SKEWED VIEWS ON YEAR-END VIEWING

 I think Bill Clinton was still president the last time I ventured forth on New Year's Eve, so the TV marathon tradition that accompanies this holiday is important to me. This year there are 63 of them, depending on your level of service, and most can be ignored. I say this with little or no compunction because – when considering the crap to noncrap ratio -- I firmly believe Theodore Sturgeon’s famous pronouncement was an understatement.

My personal favorite is still the SyFy Twilight Zone marathon. This happens every year, and might be the one thing SyFy has retained from the original Science Fiction Network. I enjoy it for many reasons. I have a list:

1. Someone has observed that tradition is anything that happened to a baby boomer twice. When I hear this, I wince and applaud simultaneously, which is not attractive. Try it. Anyway, I watched The Twilight Zone when I was a kid. In fact, this show helped define the topography of my brain. The black and white imagery of the original broadcasts are burned into my cerebral cortex as indelibly as the opening scene of A Hard Day's Night and the final shot of The Seventh Seal.  
2. The Twilight Zone scripts represent the best televised work of Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury and Rod Serling. These are among the best half-hour teleplays ever written -- clever, incisive and, in a few cases, subversive.
3. Considering the age, intellect and temperament of many SyFy viewers, this tradition can be puzzlement (OMG! Why are they running these old shows AGAIN?) And, for me, that delightful side effect is the cherry on this sundae.

To be avoided at all costs: The Sopranos marathon on A&E. I would never watch The Sopranos on A&E. This is a sanitized, truncated and laughable mockery of the real thing. You want to watch The Sopranos? Rent it, stream it or borrow it. Or, continue allowing the quirky predilections of network censors to define your limitations. Your choice.

This weekend also presents a good opportunity to catch up on two notable AMC programs. The Walking Dead and Hell on Wheels. If you haven’t seen these shows, you will know before the end of one episode if your particular cup of tea is represented. If not, move along. But try to avoid watching feature films on AMC. (See previous paragraph.)

The idea of a New Year's Eve Law and Order marathon is mind-boggling. I have always enjoyed the Law and Order franchise, but they already have a marathon. It's called basic cable.

As for the majority of this annual televised wasteland, I have nothing to offer. Apparently, someone with considerable influence has declared that not very good and good enough are the same thing. Happy New Year.