TV producers love to "push the envelope", and as a result, the moral quality of television programming has gone way down in my lifetime. There's not much outside of the News Hour with Jim Lehrer that isn't offensive these days. The "Hootergate" incident during the Super Bowl, if it was intentional (which wouldn't surprise the Electric Eel), is the perfect example of how low those in the entertainment industry will stoop to pad their bottom line. Well, maybe it's time for the viewing public to kick their collective bottom lines instead of letting them shovel whatever manure they want into our ... dare I say it? Boob tubes.

I suspect that a lot of people out there watch shows they find a little offensive for two reasons:

1) There's nothing else to watch (to which I reply, "read a book!" But sadly, reality wins out--people will put up with junk on TV because it's easier).

2) The shows entertain them in spite of the bad parts (a little dog poop in the brownies may taste bad for a second, but there's enough brownie to make it worth it???)

If I'm right, a lot of these people would prefer to have the offensive parts omitted. So how do we let the studios know? The only voice they're likely to listen to is the voice of a little green man--no, not a Martian--a dollar bill. We have to kick them in the pocket book if we want them to hear.

The FCC may be helping out a little by upping fines for violations of decency rules, but there needs to be more, because there's plenty of room for slop within the rules. Our forum for voicing our opinions and exerting our influence is in the ratings. Here's my plan for how we little people at the bottom can send the studios a message without having to (horror of horrors) read a book or play outside or something. I call it "The Voice of the Bottom Line":

1) Somebody comes up a list of perhaps 10 popular shows that are the most offensive (omitting any whose only appeal is their offensiveness--no one who watches those is likely to participate in this plan). Everyone who wants to help publicizes the list on their website or wherever. If influential people get involved or it gets news coverage or something, great!

2) They also come up with a list of perhaps 10 shows of higher virtue--shows that run at the same time would be best.

3) Everyone who wants to help with the campaign switches from watching at least one of the shows in the first list to watching at least one in the second list.

4) Periodically, a review is done, lists are adjusted, studios that improve their shows are praised, and people are reminded to keep up the campaign.

A little sacrifice would be involved--you'd have to give up a little of what you enjoy most and replace it with something a little less interesting. But if enough people got involved, how long do you think it would be before the studios started making changes? Not too long! Because as soon as the ratings start to dip, you can bet the advertisers are going to demand lower prices or go somewhere else. Even if the studios are pushing an agenda, they will listen to the voice of the bottom line.

We're not asking anyone to cancel shows and dream up new ideas. We're just asking for the moral content of the existing shows to be improved. If coming up with something new is easier or better, that's fine too.

We may be the little people at the bottom, but together, we control the bottom line.