American TV Sucks. Thanks For Rubbing It In, Japan: The Daily Nooner (EST)

Ever since this whole War on Terror thing started, America has been slowly and steadily falling behind the rest of the world. Our money is worthless, our economy is in the shitter, and our standing as the leading global economic superpower is waning. Meanwhile Western Europe is sighing and shaking its collective head, China is too busy toiling around the clock like some crazy 1.3 billion-member ant colony to even notice, and the Dutch are sitting around laughing at pedophilia... and self-righteously defending their national identity on the internet. Saving the world from evil-doers is all well and good, but it makes your country's TV shows suck. Think about it: American Idol debuted in 2002, just nine months after 9/11. Coincidence? I think not. How did waging an unwinnable war against an invisible enemy turn a glorified karaoke competition into a #1 hit? I have no idea, but Ryan Seacrest doesn't make me feel like everything is OK. If I had my choice, I'd much rather see some guy with an awesome Hitler moustache bouncing around inside a giant balloon when I turn on my TV during primetime. Oddly enough, the Japanese haven't even heard about the War on Terror. That might sound outlandish, but think about it: If you had shit like this on TV in your country, would you really be that concerned with global geopolitics? Nope - you'd just sit there on your couch, mouth agape, watching some guy with an awesome Hitler moustache bounce around inside a giant balloon. Then you'd get bored, change the channel, and watch something else equally awesome. Then you'd go to work for 18 hours and fall asleep on the train, but hey - at least you'd have some awesome shit to watch on TV when you got home.