xJasonRogersx via Flickr

Someone is remaking Footloose. Zac Efron will replace Kevin Bacon in the starring role. Seriously?

Hawaii 5-0 has been resurrected from the television graveyard. What's next, a new version of M*A*S*H? Cheers? Dynasty?

Ten minutes of ANY reality television program, from "Wife Swap" to "1000 Ways to Die" to "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" is enough to convince me whoever is writing the scripts (and don't try to convince me those shows aren't scripted) have never had to listen to their own stuff.

All of it points to the gradual decimation of creativity in popular culture. Based on what shows up on the small screen and the big screen, where have the original thoughts, lines, plots, characters, and (most especially) dialogue gone?

ibtrav via Flicker

Thank heaven for books, where fresh inspiration blooms on our virtual (and real) shelves year-round like Nero Wolfe's hothouse orchids. (Did anyone else have a terrible crush on Archie Goodwin?)

Now if I could just figure out a way to read while cooking, washing dishes, taking a shower, sleeping, and driving... The library frowns on those grease spots, my Kindle dislikes water, and if texting while driving is not acceptable, surely reading and driving is taboo as well.

Does it bother you when movies, TV shows, music, and other forms of creative expression are recycled from generation to generation?