That’s it. It’s time to talk about TV.

To my dismay, all TV shows are beginning to look alike.

The stunning likeness and absence of creativity all came to mind when my friend picked yet another cop show from her 70-plus channels. This one chronicles a strong, sexy woman who studies skeletons to solve murders. Yawn. But rather than showing on its home network, FOX, it was a syndicated on TNT because its executives (allegedly) know drama, a slogan they are fond of plugging.

It’s not that it is the worst show on television, it’s that I’ve seen it before.

I’d given up on TV in my fourth year of journalism and international affairs studies. But I checked in over the summer out of curiosity and began studying it in a serious way. I discovered that TV is a joke.

TV shows don’t even have to be original to get on the air. They can just recycle and reuse whatever has worked in the past.

For example, TVguide.com reports 17 different “procedural” or “crime” dramas to choose from this fall, and that’s just network TV.

Television revolutionized the way Americans function. Even in the face of the Internet, TV stands as one of the most powerful media in our society.

The average American watches four to five hours of TV per day, according to the A.C. Nielsen Co., which has been the national TV measuring service since 1950.

That seems a bit inflated because while my TV may have been on four to five hours at a time, it definitely isn’t everyday and it’s more like background noise.

However, if A.C. Nielsen Co. is right, this is an all-time high. That’s more than two months a year spent in front of the TV. Or in a 65-year lifespan, that means almost 11 years spent glued to the tube.

So much time. So many choices. So why can’t we get a little variety in our basic cable plotlines?

Having a channel whose programming appeals strictly to my interests seems like a good idea. Maybe I won’t have to flip through channels anymore because at any given time something I like should be showing.

But instead of creating fresh shows for each demographic, networks are simply microwaving concepts and entire shows, syndicating from the major networks or just rerunning what was popular decades ago.

We have more choices than we can smell at the net cost of quality.

Are you so easily entertained that you’ll spend more than four hours a day watching the same thing? Why not challenge networks to be more creative?

We’re not just lowering the standards of the entertainment business, we’re lowering them for ourselves.

Don’t accept something because it’s on. The appetite for lethargic leisure is more American than credit card debt.

Make those networks work for your rating. Make ‘em upgrade the menu. Don’t watch unless it’s delicious. Stick it to the man.

Or on second thought. FIND SOMETHING BETTER TO DO.

- Calli Arnold is a senior from Savannah majoring in journalism and international affairs