6.Sick, Sad World (Daria)
"Can monkeys surf the net... and corrupt our kids? Chimpanzee chat rooms, next on Sick, Sad World." With its creepy ident - an eye peering out from an hypnotic spiral- and a tabloid paper's penchant for bad puns, Sick Sad World brought you the 'news' stories the other networks wouldn't touch. These stories usually consisted of scare tactics, spurious exposés or shining a light into the stranger side of society. The show was known to even dabble in the paranormal (a report on 'The Jaywalking Dead' is exactly how it sounds). In short, it brought you everything that the conspiracy theorists had feared true. And yet, frustratingly, we rarely see a clip of the programme; its onscreen presence is largely confined to the promo spots from a jarringly upbeat TV announcer. The show became a favourite of Daria and Jane (albeit in a curious love/hate way), who saw it as they saw the world: neither amused nor appalled by it, but merely allowing its mediocrity to wash over them. Well, how else can you watch TV?
