There’s a new series streaming on Max called “The Girls On The Bus,” about four female reporters following presidential candidates as they campaign across the country.
It stars Melissa Benoist, who played the title character on the CW series, “Supergirl.” But “The Girls On The Bus” got my attention because its cast includes Carla Gugino, who I first noticed in “Karen Sisco,” a 2003 ABC drama based on the character Jennifer Lopez played in Steven Soderbergh’s movie, “Out Of Sight.” That show didn’t last, but my memory of Gugino sure did, and I’ve enjoyed her in several other things since.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it through the first episode of “The Girls On The Bus,” although it’s no fault of the cast, writers, or producers. It’s that my threshold for watching anything about politics this year has dropped to a very low level. I can’t even watch an old episode of “The West Wing,” which I had occasionally returned to when I needed the TV equivalent of comfort food.
The problem is that so much of the information I absorb on a daily basis is weighed down by political stories, and not just Biden vs. Trump. Every day, there are pieces on Congress, the Supreme Court, legislatures, governors, even a school board election we’ll vote in next week. My brain feels like the computer in “The Andromeda Strain” flashing 601, the code for an overload of data, while the virus spreads and mutates.
I think the dilemma is a holdover from the decades I spent doing radio shows, for which I had to soak up as much news as I could about all sorts of topics that might become fodder for the 3-4 hours a day I had to engage audiences. Mine was not an overtly political talk radio show — partly because that’s all my competition did, but also because I preferred discussing other interesting issues. Nonetheless, I still had to read up on everything every day so I was prepared for those occasions when political stories were so viral I couldn’t avoid talking about them.
But six years into retirement, I have weaned myself from the politics news teat and forced myself not to gather, gather, gather. Thus, I’ve reduced how much of that stuff I’m exposed to, giving me more space in my head for other things.
Oh, I stay aware of what’s going on, particularly at this juncture in our democracy, fraught with daily reports of homegrown fascism, antisemitism, homophobia, book banning, and other evils running rampant. If you’re a regular reader of this site, you know I delve into those topics from time to time. But I couldn’t — and have no desire to — do a deep dive on them every day.
I’m not alone in stepping out from under the avalanche of political content. Poll after poll shows large numbers of Americans similarly fatigued. That disconnect doesn’t mean we don’t care, or that we won’t cast ballots in November. But these days, there are plenty of other TV shows, movies, books, and podcasts to consume.
If only more of them starred Carla Gugino.