Who are you Smarter than?

For the past year or so, I have spent most of my viewing pleasure on Fox and PBS and occasionally the CW. Now that “Malcolm in the Middle” reruns are off the air, and Fox and PBS played around with their schedules, I moved around a bit to some of the other networks, CBS, NBC and ABC. I was caught up in “Law and Order” and “Criminal Minds,” among others. With the new season, I like programs such as “Life”, “Reaper” and” Back to You”. My guilty pleasure is “Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader”.
This is not a review of the new season. However, maybe it is. I suspect, though, it is more of a commentary on television in general. I am not amused. I know with cable or satellite there are some different choices, but what I see on broadcast television is a sorry commentary on the creativity of the program makers, the network gurus and perhaps society in general.
All I have seen lately revolves around two themes. Murder and the supernatural are the primary story lines. Sex is tiresome and offensive (I turn those shows off).
Some shows obviously are better. For instance, “Supernatural” puts “Ghost Whisperer” to shame. Nevertheless, the themes all revolve around blood and ghosts or vampires. Did “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” miss a few, and they bit the necks of TV executives, and now they are all under the spell of the dark-side?
Even though I like the show, “Bones” gets grosser and more shocking every week. All in the name of good fun and realism, I suppose. “House” beat up on Mormons recently, and has a God vs. Atheists agenda. Why can no one come up with something besides cop or hospital shows? What is the fascination with the occult these days? It seems the writers, producers, and executives in TV land are not smarter than a third grader. I think I will go read something and plan a vacation to meet Jeff Foxworthy (by the way, the statistics on this article put it at a seventh grade reading level, so I’m afraid the TV executives won’t get it…sorry).