I go to church for preaching

I usually watch TV for one of two reasons: sports or entertainment. I'm getting frustrated with the entertainment portion of my TV watching. I'm fairly certain by next year I'll only be watching TV for sports. Since I don't get cable this means I may not be watching TV at all.




I like watching sitcoms. Specifically, sitcoms that make me laugh. Nothing fancy or sophisticated. I liked "Cheers", "Seinfeld", and even "Friends" - even though I don't admit that one in public. I also like "Sunny in Philadelphia" but I don't really consider that a sitcom - I'm not sure what that show is. Like I said, nothing too high-brow.


I started watching "Modern Family" last season. It started out great - great acting, great situations, and great humor. My wife and I loved it. Many of my friends also enjoyed it. It seemed like it was destined to be a great sitcom. Then is started to change midway through the season. It started preaching. Preaching? Yes, preaching. The episodes started to have some central meaning that was explained throughout the show: what it means to be a dad, what family is all about, how to cope with family, etc.. I don't watch a comedy sitcom to learn "what it means to be a dad". I watch a comedy sitcom to LAUGH. Stop preaching to me and just make me laugh please.


I've also noticed that a lot of television programming - including kid cartoons and commercials - all try to tell people how to live. During commercial breaks there is usually at least one commercial telling me how to be more green, or be a better parent, or how to get in shape. My kids' cartoon shows seem to always be telling them how not to bully or how to include everyone. What the hell happened to superheroes or a coyote falling off a cliff?


I guess the "programming" part of television programming is being taking literally.


Time to throw the damn thing out.