The politicians are corrupt. Bureaucrats are incompetent. Sheriffs are dimwits. Mail carriers are boobs. School principals are mean.
Judges are dishonest.
And the government is hiding evil forces. This is America - on television. How government and public servants are portrayed on network entertainment shows came under scrutiny Tuesday in a study funded by the Ford Foundation and the Council for Excellence in Government. It is not a pretty sight. The study, conducted by the Center for Media and Public Affairs, analyzed 1,234 episodes of network programs over the past 44 years that portrayed 2,664 characters as public sector employees.