I confess. Comcast is not my favorite conglomerate. For a long time I have stewed about its price-gouging practices, but now I am at boiling point. Currently, if I wish to use On Demand, the company’s “free” service that offers viewers an array of TV shows and movies, I must endure an On Slaught of commercials. Previously, I could fast forward through them, but, recently, Comcast has disabled this function. Last night, I set out to watch an episode of The Closer, and here is the gauntlet I was made to run.

For the first eleven minutes of the show, a reeling-in period, there were no commercials. Then, for five minutes I was compelled to watch seven commercials from Weight Watchers, ParaGard IUD, Try Neat, Campbell’s, Cymbalta, Olive Garden, and TNT. Next came eight more minutes of The Closer, followed by another five-minute block of, this time, twelve commercials from DreamWorks/Touchstone Pictures, General Mills, AT&T, Pizza Hut, KYAK, Pepperidge Farm, MetLife, KFC, 1-800-Contacts, Birds Eye, Aveeno, and Nature Valley. Then, nine minutes more of the show. Then, five minutes of twelve more commerials from TNT, again; Chrysler; General Mills, again; T-Mobile; Campbell’s, again; the ID. Channel; MoneyMutual; QuiBids; Golden Corral; Allstate; Pepperidge Farm, again; and Weight Watchers, again. Then, twelve minutes more of the show. Then, a final five-minute block of eleven commercials from Olive Garden, again; KAYAK, again; Campbell’s, yet again; the ID. Channel, again; 1-800-Contacts, again; CVS; Advair; Coffee-mate; Nokia; PetSmart; and TNT, yet again.

Some would tell me that I don’t have to watch the commercials if I don’t want to, but they would be missing the point. Of course I don’t have to watch the ads; with the exception of last night, when I was counting them, I usually turn off the sound when they are on and busy myself with other things. But, the point is that, for all the money I pay each month to Comcast, I shouldn’t have to find something else to do 42 times in a 60-minute period just so I can avoid this deadening dreck.

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