Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Degeneres To A Fault

Happily, I've been kept very busy for the past few days with my mother's visit, and I have yet to plop down on the couch for some good old-fashioned TV time. It is precisely times like these that make me recall the marquee I saw in front of a Hooters in Boulder so many years ago. It read: Hard Choice - Go To Work Or Daytime TV. You might expect that in the intervening years with the advent of digital on demand high definition cable television that the choices would have evolved to such a point that a day or two of comfortable entertainment could be eked out while waiting for the working week to return in all its glory.
Not so. There is still a lot of barely watchable programming out there, and I will not be the one who stands, or sits, by and watches it unfold. Most of this is based solely on my limited attention span, but some of it comes from a sense of mild outrage with Ellen Degeneres. Ellen, who had to take a day off a month ago to cope with her feelings about her adopted dog who she gave up to her hairdresser and was subsequently taken back by the rescue organization that had a contract with Ms. Degeneres - Ooops! Did I say "contract"? That's exactly the reason that she uses for continuing to show up and produce her show, in spite of the fact that she is a Writers Guild member, who are currently on strike. Her representatives say, "Ellen is competing with other first-run syndicated shows that are delivering original programming like Dr. Phil, Regis and Kelly and Oprah during the competitive November sweeps period." None of these individuals, by the way, belong to the WGA except for Ms. Degeneres.
I understand that as work actions go, I'm no Jimmy Hoffa, but when a millionaire chooses not to make a stand for her fellow union members, then it makes me glad that I have something else to do besides watching her show. What time does "Judge Judy" start?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Oh, that Judge Judy is a well-knowed union buster. What do you think she uses the gavel for?