I still remember the day Laurence Grech, then editor of this newspaper, called and asked me whether I wanted to take over this column. I told him he knew I hated television – and he replied that it was precisely the reason he was asking me to do it.

There was no way I would churn out paeans about whatever and whoever was trending at the moment- Tanja Cilia

There was no way I would churn out paeans about whatever and whoever was trending at the moment, he said; and so I accepted.

Over the years I have spoken about the good, the bad and the ugly – and, given the dire straits of local television, the mediocre, too. I have received fan mail (not much) and hate mail (a lot) and also chunks of bad English the writers expected – nay ordered – me to insert into the column as my own opinion, as they feared retribution if they signed their names in letters to the editor, never for a moment realising that the malefactors would consequently put me in the crossfire.

As time went on, and the internet allowed us to access even the most remote of television stations from the comfort of my studio, it became very easy to compare and contrast local fare with what was going on in the ‘great outside’. Unfortunately, it also became easier to spot the copycat, when whole plotlines were lifted from foreign dramas and whole chunks of newscast were translated into the vernacular and presented as an original production coming to a television screen near you.

Alas, some card-carrying journalists and self-styled presenters consider plagiarism not to be piracy; to them, it is perfectly acceptable if the end result is in a different type of medium or a different language.

• This season’s Lilliput has the rider Popcorn for a reason. It is no longer targeted solely at children, but aims to include whole families as well as cinema aficionados.

Vicky the Viking is one of the films that, like Popeye, will be used as a springboard for an episode of Lilliput Popcorn.

However, special emphasis will be laid on films shot partly or wholly in Malta. The first programme will go on air on One on Tuesday at 9 a.m.; the repeat will be at 4 p.m.

• Local politics bores me to tears; especially when politicos think that getting involved in shenanigans will earn them brownie points from the likes of me. In other counties, the excitement comes from different sources.

During a live televised debate on the private satellite channel Jo Sat, the body language and the occasional recognisable word indicated that there was no love lost between the two men being interviewed by the hapless moderator. Jordanian MP Mohammad Shawabka accused former deputy Mansour Sayf al-Din Murad of working as a spy for the Syrian regime, which he openly supports. Murad then accused Shawabka of being a thief who buys people’s votes, and moreover, that he was in the pay of the Mossad.

Shawabka threw his shoe at former guerrilla-turned-politician Murad and then actually whipped out his pistol, and the mediator found his duties somewhat extended from those of a host when his guests began brawling. The punch-line is more interesting than the happening itself: a court will decide if there is enough evidence to bring charges.

To think that, locally, our MPs patronise the same watering hole and then publicly still squabble over a 10-minute right of reply – which then turns out to be nothing but the other meaning of a pathetic fallacy, embroidered with badly-pronounc­ed multi-syllabic words.

• Last week’s Realtà (TVM, Wednesdays) was a programme that must be mandatory viewing for all local presenters, albeit it had faint strains of the above-mentioned melée. Not because the comments received about the programme neared 500, or because it had novelty value as it has just moved on to the national broadcaster, but because it shows how a presenter can contribute opinions without being biased or aggravating his guests.

Brian Hansford suggested that all personnel who come into regular contact with immigrants (he probably meant the ones under discussion, but I would widen the parameters to include medical as well as military personnel, and all nationalities of irregular settlers) ought to be inoculated against medical conditions known to be borne by them.

He reiterated that there must be a clinic, funded by the European Union (burden-sharing, anyone?) set up explicitly to cater for the needs of refugees. This, he said, would remove the bad blood when people keep having to move back in the queues at health centres and hospital clinics.

I would add that this could also contain pathogenic conditions, and lessen chances of immigrants going AWOL.

Hansford suggested mandatory lessons in the Maltese language, laws and culture. Meanwhile, I add, these should be compulsory, even if the asylum seekers insist they intend to obtain refugee status and seek the opportunity to emigrate to another country (“because they were duped into coming to Malta”).

However, I would say that the final suggestion was the best one of all. There must be a psychologist (and an interpreter) specifically trained, keeping in mind that some of these refugees/immigrants have witnessed or have been the victims of atrocities in their motherland to cater to the mental health issues of these people.

• All good things are said to come to an end; and this will therefore be my final television critique column in this medium.

I wish to thank my loyal readers, as well as the intermittent ones, for following me.