Writer’s Rant
January 26, 2026
Brought to you by….
“Americans love the Home Shopping Network because it’s commercial free” (Will Durst)
Talk about the definition of irony. After all, you are just watching commercial after commercial without interruption.
Television certainly has evolved over the years. I remember the very fist thing I ever saw on our little black and white television. It was Peter and the Wolf and I was probably four or five years old. I don’t remember the commercials but I’m sure there must have been some. I actually used to like commercials, but only around Christmas time so I could see all the new toys that I wouldn’t be getting that year. I had to live vicariously through the commercials.
Then they came out with color tv’s. We didn’t get one right away; I think my dad wanted to wait until they came out with “improvements.” By the time we got a color tv, Star Trek was the first series that I recall seeing in color. At the time, we only got good reception on CBS and ABC. Star Trek was on NBC and the signal faded in and out frequently and I had to turn the roof antenna (which had a 20 foot rope hanging from it) to pick up even the faintest signal.
Then came cable and everything changed, even after the nation as a whole rejected, for a time, the idea of having to pay for something they could already get for free, OTA television signals. It’s kind of like having a new toll road open near you and you swear you will never pay to use that road to drive to work, but then you do anyway because you rationalize that you’re probably saving gas by avoiding all the traffic and stop lights on the local roadways. And of course, your time is worth something, so if it takes less time to get to work…
Anyway, back to television. I paid for cable for years and the cable industry had a monopoly. You could only get cable from a company like Time Warner or some other company, depending on where you lived. You had no real choice. And there were as many commercial breaks with cable tv as with broadcast tv.
Then cable TV did began offering “premier” options for commercial free programming on HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, etc. which cost you additional $$.
Then along came the internet and streaming apps. Initially, the streaming apps offered commercial-free streaming. Then they evolved into pay-extra for commercial free or sit through the commercials, just like on network TV. The networks had to fall in line because they were losing viewership and commercial dollars, so they too had to offer commercial free streaming apps, focusing primarily on day-after network programming.
Now folks, we have come full circle. You have the option of streaming apps with commercials or without if you just pay a little extra.
I long for the old days. Black and white TV was fascinating. And back then, it didn’t matter if it was a television show or a commercial. It was all new and it was all good.
Of course, before black and white tv, there was radio. “Radio is the theater of the mind; television is the theater of the mindless.” (Steve Allen)
I think maybe I’ll just listen to the radio. “Alexa, play me some radio.”