There are days when any appliance in my house is more entertaining and stimulating than the television set.  From hoarders, to goat ropers and empty headed females obsessed with their appearance, there’s not much to pique your interest in television this summer.

Daddy calls his television set  “the idiot box” and that’s not far off the mark.  The news is depressing and the Olympics are disappointing because NBC tells you who’s gonna win before they show the race, match, or game.

But my biggest disappointment has been the history channel.

You once got riveting segments on Mussolini’s Italy, followed by Modern Marvels: Making the Panama Canal, then back to back Wings of the Luftwaffe, then Secrets of the Pharaohs. Now it’s back to back “Ice Road Truckers,” followed by” Pawn Stars,” and “Extreme Marksmen.”  Not an iota of history in the lot – other than some of the guys wear cowboy hats.  That’s the sum total of historical content.

Chalk it up to crass commercialism. All those shows are programmed on their perceived popularity and how how well they sell to sponsors. So I guess someone out there is watching – thus the name idiot box – or like me they’ve fallen asleep in front of the TV out of boredom.