I
know why Elvis shot the TV
by
Lisa Monti
This
is a vulnerable time of year when many workplaces feel the
effects of the flu spreading through their ranks, and the
newsroom has been no exception. I spent most of last week
home in the company of my own germs, recouping from the flu
only to lapse into a case of cabin fever.
Undoubtedly
I had put the gris-gris on myself for bragging about last
year's perfect attendance record while friends and co-workers
fell by the wayside. If there was any good that came out of
the week, it was this: I think I've figured out why Elvis
shot out his television set.
But
let's put aside any discussion of daytime TV programming for
a moment. The immediate challenge at week's end was how to
turn out a weekend column when the week was a washout, literally
and figuratively. Columns are borne of news events, interviews,
observations, e-mail and such, but with limited access at
home, it was going to be a challenge, an opportunity, as they
say.
Even
the access I had available, namely the Internet, was spotty,
fueling a long-standing suspicion that bad vibes, negative
ions and frayed nerves do take the edge off technology. It's
just a theory.
So
back to daytime television. Why is it that fictional lawyer
Matlock is so likeable when real-life Morris and Michael,
with their slick promises of big checks for accident victims,
are so annoying? And successful, apparently, judging from
the back-to-back spots they buy during daytime. I'm telling
you, these boys own the airwaves.
And
so do the pharmaceutical companies, whose latest approach
to marketing is suggesting we just might have adult ADD or
another lesser known malady for which we can find a fix if
we ask our physician for a certain prescription. This is the
new wave in medicine marketing, mark my words.
Which
brings us back to Elvis.
After
a few days (or nights) of soaps, talk-show sob stories, morons
making their cases in TV courtrooms and promises of pills
that make weight just fall off, the King probably had just
had enough. And that was before cable, which at least offers
some refuge in Bravo, The Weather Channel and any number of
human and household makeover shows. In the meantime, I will
store up on Vitamin C and new batteries for the remote.
(News,
Source: The Sun Herald, Soth Mississippi, USA, 6 Feb 2005)
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