It is an irrefutable medical fact that television can drive you bonkers . In a growing number of cases viewers are described as stark raving mad . It is surprising how many people openly admit ranting at their TV sets . Just today a well balanced woman admitted she gives her TV stick , then launched into an attack on the Federal Government for greatly reducing the staff at the National Library of Australia in Canberra , where she makes use of the reading room .
We supported her outrage over the library as over the years Little Darwin has supplied it with a range of ephemera and regards it as one of the great temples of Australia , up there with the Opera House .
Recently there has been angry discussion about the incredible amount of adverts on television . Promoted to the heavens , the two part commercial channel series about Molly Meldrum , the ABC TV Countdown king in a cowboy hat , contained so many ads in the first part that many vowed not to watch the second . And media commentators have spoken about the concern in free to air TV stations about viewers taking steps to eliminate adverts with modern electronic gadgets. Where can I get one ASAP ?
The way TV stations flood the screens with ads it is a case almost of killing the goose which has laid golden eggs for so long . A Darwin insomniac who sits up watching the idiot box way past the witching hour says films are bloated with so many expletive advertisements that you lose the plot , end up falling asleep and develop the urge to put your boot through the screen - especially during the Mango Madness season .
This brings to mind an unusual moment in the history of Darwin television viewing . Back in the days when television was almost steam driven in Darwin , a gentleman appeared at the reception counter of the commercial station and asked questions . Taken on a tour , he was shown the control room . Was this, he asked, where television is sent out to viewers . On being informed in the affirmative , he whipped out a welder's hammer and began smashing equipment , putting the station off air .
As a result of this outrageous act , a scurrilous Darwin rag , Troppo or Fannie Bay Whisper (inspired by the notorious Kings Cross Whisper ) , some months later ran a story drawing the attention of the culprit that new supplies of hammers had just arrived in town.
