When TV is so bad you are relieved to watch commercials

The following came on my TV last night while I was channel surfing:



"Due to technical error, the following crappy program is on the air. The management apologizes for this situation and hopes to have it fixed soon. When the technical error is fixed your screen will go blank or be covered with snow. While waiting, please watch the following entertaining commercials."



They were right. I only saw a few minutes of the program, but it was so bad I breathed a huge sigh of relief to see a commercial for hemorrhoid medicine.



Naturally I wanted to know what was going on, so I asked my TV network expert Leon.



"It's a new marketing strategy," Leon said. "Time was, when the commercials came on, you left the room to go to the bathroom."



"Yes, I remember that," I said.



"Now you go to the bathroom when the program is on."



"You mean you come back just to watch the commercials?"



"That's it," Leon said. "Some of the shows are so bad, people don't just go to the bathroom. They hide there."



I was amazed. "Television in which the main attraction is an ad for dishwashing soap," I said. I shook my head in disbelief.



"It's already to the point at which a blank screen filled with snow is better than the shows."



"If it gets any worse, what will people do?" I asked.



"Probably what they did back when they didn't have TV and all they could do was suffer."



"Which is?"



"Get out, enjoy some fresh air, play touch football, grill steaks with friends."



"Oh, my God," I said. "What is this world coming to?"