By A Twist Of Fate Rather Than

Television's Escapist Programming Naturally Continues To Endorse Living Beyond One's Means As The Time-tested American Way And Rarely Depicts Families Or Individuals Wracked By The Pressures And Miseries That Come With Excess.

Like Sugar And, Oh - Let's Say The Most Tabloidy And Gossipy Reality Television Programs - Credit Is, For Millions, Genuinely Addictive.

"more Fun Than A Barrel Of Monkeys." Has Anyone Ever Stopped To Think How Cranky, If Not Downright Vicious, A Barrelful Of Monkeys Would Be, Especially Once Released From The Barrel?

Technically, 'kukla, Fran And Ollie' Was A Kids' Show, But Adults Watched Almost Religiously - And We're Talking Adult Adults, Celebrated Adults - Including James Thurber, Orson Welles, John Steinbeck, Adlai E. Stevenson And Lyricist Stephen Sondheim.

Perhaps Western Civilization Is In A Post-decline Phase, Or Maybe The Decline Is Just Taking A Really Long Time, Like The Roman Empire's Did. The Romans Had Gladiators And Christian-hungry Lions And That Sort Of Thing. We Have Mtv.