"The Usenet Oracle" > INTERNET:oracle@cs.indiana.edu
Answer #Qa10835, the Oracle requires an

You wrote:
 
> Honourable oracle,
>
>
> Why do I have to watch televison while there's a bad Movie, there are a lot
> of exellent movies, are they too expensive?.
> HD
 
To answer your query concerning bad movies on TV and your being forced to
watch it the all seeing Oracle has looked deep into the mists of the past.
The Oracle found that in the time of your great grandfather there were no
bad movies on TV.  So, how then did this present deplorable state of affairs
come to pass?
 
In days of yore there were church socials, pie suppers, square dances,
moonlight strolls with damsels, the Grand Ole Opry, and an occasional
hanging.  It was found that all these entertainments involved activity on
the part of the citizen and were therefore inefficient.  So great effort was
expended to separate the person from the entertainment.  The result was TV.
The citizen could now be entertained with little or no effort on his part,
especially when he came to possess the ubiquitous remote.
 
TV broadcasts were from mid morning until midnight and the time was filled
with comedies, variety shows, quiz shows, westerns, game shows, detective
shows and, sometimes, plays.  People were limited to three networks.  This,
however, left ten hours or so per day when the masses were left to their own
devices and ofttimes they were impatient with only three networks from
which to choose.  That could not be tolerated so we soon had 24 hour cable
television with up to 500 channels.  At this point the primary problem seems
to be remote thumb syndrome because too much effort is still required for
channel surfing.
 
At any one time though there are probably not over ten or twenty movies
available, so times naturally occur when only a bad movie is available.
Mathematics shows why this may be the case.  People do not like to watch
movies they have already seen.  Also their attention span seems to be
limited to one and one-half or two hours.  This means that taking time out
for sleep and some time for watching TV other than movies, each person needs
about six new movies per day to stay entertained.  Unfortunately with the
present technological level and writing skills at the major studios, of six
movies per day produced, one or two will turn out to be bad movies such as
Gone With the Wind, The Sound of Music, Citizen Kane, etc.  They can't all
star Sly Stallone, Arnold Swarzenagger, Bruce Willis, etc.
 
Therefore you, prone supplicant, are forced to watch bad movies at times.
Have no fear though, all the forces of Hollywood are at work on your problem
and someday bad movies will be stamped out and you can watch all day and all
night without seeing a single one.
 
In payment to the Oracle please send a copy of "Attack of the Killer
Tomatoes".