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PUNCTUATION  pp. 140–141
1. Television chefs have achieved a level of fame that is quite
staggering. After all, they are only cooks and yet they are treated as
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major celebrities. What does this tell us about our present-day
culture? Certainly, we pay too much attention to food and drink. We
forget that half the world is starving while we indulge ourselves. All
these food programmes on television only make matters worse.
Celebrity chefs have a lot to answer for.
2. Reality programmes on television scrape the barrel as far as
entertainment is concerned. The Big Brother programmes, whether
they are those series involving so-called celebrities or ordinary
members of the public, are particularly crass and encourage viewers to
be voyeurs. Watching other people live their lives is not a healthy
pastime for anyone. We are being turned into a nation of couch
potatoes who are more concerned about other people’s lives than our
own. Some people are desperate to be famous, which is why they are
willing to do almost anything in front of the cameras. The television
authorities, however, should not be encouraging that pathetic tendency.