I was searching for Elvis and somehow ended up in your blog, but you know I’m sure I saw Elvis in the supermarket yesterday.

No honest really, he was right there in front of me, next to the steaks singing “Love me Tender”.

He said to me (his lip was only slightly curled) “Boy, you need to get yourself a shiny, new plasmatv to go with that blue suede sofa of yours.

But Elvis said I, In the Ghetto nobody has a plasma tv .

Dude I’m All Shook Up said Elvis. I think I’ll have me another cheeseburger then I’m gonna go home and ask Michael Jackson to come round and watch that waaaay cool surfing scene in Apocalypse Now on my new plasma tv .

And then he just walked out of the supermarket singing. . .

“You give me love and consolation,
You give me strength to carry on “

Strange day or what?

If you want the 8 in parens, you have to put a space

(8 )

Otherwise

(8)

Which explains why I like The O.C. so much. I stand for crass consumerism.

Rick, you have been sucked into the CBS comedy vortex, and no one can help you now. Doubtless you also enjoy Everybody Loves Raymond. Nothing wrong with that — these are perfectly good cream puff comedies. But there is much better stuff out there. Wednesdays at 9 pm — which is when KoQ airs — there is certainly not a lot else on TV. But you’re better off reading a good book or re-grouting your shower stall.

King of the Hill is a favorite, but it doesn’t air in prime time (7 pm, I think). My favorite episode is the one with the tornado. Can’t explain why, really.

As for The Simpsons, well, no amount of praise can satisfy you fanboys!!

Wife Swap is the only show on TV I watch–the passive agressive stuff between the new mom and the rest oft he family is just too funny to pass up. I like it so much that I called a friend of mine who works in D.C. and told her she had to watch it. She is big into junk T.V. so I knew she would appreciate it. Her brother, BTW, writes for the King of Queens. The one where they start going to different movies and sleeping in different beds, that was his. Only episode I ever watched–the show just seems dumb.

But actually, you’re voicing the reason why these shows are so popular, and why I like Cops — they show a world, presumably our own, which is totally off-kilter and at odds with our environment. The real problem is that as we watch more and more of these shows, we can’t help but be influenced by them in some way. The behaviors become less and less outrageous, and we require more intense stimulation to retain our interest (hence Fear Factor!).

In this sense, reality TV is like pr0n for the average viewer. We get overstimulated and crave more of it.