Back in the day we would put 60 volts on his drop and fry the tunner in the TV. Hell these days you get to use 90 volts. 90 should really give his tunner a shock. He will probally go to Blockbuster after buying a new TV. But there is no way the cable coud have caused his TV to burn up as he "wasnt hooked up" to it.
This is CABL.com posting #186770. Tiny Link: cabl.co/mWKA