the back of TV Guide shows that ABC, if pressed to express its views in more than a quick catch-phrase, can't decide whether TV is brainlessly inconsequential or culturally important. The essay starts out by proclaiming that TV is not a "Boob Tube" or "Idiot Box," directing angry and defensive words at no one in particular. "For years, the pundits, moralists, and self-righteous, self-appointed preservers of our culture have told...
There's a good reason why ABC can't make up its mind about television's role in American culture. The major networks are always scrambling to read the public's mind in search of a hit show, so original programs are rarely given a chance while trendier, derivative material easily finds its way onto the air. (Remember the season of failed "Friends" clones a few years ago?) Quality and originality might actually help ABC out of its ratings slump. But the fall schedule shows no signs of change, full of familiar-sounding shows like "Genie," a 90's version...
...messages. The last line of the essay in TV Guide, just after the celebration of cerebral-free non-activity, asks the reader to "climb the highest figurative mountaintop and proclaim, with all the vigor and shrillness that made Roseanne a household name, that TV is good." But "Roseanne," an ABC success that ended its run last season, always required a cerebrum for optimum enjoyment...
...ABC keeps tempting us to stare at bug zappers and gelatin instead of watching whatever they're filling the airwaves with, we might take them up on the challenge. Or, more likely, pick up a good book...