Christmas Perennial

Porcupine does not usually find wisdom on the television listing page, but he wants to credit Kevin McDonough who writes the 'TV Tonight' column for the Cape Cod Times with an exceptional insight.

In writing about tonight's offerings, he spoke about "It's A Wonderful Life", which Porcupine just finished watching on Ch. 7, the NBC channel. This is what he wrote about the film:

"Among the more haunting and effective moments in the film shows how Bailey's neighborly small town has been transformed into a tacky honky-tonk because of the forces of short-sighted greed - personified by the Scrooge-like Henry F. Potter (Lionel Barrymore) - have been allowed to triumph in his absence.

I'll allow the usual gang of moralists to judge the current state of television and even Christmas entertainment, but it's hard not to wonder if we all live in Pottersville now.

How else do you explain the number of shows that celebrate the values of casinos, gambling, tattoo parlors, bailbondsmen, bounty hunters, highway chase footage, the arrest of drunk-and-disorderly suspects and the tabloid exploits of a steady parade of
sleazy celebrities?"

Well, like George Bailey on the bridge, we have a decision to make. Without our cooperation, Pottersville will wither and die on the vine.