"Television, the drug of the nation"

I think this weekend really has underlined to me the effect TV can have on a persons frame of mind and also a nations for that matter. In the last 24 hours I've watched "Messiah 2" and the Eastenders Omnibus. Just to give you a flavour in case you missed them I witnessed 3 murders, a funeral, an affair, someone being electricuted to death in such a visual way that I'll remember it for a long time to come, two marriages breaking up and so it goes on.......

What happeneded to hope, joy, colour, balance, beauty, fidelity, fun, laughter, peace, love, purity...........

If we are always digesting heavy mental food we'll get weighed down and eventually tired. Who would blame an individual for being depressed after watching this crap day in day out! I'm not ruling out soaps or insights into reality or TV but I am asking what the nation's using as an antidote to the potential depressive side effects of such obsessive dark viewing.