Daniel's TV Blog

OK, I don't really have amnesia. At least I don't think I do. Amensia is the second most overused plot device in all of television. Soap operas are the biggest offender. You can't of one without the other. It's a great story telling device as we either watch the trauma of the amnesiac trying to reintegrate into his/her life or as we watch this person unfold some mystery that he/she has forgotten. It's great, but it's lazy. True amnesia is exceptionally rare. Have you known anyone who has had it. Do you know of anyone who knows anyone?

The most overused plot device in television, however, is the serial killer. Soap operas are also the biggest offender on that. How many serial killers has Days of Our Lives had? Serial killers are also extremely rare yet these procedural shows seem to catch one every week. Unfortunately there are no stats on TV serial killers on Wikipedia.org. I'm sure we have about half as many each year on TV as we have had in all of recorded history. It's the laziest kind of writing one can find on television. And now Showtime is starting a new show about a serial killer called Dexter. Please don't encourage bad TV behavior by watching this show. Like Lisa Simpson said when the 50 foot eyesores where attacking Spingfield, "Just Don't Look!"