I think writers usually base some of their ideas on things that really happen. I don't have a problem with that, but I think tv should be careful because a lot of people watch tv, and people who lived through it may not want to watch the story of their lives being thinly disguised on tv. In other words, I might find something I see in the newspaper intriguing enough to write a story about it, but the odds that the people involved will read a story I wrote aren't high. My other problem is that it's usually the bad stories. "Law and Order" seems to be consistently saying that it's stories are "ripped from the headlines". However, some of the other shows that are clearly ripping the stories from the headlines but not admitting it may be worse because at least "Law and Order" is admitting it. The movie about the sniper doesn't come as a big surprise, but it is openly saying that that is what it is, and it isn't on a regular tv show.