hing on television that disturbs you, and such television programs negatively affect you, then you are not forced to watch it. As we watch, listen, and are entertained, trash television talk shows are changing our perceptions, rewriting our cultural roles, altering our social relationships, and ultimately our relationships with the ordinary world. Talk shows offer us a quasi-world of indefinite margins. They create a sensational community, without any of the social and personal responsibilities that are attached to real life. For some, the concept is an appealing notion: therapy as entertainment. The central distortion that these shows advocate is that they give useful therapy to guests and useful advice to the audience. Whether you believe it or not, trash talk shows are arenas for real people. ...
