Jealousy and the fury of being romantically ditched show up regularly in the newspaper as routine motives for abuse and homicide. But you seldom see it in movie comedies. The revenge in real life would be cruel, but in movies is only symbolic and has some healthy value as catharsis. The film's most inventive device is the manner of the spying, a use of telescope and sound technology that allows Ryan and Broderick to observe the others as if they were watching them in a movie. Addicted earns points for cleverness, if not for hilarity.
TV warms the spirit.
It nourishes the mind. It satisfies the need for good popular art. It often makes modern life bearable. It also has a large capacity for boredom and corroding values, for messing up. It only warms the spirit every now and then.