Television news is dumbing the world down, but the bigger problem is that we hardly care. It suits us to be amused rather than informed.

This month Australians will wave goodbye to a long-serving politician they have grown to respect and admire – and despite current international tensions, he happens to be American.

Maybe it’s only a boy thing, but did you ever tie a tea towel around your shoulders and pretend you could fly?

Television is the small window in every lounge-room that looks out on the world. In 2007 the networks promise views of some inspiring heights but are just as sure to deliver some equally depressing lows.

Our idols reveal a fatal flaw – we will choose the obviously attractive over the genuinely good any day of the week.

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s efforts to turn food into a force for political change are almost certain to earn him a platter of honours here and overseas. Now that he has launched his latest philanthropic effort in Victoria, we may have to give serious consideration on how the captaincy of the Australian cricket team is awarded.

Nothing I write about this documentary can compare to the photograph at its heart. Its ‘can’t look; can’t look away’ nature instantly polarises any audience.

With more than two million viewers each Tuesday, Border Security is now Australia’s most watched television show. It’s a winning formula because it allows us to turn our lounges into legal benches.

Karma is the key plot device for what is surely one of the funniest American sit-com offerings this year. Earl makes himself a list and sets out to right every wrong he has ever done so that the universe will finally let good things happen to him. And as he attempts to undo the consequences of a life of the pettiest crimes his quest leads him into increasingly ridiculous situations.

Programs like Planet Earth remind us why the Bible considers the wonders of creation to be a knock-down argument for the existence of God – evidence which even the most careless observer will be held accountable for.

Nine’s reality-style production, Hello, Goodbye capitalises on the sense of life-change airports bring. Animal Rescue regular Rebecca Harris wanders the departure and arrival halls asking the simple question, ‘Why are you here?’ What emerges is a tapestry of human tales that makes for compelling viewing.

The Great Escape Channel 9 reviewed by Mark Hadley

Agony Aunts, hosted by Clive Robertson, is a reality-style series that mimics the more commercial style of personal improvement programming. The series’ resident ‘Aunts’ are financial planner Sally Wilson and relationships expert Dr Patricia Weerakoon. And the baby boomers are the target of their affections.

What does it mean when the citizens of the most powerful nation on earth prefer a fictional character for the presidency than a real man? Is it simply a tribute to good television, or an indication of a deeper problem in the arena of political leadership?