In the gym of today, there are dozens of TV lining the entire place. Most of them are located in the cardio area (treadmills, ellipticals, and the like), but there are a few in the weight area where I mostly dwell.

At my gym, there are two big TV’s in that weight area. Now granted, I am not there to watch TV, but it is nice to glance up every so often to see the local news, traffic reports, and sports highlights. Local news and ESPN; all you really need from a public TV where you can’t hear any dialog and are not there staring at a screen.

So what does my gym have on their two TV’s? Well, it depends on what day. However recently every morning, the left TV is on TBS and the right on ESPN or the CBS secondary local channel. Why in the world would the TV ever be on not local news or ESPN? You may think the TBS thing is from last night when people maybe were watching the NBA. But no. This has been going on for like 3 months. Oh and by the way, know what is on TBS at 5-7 in the morning? Married…..with Children. Yes. That show. No sound. On the TV. Every single day. Since TBS has now become a staple morning view for me, I have seen every single one of these reruns twice over.

As for the CBS secondary local channel, who the hell knows how that ever replaces ESPN. But yes, about 30% of mornings, that right TV is on that thing. And what show is on during that time? Preachers. Yes. Preachers. Asking for money. Preaching about North Korea and how they will bomb us. It is seriously the weirdest shit I have ever seen. And what makes it even odder is when you can’t even hear the damn words they are saying. Just images and Jesus, Kim Jong-Un, and mushroom clouds.

This is simply not appropriate weight room viewing. Sports/Local news. That’s it! Why anything else? Everyone else in that area wander around between sets, looks up at the TV in complete confusion like I do. We all need an answer for this.

So you may ask ‘why not have the front desk person change it’? Well, she is two floors down doing her opening stuff and….well…..you don’t want to mess with her. So for the time being, I’ll watch Al Bundy get his hopes crushed at the shoe store silently, watch ESPN highlights 70% of the time, feel Armageddon is coming the other 30%, and just be confused and sad I don’t get my local weather report anymore.