What is the deal with MSNBC's weekend programming?
After several years of teevee abstinence, I got cable late last year so I could follow the primaries and elections. I will likely cancel it after the general election, if not sooner, because I can be condescended to in much better ways. For instance, I could file a complaint with my building's property manager.
I guess I chose MSNBC to follow election coverage. There is something about Wolf Blitzer that makes me hateful, FOX is obviously out, so there you have it.
I could go on and on about my disgust with how most of the media handles everything, how it peeks at thin and lingers in irrelevance, save just a few reservoirs of common sense yet dried; but what I find bizarrely disturbing is MSNBC's weekend programming.
Why are there so many shows on murder and prisons?
Am I a prude? I can't tell. I didn't use to be. Should I be enjoying these shows on my days off? Do other people find this entertaining or having some value?
I find it really morbid that MSNBC offers this kind of stimulation during the weekends. I guess they show Lockup during the week, too, right at dinner time.
Yesterday, starting at 1 o'clock PM, MSNBC aired "Death and the Dentist", a cozy little story about "apparent suicides of two women in different cities and 14 years apart are shown to have a common link: Dr. Barton Corbin, a dentist who was boyfriend to one and husband to the other."
At 2 o'clock PM, MSNBC aired "Murder in the Moonlight", a heart warming tale of a couple shot up one night while walking on the beach. The woman died and the man was convicted of killing her, even though he was shot too. I am sorry I missed it. It was two hours long.
At 4 o'clock MSNBC Investigates presented an in depth profile of some sick bastard named Michael Ross who strangled 4 teenage girls in the 1980's. Thank you for this program. I believe it likely contained much useful information. I really get into stories about people who strangle girls.
Women can kill too, as the 5 o'clock program, "Deadly Exchange" informs us. This is a case study of the 2007 slaying of Meredith Kercher by, allegedly, exchange student Amanda Knox.
Edgar Allen Poe was a pussy.
Next Saturday there is like a "To Catch A Predator" marathon with hours of "Predator Raw: The Unseen Tapes"... bookended by Tim Russert. I have never watched these Predator shows. Should I?
Since Tim Russert sucks you should skip the next hour and come back when "Diagnosis Murder", "Murderous Obsession" "LockUp" and "Who Shot the Sheriff" run back to back and then repeatedly for the rest of the night...
... and right into Sunday Morning with "Terror in North Hollywood" starting at 6 am. Resuming at 1 pm is "Broken Vows" a story of a priest who killed a woman, then at 2 pm there is "Into the Woods" which is a story about a 14 year old girl who gets kidnapped and imprisoned in a bunker for a decade. Of course, that one is a two hour special. At 4 pm a guy gets murdered, finally, in "Unlocking the Past", a cutely titled story of a woman who kills her psychologist husband. At 5 pm is "Deadly Secret" which is about a woman who was slayed by her 14 year old daughter. The daughter didn't reveal this information until years later, therefore the secret, which was deadly.
For an hour there is Russert again and then at 7 pm we are off to "San Quentin: Extended Stay" until 2 am.
That's 7 hours of time on San Quentin.
In all seriousness, am I the only one who finds this a tasteless and morbid distraction?
There is so much out there in the world that is rich in substance and information, that is of importance and value, that can add to a healthy and informed life, and on the weekends what MSNBC shows over and over and over again is murder and prison life.
Am I not getting it? It's very possible. I don't get stuff a lot.