The surge in TV channels and their liberalisation has prompted most of the TV channels to arrange talk shows, which is inexpensive to do as everyday you find some new face commenting on past and present performance of the government. Whilst some may have a clue to what they are talking about, unfortunately, most do not. I expect our channels to be a little more entertaining as is the case in civilised countries, where musical entertainment, intellectual discussions on art and literature, medicine and historical events are discussed with video films. They don't just have political discussions reminiscent of gladiators fighting. In ancient Greece, audiences clamoured to watch tragedies unfold on stage, a favourite pastime that was said to have cathartic, or emotion-cleansing effect. Today, the obsession with peering into the pain in other people's lives continues with some twist. Instead of sitting in an amphitheatre, audience can now watch humiliation of people from the comfort of their living rooms on TV shows. The only change is that rather than the actors, real people are humiliated on the screen as was the case of Arbab Raheem and Dr Sher Afgan. -SYEDA MAHWISH FATIMA NAQVI, Karachi, via e-mail, April 23.