Why Is Television So Horrid

The following is a typical conversation between the wife and I. "What's on television tonight"? Answer: "Nuthin'" Think about how many times you've checked out the guide on your cable and come up with the same response. I've still never received a qualified response to my observation of a few years ago. Since there are so many reality shows on television there have to be a plethora of good, talented writers sitting at coffee houses, reading the want ads and wondering why their writing skills aren't being used. There are some excellent scripts being written and most of these are on cable stations. I'm referring to Major Crimes, Fargo, Murder in the First, The Bridge, Terrorist and come January, Justified. But let's face it, as Newton Minnow the Federal Communications Director said in a speech in 1961, "television is a vast wasteland". The more things change the more they stay the same or something like that.
I'm always up for an excellent comedy show but seemingly the only ones available don't allow for intelligent humor. My very favorite comedy series in the early days were Andy of Mayberry, Sanford and Son, All in the Family and Cheers. The very best of them all, in my opinion, is Seinfeld. I was talking with my neighbor about Seinfeld and he related how he disliked it because he doesn't understand Jewish humor. "What are you talking about", I asked? In hindsight Jerry is Jewish, I think, and the only other Jewish person I can recall is Dr. Tim Whatley(starred in Breaking Bad) who converted to Judaism from Catholic at Jerry's dismay. Seinfeld was upset that Whatley felt he could start telling Jewish jokes. Regardless, some of the funniest episodes were sports related. George was employed by the Yankees for a couple of years and he offered nitwit fodder for a series of episodes. I came across twenty clips of sports themed shows from Seinfeld and I laughed myself silly watching them. Who doesn't like a good belly laugh?
http://msn.foxsports.com/buzzer/story/seinfeld-top-sports-moments-070214