New episodes?

Either by happenstance, or frugal planning, several of our TV shows will be airing new episodes in the next two weeks (my TiVo subscription list lets me know these things). Tonight and next week, we get fresh ER (though this season has kind of sucked ... any port in a storm, I guess). Looks like we'll also be getting teen-oriented shows "Kyle XY" and "One Tree Hill". And ... "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles"

I sympathize with the writers 100%. There's plenty of stuff on television to entertain us, if we are truly bored. Also, we are big into movies. I keep hoping that as viewership drops off that the sponsors will pressure the studios to negotiate. As production companies find new ways to make a buck off their shows, why shouldn't the writers (the actual creative forces behind most shows) get a share from the new venues?

Rock on folks!

Death TV

With the current writers' strike, perhaps this idea will catch on in the United States. Germany's new network, Etos TV, is devoted to death and old age, the brainchild of the country's Association of Funeral Directors. In a country where nearly 800,000 people die every year, and by 2020 a third of the population will be retired, perhaps the group saw the opportunity to cater to an underserved market.

The programming will include obituaries that celebrate the lives of the recently deceased, as well as informational pieces on services related to aging and death.

Maybe AARP ought to considering sponsoring such a channel here in the U.S.?