The couple watching TV are Robert’s parents, William and Isabel. It is an odd way for Robert to portray his parents, both hard-workers who watched little TV. However the couple took a keen interest in the news. The setting is the living room in the family home with reproductions of Millet’s The Angelus and The Gleaners on the wall. For Robert’s parents, the Millet images validate hard work and religion.

The Six O’clock News functions as a parody of The Angelus, with the TV replacing the church bell as the couple’s object of reference and reflection. The TV is the new icon of the family home. A couple who fix their attention on a television set rather than communicating with each other echos the theme of The Apartment. It’s as if the couple in that image grew older and this is what they’ve become.