Just shoot me

Seduced by a glowing review of the season premiere of a television series, I spent an hour watching -- or rather cringing from -- the premier of '24' on the Fox network. The review was right in that the show had high production values and very high quality direction. But the characters are all two-dimensional, and the dialogue was so third rate. So I was sitting there, my heart pounding -- because the direction and editing were done well, and I was manipulated just like anybody else would be -- while continually striking my forehead at the painful dialogue and plot twists. If it's any sign of how good or successful the program was, as soon as the ending of the episode was given away, two minutes before it ended, I turned the show off. What kind of thriller gives away the ending ahead of time?

And if you're some network researcher trolling blogs for opinions, take note: I zapped the commercials, and while they were on, I watched the stupid Elvis movie on AMC.

There's really something wrong with this country if entertainment is supposed to be getting brought to a sickening edge of tension and fear at the thought of Turkish (read Muslim) terrorists assassinating the Secretary of Defense. If terrorists assassinated Rumsfield, part of me would fucking cheer. Fuck you, Rumsfield! -- And that's the mood I'm in after watching something like that. The hell with it.