Spin Offs

Popular radio and television programs resulted in spin-offs of other programs. For instance, “The Great Gildersleeve”, starring Harold Peary, was a spin off of “Fibber McGee and Molly”, which was one the greatest radio shows that lasted 15 years. It is possible that “The Great Gildersleeve” became more popular than “Fibber McGee and Molly”. “The Jeffersons” was a spin off from “Archie Bunker”.

Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors. Although the genre has existed in some form or another since the early years of television, the term reality television is most commonly used to describe programs of this genre produced since 2000. Evidently, the Heene family of Fort Collins, Colorado, already appearing in a reality show, “Wife Swap” was anxious to involve themselves in another reality show involving their young son in a runaway balloon. They have now admitted to the hoax after alerting concerned people around the world, and making the entire incident an international source of compassion. Even more ridiculous is the fact that a news organization was involved. It is the same old story, a lie or a hoax will make the news. But, the truth involving something that should be publicized is left on the cutting floor.

Television news has become as much fiction as non-fiction, with more lies and propaganda than truth. In the warfare between the state-controlled TV sources, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, etc., Fox news has been left out of the breach, insisting on reporting truthfulness instead of White House-approved pablum. In Mr. Obama's hit list, enemies list, some of the news personnel on Fox have been segregated to the “back of the bus”. Such is the spin off from the Bill of Rights and the amendments to our Constitution.

Incomprehensible is the spin off of the atheistic, druid, satanic celebration of Halloween. How parents lead their children into a Christian Sunday school where they are taught the compassion of sharing, can allow them to dress as “haints” or weirdos and act as freaks begging for cheap candy which at best will only rot out their teeth and at worst may get them attacked by a spingola pedophile leaves to credibility of a psychological sort. It is bad enough to radically commercialize the supposed birth date of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It has become a testing of Newton's laws of physics to ascertain how store shelves can contain the festooned “junk” of combined Halloween and Christmas. We spin off to Satan every avarice disdained by common sense. Inappropriate to the world, and the church goers so attracted to the ideas of the world, is the celebration of the patriotic holidays of Thanksgiving and Columbus Days.

Another spin off, which I detest, is the gluttony involved at the most solemn time of anyone's life, the death of a relative or friend. Overeating is the greatest health problem in Americana. Gluttony has lead to an epidemic of diabetes, joint replacements, and the chief reason for deaths in the big three, heart attack, cancer and stroke. In most homes now, before the funeral crepe wreath is placed on the outside of the front door, food of every description, mostly potato salad, fried chicken and custard pie, streams into the back door. Instead of the family and relatives “fasting” and spending their time remembering the deceased, most are decimating chicken parts and piles of cake. What a way to grieve the absence of a loved one!

President Obama has increased the national debt an additional 1.4 trillion, to nearly $13 trillion ($14 trillion as of this reposting). A $13 billion gift to Social Security recipients is just in time to buy some turkey trimmings, some tree trimmings as a spin into our mail box of $250.00.

Recently, a preacher told me he went to the house of a sick church member. He told him he wanted to pray with him for his recovery. The member said, “You can pray, but remember, I get a check.” The spin off for many elderly and disabled, is their interest in green government checks rather than great mercies of healing and redemption. Who needs God when you have the spin off of government?

Oprah Winfrey, this country's richest woman, learned long ago that is trauma, the expose of a traumatic story, which increases her listening audience. Let's face it, our fellow human beings, our relatives, are only interested in bad news, in fact it is not even considered news unless it disturbing. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, husband of the Queen of England and the father of her four children, perhaps more popular among their subjects than the Queen. Now eighty eight years of age, was asked by the British tabloids on his fortieth birthday, what he would like for a birthday gift. He said, “I do not want to see anything but good news on the front page of every UK paper.” This was the most difficult assignment ever given to a newspaper. Only bad news gets the headlines, never does a nation become more patriotic than at a time of Pearl Harbor, the knocking down of the World Trade Center, the Merle building bombing in Oklahoma. The spin off of flying flags, playing nationalistic music.

When Johnny comes marching home again

Hurrah! Hurrah!

We'll give him a hearty welcome then

Hurrah! Hurrah!

The men will cheer and the boys will shout

The ladies they will all turn out

And we'll all feel gay

When Johnny comes marching home.

(When Johnny Comes Marching Home – Civil War era, spin off)