It seems the producers think that instead of producing a very good show with a long filler portion, they can just add filler to each episode which drags the whole show down completely. The first idea was actually better, believe it or not. I'd rather watch a great show and then have to put up with a year of fillers over a drawn-out pile of crap.
I'm disappointed to have to admit it about Naruto, but more and more television shows and media in general has lost all respect for anything of artistic value and fallen back to using the bare minimum in quality.
The problem isn't really that the media is producing half-ass material, it's that so many morons eat it up without even noticing. I stopped watching cable here at home a long time ago and it's gets me down thinking about how half-ass media is all over the world, not just in America.
I'm not gonna be the one to start it, but we need some sort of huge revolution or war that actually matters to force people to either start thinking hard, or just plain die fighting and stop burdening the average human IQ. (I'm not just venting I'm serious

)
...But that last part is sort of off-topic in a Naruto thread

It's just too bad we're not included in Japan's ratings so we can't do a Naruto boycott or anything to send a message to the tards in business suits.

At this point I'm satisfied ignoring the show and just reading the manga. At this rate it's going to take months to even get close to the current chapter, where it's finally starting to get interesting.
Wow...just thinking of how long it will take for the anime to catch up to the current storyline... I may have a friggin' kid by then...