Notes from a 24 Marathon

Yesterday was Labor Day, and the weather, at least in New York City, was glorious. Warm, but with just a touch of a breeze to remind you that Fall is on its way.

So whose brilliant idea was it to give the Yankees a day off?

Last day of the summer, federal holiday. Y'know, the type of occasion where people might want to spend some time at the ballpark, experiencing one of life's true joys--daytime baseball. Except MLB's schedule makers decide to only run eleven games today, out of a possible 15.

It's not that I begrudge the ballplayers a holiday off, but it does seem like they could just as easily rest on Tuesday. Just my $0.02.

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Few things will suck you in faster or more precipitously than a "24" marathon. The real-time nature of the show lends itself to people catching it in large chunks. Week-to-week, it's pretty hard to follow, but four or five episodes in a row is an excuse to waste your afternoon.

It also has side-effects. After watching a few episodes of Jack Bauer's crisis management style, La Chiquita's speech patterns changed. What would usually be "Honey, could you please get me some ice water?" became "I need water, ice and a glass, NOW!"

Or maybe she's just preparing for marriage.

I know I'm not the first to mention this, but, I remember when A&E stood for the Arts and Entertainment Network. They used to show high-fallutin' fare about history and artsy movies. Their signature program was Biography, which now has its own network, somewhere in the Cableverse.

Watching the commercials during the 24 Marathon, A&E should just change its name to the Trailer Park Network. Basically, outside of reruns of broadcast network series like 24, the network is completely dedicated to reality TV shows. And listen to some of these winners: Dog the Bounty Hunter (about a family of bounty hunters who dress and look like professional wrestlers); Inked (which seems to be Bravo's Blow Out, just set in a tattoo parlor); Growing Up Gotti (about being famous because you're related to criminals); Intervention (a reality show about people televising their interventions for drug addicted relatives). This is real highbrow stuff.

I fear that it's just not profitable enough to try to appeal to smart people. This is sad.

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One more note: here's wishing a happy 29th to my little brother, TJ.