The artificial ‘woo’-ification of sports has pervaded — and ruined — the rest of TV

It’s like modern baseball, lousy with conspicuous, shameless artificial additives and cheap con jobs.

It’s now almost an obligation to stand at first and signal your dugout for group approval — a shallow ritual — after hitting a checked-swing bloop single.

But diminished standards have become standardized. Even the natural act of laughter has been compromised to a con.

If I tell you, one-on-one, a joke, and your response to the punch line is to stare at me while emitting a loud, sustained, “Woo!” rather than laughter, I’d think there was something wrong with you and that I’d wasted my time.