No, this isn't some insightful Blog post, or even a good description of my recent 17 day trip to Europe. You only get to hear my rant about reality TV today, everything else must wait...
Okay, some of you would like a medical update... I will oblige. I am still alive & kicking. The kicking may have to do with a restless leg syndrome while I sleep. Just kidding. About the "Jimmy Legs" that is. I am healthy and doing well*. Next MRI is June 19th, with results June 27th. Nicole's birthday is June 29th, so I'm thinking I get off pretty easy for a gift this year... A CLEAN SCAN!!! Our health care system even pays for it!?! What a great country :)
*(for a person with a terminal illness / malignant brain tumour)
So has anyone else noticed there seem to be more commercials than ever before? I'm not sure that for every one hour of "programming" there is even 2/3 of "show". I'd bet 20 minutes of each hour are ads. Not only that, most "shows" are merely 'reality TV' which by necessity must "recap" everything that was just shown before commercials. I assume they do this as the break was so long they assume their target audience (of questionable IQ) has probably forgotten what they were even watching. So coming back from commercials your favourite "reality" show spends 5 minutes showing you what you already saw before the break. Keep in mind most of these shows give a preview of what you will be watching in order to convince you to watch their show (lest you flip past "When elevator doors attack" to catch the latest "Overweight hillbilly family who can't speak English real good like") at the beginning of the episode. I have come to the conclusion that the average "hour" of TV breaks down as such:
-3-5 minute intro
-21 minutes commercials
-15 minutes "recapping" after commercials
-2 minutes credits
-1 minute preview of next week's show
-------------------------------------------------
= 16-18 minutes of actual programming
Granted my numbers are purely speculative (and likely wrong), but I'm willing to bet percentage-wise Reality TV shows would match NFL football games (with instant replays, half-time, and commercials removed) in terms of "Actual-Minutes-of-Entertainment-Enjoyed" vs. "Minutes-of-Life-Wasted").
To put that all in comparison, you have likely just wasted 10-12 minutes reading this blog post. In that time you could have gotten the "gist" of your favourite show on TLC (or most of the ads run during that show). My point? You have made the foolish assumption I started this blog post with one in mind. That'll learn ya! I'm tired and going to bed now. #readabook
