A very special episode of LibbyLogic

I love "This American Life." For those of you unfamiliar (troglodytes) it is a magazine radio show on NPR hosted by Ira Glass. I like it not only because I think it makes me a better person no matter how many bottles of non-organic milk I buy or how hard I laugh at movies starring Adam Sandler, but also because it can be almost as funny as I am. Yes, at times it becomes almost as preachy as I am, but often it is just fun. This weekend's show fell somewhere in between. It was about TV. And, of course, being NPR, it was not about how great television is.

Whenever I come across critical discussions of television I immediately am on the defensive. After all, this is the medium that has fed me and clothed me for almost my entire life. My father is in TV, my grandfather is in TV, two of my uncles are in TV. My middle name might as well be Sylvania. So, you can see why I bristle any time someone starts a conversation with "I don't even own a TV."

Teacher, Mother, Secret Lover

I don't feel this makes me a TV apologist. I know there is a lot of crap out there. I've even produced some of it. But I think to dismiss a whole medium just because of "According to Jim" is a bit like hating all music just because Meatloaf is still selling records. And I know that some of you are saying "but there's no educational value to television" -- but really, does everything has to be educational? Isn't there time for learning fractions AND laughing at monkeys dressed like people? Not even all books are educational -- for those of you who "prefer reading to the boob tube." Hello, Michael Crichton?

I think its time everyone put down their petty biases and give their television a hug. Not only because it deserves it, but because eventually it will take over the universe. After all, even "This American Life" now has a television show...