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Television has let me down lately

Maybe I watch too much TV, but it seems that the networks are sucking the life out of all the mainstream TV shows. I’m not referring to the sitcoms and comedies, but rather the “live” tv. I don’t know if the producers are dumbing it down or if the TV king proclaimed shows should be this way now, but it sucks.

American Gladiators, for example, is being raped of its values. It use to be all about mullets and gladiators like Nitro saying “You got after it bro! I LOVE it!” with a true passion for the competition. Whether or not Nitro spends all his free-time working out to prove his manhood to his father, doesn’t matter. When they spoke in front of the camra it was real. Now, the gladiators are told by producers to grunt before each event and they probably have a list of remarks to shout before and after. Even the competitors seem like actors.

‘Are you smarter than a 5th grader?’ (yes I have watched it) is only fun because I want to see how many of the questions I can answer. But with 20 minutes of purposely planned interupting commercials, it’s just not worth the pain of an hour to go through 10 questions. Why the hell is that on TV anyways?

There is still hope for TV with shows like The Office and Flight of the Concords, but mainstream TV is heading downhill.

Ney-sayers

There is nothing that sucks worse than ney-sayers, people who continuously shoot down ideas and thoughts for no apparent reason.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you can picture a man yelling “ney!” to all the suggestions of others. They take the wind out of your sails and then torch your boat like the “Smokers” from Waterworld.

There are multiple types of ney-sayers, and they also come in mixed breeds, much like dogs can be mutts:

 The event ney-sayer stands out the most though:

Happiness Enthusiast:      “hey, how about we head over to Cindy’s?

Ney-Sayer:                         “It’s almost 11, what if they aren’t there?

Happiness Enthusiast:            “What else should we do then?”

Ney-Sayer:                         “I mean, I heard it might rain tonight.”

Happiness Enthusiast:         ”…..(Sigh)……”

It’s hard enough to coordinate a night of fun when nothing is happening, but this individual counters any plan you put on the table. Sure it’s only one person in a group, but if any of their bullshit reasons put doubt into the heads of your friends, there is a chance you are going to be sitting around looking at each other for the rest of the night. When they do give a reason for shooting you down, its normally half-ass.

Weather is not a reason to avoid plans or to call it the night. There are tools humans invented to make life easier on earth. “It’s cold outside”- man invented the jacket. “It’s raining”- umbrellas and roofs. I’m pretty sure that we encounter water every day in showers and cups, it’s really not that intimidating. Would your grandfather approve of the logic to stay in because of the weather? The same man that trekked miles in the snow, wearing a pre-Northface coat which resembled a quilt with sleeves and a zipper, to hang with his friends by listening to an AM radio for fun? You sicken me, ney-sayer.

A lot of the time there is an underlying reason for ney-saying. When your ‘friend’ suggests that nobody goes out on Friday nights anymore, ask yourself, what is their inclination to say this? Sometimes you can use CSI-like deductive reasoning to discover that, in fact, a girl has turned your ‘friend’ into this monster. By using other reasons to say no to an idea, they are able to duck out without being accused of being whipped. I know, it’s a sad world.

Realize that Ney-sayers can be shut down by just getting the ball rolling. Forcing yourself to get up and do something will most likely get other followers, and also kindly tell Negative Nancy to stfu. Even if Nancy doesn’t end up bringing her one-man pity party, she can figure out ney-saying isn’t the way in solitude.

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