Perhaps Western Civilization Is In A Post-decline

The Perils Of Credit And Debt, Especially Perilous In The Computer Age, Have Long Been Acknowledged In Pop Culture, But Very Infrequently By Tv.

The Once Inviolate Frame Within Which Programs Or Commercials Were Displayed On Television - Always Separately - Has Been Violated To A Pulp. Program Content Is Seen Increasingly As A Mere Backdrop On Which Ads Are Posted Like Billboards On A Fence.

Gimmicks Come And Go; The Cop Show Seems One Genre That Will Never Leave - Not As Long As People Like To Sit At Home In The Suburbs And See What Awful Things Go On In The Cities.

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

If The Networks Can Get Audiences To Tolerate Pop-up Promos By The Dozens, Maybe They'll Start Selling Pop-up Commercials, Too.