Sunday, September 23, 2007

I think I've been watching too much TV!
So much so, that I think I'm beginning to hallucinate...but you be the judge:

My life seems to be defined by television commercials. Or, at least, when the commercials come on. For when they do, that's my license to get up and get something to eat, or take care of, well, other functions. I'm not alone; it's well documented that during commercial breaks, use of the plumbing rises for that little bit of time. And, if you watch the cable networks, there's even MORE commercials...so that means I could leave the house when the first commercial comes on, drive into town, get groceries and come back before the last commercial in the break airs. Well, it feels like that, anyway. If the cable channels' commercial breaks get much longer, they're going to have to change things 'round. I can just hear it now..."These commercials are brought to you by the following TV program..."

But I'm beginning to see things...things which aren't even in the commercials. Maybe it's divine inspiration, or perhaps it's media burnout, or maybe even, I'm having a major mental meltdown. Which is always possible. Case in point...I saw another one of those "Boniva" commercials which features Sally Field, the petite actress who seems to be prematurely aging...maybe it's the effects of her osteoporosis at work, but on those commercials, watch her closely; she seems a little "shaky" somehow, like there's an exceptionally bad case of nerves going on. But she makes it thru the Boniva commercials. She only has to take one of those pills a month. Geeze, I hope she can handle that. Anyway, while watching that commercial, all of a sudden, I saw something else in my mind...a sort of "separated at birth" thing...because seeing Sally Field reminded me of someone else. Am I way off-base here? You decide...



I am not kidding, when I saw Sally Field, all of a sudden, in my distorted brain, up popped Katie Couric. One thing for sure, what with all the negative press Ms. Couric has received ever since she assumed the helm of CBS news, I am positive Ms. Field wouldn't trade places with Ms. Couric for all the Boniva in the world. Although, if Katie has osteoporosis, and her news gig doesn't work out, Sally may have some serious competition...and if Sally loses her gig, she could always go over and apply at CBS news, since Ms. Field and Ms. Couric are basically interchangeable. If Sally can read a commercial script, she oughta be able to read a news script. Unless, of course, she should contract osteoporosis of the jawbone...

Actually, that wasn't my biggest shock of the night. Not nearly as shocking as watching Katie Couric pretend to be a serious newsperson, anyway. For, I saw another TV commercial; you know, one of those which are supposed to appeal to a certain age demographic of which I am a member by using music that I (and the rest of my demographic) grew up listening to. This commercial is supposed to make me drool and salivate enough to make me crawl on my hands and knees to my nearest Chevy dealership and buy 3 or 4 huge, gas-guzzling big pseudo-van-type vehicles. And the background music in the commercial? It began with, "If You Want It, HERE IT IS, Come and get it...", you know, the old song by Badfinger. And since the latest Chevy sale is for a LIMITED TIME ONLY, you'd better...(back to the song here) "make your mind up FAAAAST." Oh, crafty, aren't they, those ad-people?
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Oh, by the way...as if Paul McCartney needs any more money...guess who makes megabucks each time the Chevy commercial airs...he wrote "Come and Get It"...and I'll bet he's never even BEEN in a Chevy.

3 Comments:

Blogger Mari Meehan said...

How cool! You've just illustrated the perfect example of how the lines between news and entertainment have been blurred!

10:46 AM  
Blogger Lil ol' me... said...

Hi, Mari...you know, I didn't even think about that angle...I was focusing more on how trivial both ladies seem to be. I wonder how Walter Cronkite feels about the present-day news anchors...it would probably make Edward R. Murrow roll over in his grave. How about that, though...I addressed the "big picture" without knowing I'd created one!

11:07 PM  
Blogger Lil ol' me... said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

11:07 PM  

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