This is the first of what will probably be a series of I Don't Care posts unrelated to programming, but related to general topics on which I have an opinion. Please note the word opinion.
As you can surmise from the title, I really do not care about network television. I passed out of their interest zone nearly a decade ago when I passed beyond the hallowed 18-34 male bracket. On my 35th birthday, I fell of the Earth as far as television and their advertisers were concerned.
From my perspective, I never noticed. That was because I had been basically ignoring network TV ever since I started working after graduating from Notre Dame. The Navy kept me very busy. My time was no longer as disposable as it had been in college when MASH ruled. I used my limited evening time to watch select cable channels. I saw more programs of interest to me there. The network situation comedies seemed (and still do) to be poor, shallow attempts to reflect someone else's concept of humor. It was (and still is) boring and uninteresting.
Listen to Bill Cosby or George Carlin. They'll get you laughing.
Over the years, I have never watched Seinfeld, nor Frasier, nor Friends, and I am not in the least worse off. In fact I feel better not having subjected myself to their inanity. They current crop of programming appears to be significantly worse than ever before.
I am the advertiser's worst nightmare. I don't care about the programming they have shelled out millions to get exposure on. For me, that money was wasted and they probably don't want to know that. I am amazed that advertisers want to ignore me at a time in my life when I have more income that could be considered disposable rather than when they thought I was a (stupid, gullible, impressionable) 18-34-year-old.
That said, I will watch the Superbowl for the commercials and hope that a game appears in between them. This past January I was disappointed by the advertisers. (The efficacy of the erectile dysfunction advertising is in itself worth a laugh.)
What do I watch now? With a 8-1/2-month-old, lots of the Disney Channel. Otherwise, it is Discovery, A&E, History, news, Weather, and the like. My favorite shows? Monster Garage and American Chopper. Of course, there is computer time and lots of VHS tapes and DVDs (Baby Einstein rocks!) to keep the kid happy.
This has been said before by other people with more eloquence and a larger audience than I, but here I got to say it my way.