All television is educational television. The question is: what is it teaching?
– Nicholas Johnson
Being back in Illinois has meant an inordinate amount of television viewing. I have been known to marathon view entire runs of television shows from time to time, but those are usually through iTunes or Netflix.
No, being home has meant honest-to-goodness television (though I’m uncertain how much honesty or goodness I’ve been taking in.
Yesterday, this commercial for State Farm Insurance ran during a show I was watching with my mom:
“Why is it only the guys who get the cool stuff,” my mom asked.
“Because the women are out attending and rating the weddings of three strangers,” I explained, referencing the TLC program Four Weddings we were watching at the time.
I wasn’t worried that the men were able to afford the toucans and moose heads as their beleaguered wives looked on, because the husbands of the four brides competing on the show were looking on in a similar manner.
I’ve been away from broadcast television for a while. It’s nice to see were doing a better job of making everyone appear foolish.
Except Flo: