Everything Incendiary

Something I've been wondering about off and on for a while now, and I'm curous if anyone else has the same thoughts I do... (listening to "Screaming Infidelities" by Dashboard Confessional)

So... I'm walking through Target this morning, waiting for the sushi guy to get his act together and put out today's fresh raw seafood covered in rice and yummy goodness when I pass by the TV wall. You all know the TV wall at Target. Fully half of these TVs are showing (mostly) bad music videos from the "Target Network," while the other half are showing horrible daytime TV. Now, I'm walking by them and what catches my ear is the phrase, "He's going to leave you? How do you know? Ray? Are you going to leave her?"

BACKSTORY FOLLOWS:
Trishelle is an extremely overweight woman who is (married? living with? lovers with?) her man, Ray. Maury Povich, in his infinite wisdom and philanthropy has decided to confront Ray with the information that Trishelle has taken to whoring herself out for money to support their two children.

Ray... I'm really feeling for Ray right now. He obviously loves this woman, they've got two kids and have been together for four years. He has to find out on National Television that his wife has been cheating on hime with... survey says-- at least THIRTY other men. And while Ray is trying to soak all of this in, he has to deal with Maury asking him, "You're not going to leave Trishelle, are you?"

FADE TO FANTASY WHERE I'M RAY:
Maury: "Ray? You're not going to leave Trishelle, are you?"
Me: "Well, Shit, Maury... let me think about this for just a second. I mean, I know that you're gonna want an answer to that question before you cut to a commercial break so you and your viewers can either applaud my chivalry or boo my boorishness. I know all this Maury, but give me just a minute to deal with the fact that my wife has been sleeping with the equivalent of a Major League Baseball team including pitching staff before I decide if I'm okay with that."
Maury: "Didn't you just say a few minutes ago that you're in love with this woman?"
(pause)
Me: "Hmm... Gosh, kind of a lot's happened since then, Maury."

And this is by no means the deviation from the standard of Modern Day television. What the hell is going on that people actually want to watch this trash? If you're a fan of the reality TV kick lately, then by all means, you should have stopped reading this post already. But, much like the Atkins kick, I think this is the stupidest thing ever. Television, for me, should be an escape from reality. Where I can walk alongside Kunta Kinte (Roots) and know what it was like to be there at that time, or laugh at families or groups of friends who can make the machine auto-laugh every ten seconds. (I'll bet I could get laughs like that if I had a team of six writers working forty hours a week on my jokes)

If I want to watch ugly people haggle over whether or not it's a good idea to incorporate their friends into their BDSM lifestyle, I'll pick up some extra hours at work.