I love Criminal Minds on CBS.  I have been watching since its onset.  It is one of my television addictions (of which I have several…don’t judge).  It comes on Wednesday nights at 8:00 CST and it is set to TIVO on the nights I can’t watch it or when Lost supersedes it.  I am not blogging about my television addictions.  This is just a prelude to let you get primed for what is coming…the local news. 

We don’t live in a itsy-bitsy town.  It’s not Mayberry.  It’s more Mount Pilot.  However; when it comes to news the local press gets real excited when there is some…real excited.  So on Wednesday while I am watching Criminal Minds a banner flies across the top to inform me that the Duck Pond Apartments are on fire and they will keep me informed as news is made available.  Super.  No harm no foul…so far.  The program begins and it is, as usual, riveting.  It catches my attention immediately and I am glued to my seat.  Ten minutes into it just as the killer makes his first real appearance, the local television breaks into the program to inform us once again that the Duck Pond Apartments are on fire.  No one is injured.  The fire is under control.  The fire department is there and no one is in danger.  This takes ten minutes.  Ten minutes!  What is wrong with the banner thing?  The banner can say all of this and I can still watch Criminal Minds!  Finally, back to the program.  My jaw becomes a little less clinched as I watch the profilers work the case and see Prentis begin to tell how the first victim impacted her life…nope, not to be more breaking news.  The fire, still no one dead or injured, still under control, fire department still on site, oh…possible dead cat.  Fifteen minutes!  By the time we are returned to our program (already in progress) it has progressed to a point I don’t know WTF has happened.  Thanks.  ‘Preciate Ya! Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I am wondering what kind of idiot would rather know about this non-event than watch this gripping television program.  Then my phone rings.  It’s mom. “Are you watching channel 5?”  “I’m trying to.”  “So you heard about the apartment fire.”  “The one that has left no one dead or injured and is not spreading and is under control and is interrupting one of the television programs I live to watch?  Yup.”  “Oh. I thought maybe you knew someone who lived there.”  “No, but no one was hurt anyway.”  “Oh, alright then.  I’ll let you get back to your show.”  I don’t think she thought my lack of concern was very decent of me, but geez-a-lou nothing was happening.   Okay back on topic.   Now you would think that after all this they would be considerate enough to replay this from the start a little later, right?  Nope.  Even though it is prime time programming if you missed it you are just ‘effed.   That’s just wrong.  So I marched my little self over to their website to put my little view point in print.  I logged on and let them feel my wrath.  To my surprise, several people agreed with me, and no surprise to me a couple of cranky old geezers felt that the non-life threatening burning of the apartment building that may or may not have caused the untimely demise of a cat and was under control should usurp any programming and for those of us who felt otherwise we should only watch television on premium cable (stupid idiot! Criminal Minds doesn’t come on HBO or Showtime or I would have been watching premium cable…duh) and thus wouldn’t have been bothered by local news.   I have a sneaky feeling they would have felt different if it had been Wheel of Fortune that had been interrupted. 

I’m not anti-news.  Had the building been in danger of collapsing or causing damage to other structures that would have been different.  If there had been loss of life, or the threat of lives lost I could have understood the multiple warnings.  I felt sorry for the kitty, but the silly cat still might be found.  It was a cat…they get in and out of things all of the time.  I’m not heartless.  I’m just addicted.  Either wait until ten for news that is not “late breaking” or  play the program again, but don’t leave gaping holes in the  storyline of a great plot for something that is really not incredibly newsworthy.  Please!  And by the way…Gomer says hey!