Bash Irish TV all you like, but there is one thing to be said in its favour (unless things have taken a turn for the worse since the last time I watched midmorning weekday tv) is that at least there is a wonderful absence of the Jerry Springer-type talk shows. America certainly has them, Britain does, Germany churns them out like there's no tomorrow, but Ireland can pretend to itself to have a bit of intellectual superiority as we at least keep some of our morons off the tv screen. If only radio would follow its example and take those ring-in shows off the air!