Violence on TV

I don't watch a lot of TV--my tolerance for violence and inane "journalists" is low. However, I can hear from the living room, reruns of “Law and Order” tonight, which begins every show with formulaic laughter/fun chatter then horror as the shooting starts or the body is discovered in the park, and for years our favorite series was “The Closer.” (I almost never watched “Major Crimes,” which was a spin off the “The Closer.”) Just those two shows exposed us to hundreds of violent deaths, crooked cops, greedy CEOs, philandering husbands and evil religious people. It's enough to make you look forward to the weight loss commercials. And if millions are spent on 3 minute commercials because they influence the public, then doesn't millions spent on 20 minutes of violence achieve the same influence?