Gee, I thought it was to sell advertising (theft of time and attention). I guess that's the same thing, in a way. You have to get people to WANT to watch the advertising, and they won't watch if the show tells them they shouldn't be watching TV (status quo) and buying crap they don't need.

It's all in the marketing, and it's ALL marketing. God is the marketing department for town meetings. Politics is the marketing department for war. The rest is snapping turtles all the way down.