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I agree with a great deal Baldwin writes here.

I also love "The Osbournes" and watch it whenever I can. I cannot explain the dichotomy. If not for "The Osbournes" I wouldn't know or care if MTV was on the air.

But, it does say a great deal about how low our culture has sunk.

I cannot explain the dichotomy

I like the Osbournes ----I think I realized why when I read that MTV might have more celebrity shows like this ---I realized that most celebrities wouldn't be interesting at all because they would use the time to preach and condescend to us. Ozzie and his family aren't arrogant, they aren't trying to show us political correctness like Cher, Alex Baldwin, Bono of U2, Julia Roberts, Rosie, and on and on do. He's just a simple man he says, he can't even figure out the remote control --and maybe that's what is nice. Very rare in celebrities.

I don't think our society has profoundly changed. People in 1952 (when the Nelsons hit the air) certainly used curse words; does anyone want to say Ozzie Nelson never turned the air blue? People had sex before marriage. They used and abused drugs, including alcohol and cigarettes. There were children out of wedlock ... love affairs that resulted in murder ... music that confounded the elders of the day and made them think society had gone to hell in a handbasket (though in the '50s, the ruling elders would have had a hard time explaining the "innocence" of "In The Mood").

The difference, in my opinion: People in the 21st century talk more about it. People get out of detox or rehab and tell everyone they know. People take meds for mental illnesses and tell everyone they know. We're living in a huge, Oprah-like world, where disclosure is king.

Better, or worse? Or just different?