With the possible exception of shows about forensics, loud commercials are television's most insidious presence. They wake sleeping dogs and short out speakers. Now the Senate is taking action against this menace, unanimously passing the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (CALM, of course), which would require networks to broadcast commercials at the same volume as regular programming.

“It’s about time we turned down the volume on loud commercials that try to startle TV watchers into paying attention,” said Sen. Charles Schumer, who co-sponsored the bill, which passed Wednesday. “TV viewers should be able to watch their favorite programs without fear of losing their hearing when the show goes to a commercial.”

Now about that Jim Belushi problem...

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Ray Gustini