True humor is fleeting and unpredictable. Television needs something reliable, so it replaces humor with ridicule. It's far easier to make fun of someone who seems stupid than it is to produce things that are truly amusing on a weekly basis.

I learned in English class that all humor is somehow inappropriate. It's too big, too small, too formal, too SOMETHING for its setting. This doesn't mean, however, that you can turn the words around and say that anything inappropriate is humorous.

Remember the old 'I Love Lucy' show. I quit watching at age 10 because it bothered me that I was supposed to laugh when stupid Lucy made an ass of herself.