I would choose fantasy over reality

If there is one thing on television I cannot stand, it is reality programs.
Why on earth would anyone want to watch reality television programs? I know about reality. I live reality every day of my life. And let me tell you, reality stinks about eight out of every 10 days.What I want is fantasy. Oh, to dream a dream, to live fantasy is much more appealing.
In reality, bad things happen. In fantasy, bad things happen, but they are not reality. Take for instance, the television program "24" is fantasy. Jack Bauer kills a lot of people and saves the world every season. Jack is a hero. You go out and kill a bunch of people, even enemies of the United States, and see what you get as a reward - prison time.
Now, prison time would not be so bad if it were like the time spent in prison on the television show "Prison Break." Michael and Lincoln have been on the run for three, or is it four, seasons now. They were in prison and then they were out and back in again. They are trying to destroy the "company" and get their normal lives back. That's real fantasy when you have to endure being in prison, escaping from prison and avoiding capture by the "company." The program ends this week forever and I am sure the world will be wonderful again for Michael and Lincoln. They will go on to live life to its fullest.
Speaking of "Life," that is another television program filled with fantasy that has apparently ended - cancelled just when Charlie was about to figure out why he had been set up and sent to prison. There's that prison theme once more. Why are television writers so emamoured about prison life? Anyway, Charlie was framed by fellow police officers for murder. He lost his family, but was awarded millions of dollars by the City of Los Angeles. Money can heal a lot of old wounds, but Charlie was still trying to solve the mystery of why he was set up. I guess we will never know the reason since the show has been cancelled.
We do know why Sam was such a nut case on "Life on Mars." That was another cop show that has now been cancelled. Sam was a police officer in New York City who was hit by a car, went into a coma and awakened in 1973. It was a very confusing program to say the least, but very interesting to watch. Sam knew things the other police officers did not know - things about technology that had not yet been invented. He had to watch himself to avoid being sent to the nut house. But the network that ran the program had the good sense to give it an ending instead of leaving us all hanging. Sam's nickname, the one he was given by the cops in 1973, was "Spaceman." That is what he was in the end. He was an astronaut who was placed in suspended animation while on a trip to Mars. When he awakened in the final episode, everything made sense. He was just dreaming.
It seems television is always repeating itself season after season. Remember "Dallas" and Bobby Ewing's death? The Bobby Ewing character died. A season later, he was back on the program. It was a dream. Everything we watched for a season was a dream - just fantasy. I cannot remember exactly how much of what we had seen for a season was part of the dream, but I guess we just wrote off the whole season, backed up a year and picked up from there. When Bobby's father Jock Ewing died, I expected that to be a dream too, but that actor died in reality. But, I think, they did try to change actors and continue the character, but later decided the new actor was trying to dupe the other characters into believing he was the real Jock Ewing - if you can fake being a fake that is.
This brings us back to my feelings about reality television programs. The only reality television programs I watch are news programs and about half of the news offered on those programs is fantasy. The recent controversy over the opinion of "marriage" by Miss California Carrie Prejean at the Miss USA Pageant has received way too much television coverage. Prejean said she believed marriage should be between a man and a woman. Some people found the opinion Prejean expressed to be offensive. Those people feel same-sex unions should be recognized as marriage and not refered to as "civil unions." Now, that, I find to be pure fantasy.
Most married people will agree with me. I've been married for over 25 years. There's no way you can convince me that whether it is marriage between a man and a woman or between two people of the same sex that it can ever be refered to as a "civil" union. That's just not reality and it is not fantasy. That is just pure fiction.