by Francis Jock

Created on: November 19, 2010

We were truly excited the day cable television arrived at our home. You see, we live in a remote area, separated from the nearest broadcast station by a mountain range. Reception, that is good reception, depended entire on the huge Yagi antenna mounted on a six-foot pole attached to the roof.

One station, and its so-so entertainment, was all we received, year after year. I'm  not counting the French language station broadcasting great shows from across the border, because we had to use the rotor to reposition the antenna to a northern direction. For some odd reason, one I still don't understand, their signal was clear as a bell, although we couldn't understand too many words.

To the uninitiated, the difference between having access to a solitary broadcast television station and the multitude of cable channels is amazing and confusing. Our former television channel was very much like an old friend, although reception was a bit fuzzy at times, it  was there with a predictable, friendly and family orientated line up of shows. Cable television, by comparison, seems more like babble and noise. Especially the news and talk shows which are basically raucous family arguments continuously invading the peace and quiet of our home.

Still, some cable stations delivered quality shows that were worth the additional monthly expense. Having access to more PBS stations and the History channel were two welcome additions. On special occasions, like Super Bowl Sunday, there isn't any better entertainment. For the most part, however, television is just television, a mix of unending advertising and a plethora of mostly shallow, mindless time wasting entertainment, suggestive and explicit sex, and other unwelcome intrusions.

One channel that was, and still is, lacking on American cable television,  is a French language channel. Although there are several "not the King's English" channels to meet the demographically correct needs of the nation, French isn't one of them. Perhaps, it's simply
because, other than some parts of Louisiana, there isn't a large French speaking population. Our friends from Quebec and other Canadian Provinces with French speaking populations probably feel otherwise.

It's not like there isn't any Canadian television channels available on cable, either. There are at least two, but both are English language. Oftentimes, the quality of Canadian entertainment is a much better than anything found on American cable. The only shortcoming one might point

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