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Fed up with TV (almost)

S

sathman01

Is it just me or has television as a whole gotten so bad that the temptation of cutting off cable or satellite very tempting?

To me it just seems like the same rehashed crap over and over again and more "reality" shows are just plain stink. I am ready to chuck my cable box out the window and just watch the supposed best shows on DVD when they are released. The game shows are terrible with all the commercials and since there will be no new sitcoms since the writers strike is on there is really nothing on.

Heck, even before the writers strike I think many of the shows were going downhill but yet people considered some shows "Hits".

For example
"How I Met Your Mother" bad show but it keeps going and going.
"30 Rock" jeez just go away
and there are many others but this is just my humble opinion.
 
People have been getting fed up TV almost since the beginning (when the networks phased out live dramas from New York and went to filmed shows from the Hollywood former B-picture units). Even before that, people said TV was not as good as old time radio.

Maybe this is a reflection of age. People get older and at some point TV is targeting an audience younger than they. Ergo TV has changed for the worse.

I remember an episode of "All in the Family" when Archie says there's nothing good on TV and wants to throw the set into the Gowanus Canal. (Maybe the California writers did not know New York geography. Archie lived in Astoria, Queens and there's water a lot closer than a canal in Brooklyn.) Plus ça change.
 
I myself know of at least 10 families who have not only stop watching TV but actually threw away their sets.
They want nothing to do it.

And interesting one of those who did that works at a TV station in Central Virginia.

Actually that is not a surprise. After all many, many big celebrities from Madonna to Bette Midler to even the late Michael Landon refused to allow their kids to watch any TV at all. Madonna I heard doesnt even own a set. Come to think of it I have heard that most celebrities don't either. Kinda ironic to get paid well for being on TV, yet they themselves dont alow themselves or the families to be a part of it on a personal basis.

And its not just TV, its the same with radio. My brother sells cars and he says the trend now is cars that do NOT have radios. Not XM or Serius but NO radio at all.

Kind of reminds me of a story I once heard many years ago. Not sure how much true this is or not but despite being a "big star" at New York's WABC radio, Dan Ingram not only would not allow his kids to listen to radio ( not even to WABC ) but Dan wouldn't allow a radio in his home nor did he have one in his car.

I dunno..if I was in a business that I found myself to actually hate being a part of, I would quit. That is right thing to do. But how often to the famous folk do the right thing?
 
Years ago, I used to watch a lot of tv. Of course, that was before the reality show craze and all the in-show pop-up advertising that the networks seem to love so much. I've cut down watching so much now.

That's interesting about the no radios in cars trend. First time of reading about that.
 
I hardly watch any of the new shows. I watch older stuff mostly - Nanny, Golden Girls, Roseanne, Home Improvement, Saved by the Bell, Alice, Mama's Family, Sabrina, Full House, Reba, classic Simpsons, and Classic Family Guy. What do I watch that's new? Reaper and that hasn't even been on in awhile. And occasionally I watch the new episodes of The Simspons and Family Guy on Fox. And I watch Rachael Ray's talk show daily when I'm not working. Plus on cable I watch Rachael Ray's 30 Min Meals, Ace of Cakes, Diners-Driveins-and Dives.
 
sathman01 said:
Is it just me or has television as a whole gotten so bad that the temptation of cutting off cable or satellite very tempting?

...

For example
"How I Met Your Mother" bad show but it keeps going and going.
"30 Rock" jeez just go away
and there are many others but this is just my humble opinion.
Click to expand...

Those shows aren't on cable TV.
 
Part of it is just the change. If you like comedies you're screwed.

Another thing is actors and writers have somewhat outpriced themselves on the market. Writers now stress jokes over plot development and "realistic" over quality.

For instance, I am a WWII buff and I love the movies, they made some great movies about WWII, did you notice none have cuss words in them? Well you can darn well bet marines in the Pacific cussed but the movies didn't reflect that. But they were still high quality and excellently made. Can you imagine a movie about a war being made today with no cussing.

Also mass audiences aren't wrote for. Only the people that buy a product are written for. Remember Nielsen numbers are not random polls, so are not representative of the nation. They are purposely chose to reflect people that will BUY things. A RANDOM sample is reflective any other sample is biased. So Nielsen relfects only a small number of Americans.

Consolidation of media has been problematic, now you get one opinion instead of varied opinions. I watch our news in Chicago and on FOX, NBC, CBS, ABC and WGN-TV the stories virtually never vary, just the order they are presented.

DVDs have also cut into TV shows, now one assumes if you like a show you'll buy the DVD and not watch reruns.
 
MarcB said:
I hardly watch any of the new shows. I watch older stuff mostly - Nanny, Golden Girls, Roseanne, Home Improvement, Saved by the Bell, Alice, Mama's Family, Sabrina, Full House, Reba, classic Simpsons, and Classic Family Guy.
Click to expand...

That's "older stuff?" This explains what's happened to TV Land.
 
Julius Leonard Marx said:
That's "older stuff?" This explains what's happened to TV Land.
Click to expand...

Dude, I'm 25 1/2 years old. So to me stuff from the 80s and 90s is older stuff. I used to like the ultimate old show - 'I Love Lucy', but I've lost interest in it over the years. Other shows I like aren't on anymore as far as I know - "WKRP" (hasn't been seen since the brief showing on ION this past spring), Burns & Allen, Carol Burnett, Laverne & Shirley (hasn't been seen since Lifetime dropped the show a few years ago).
 
MarcB said:
Julius Leonard Marx said:
That's "older stuff?" This explains what's happened to TV Land.
Click to expand...

Dude, I'm 25 1/2 years old. So to me stuff from the 80s and 90s is older stuff. I used to like the ultimate old show - 'I Love Lucy', but I've lost interest in it over the years. Other shows I like aren't on anymore as far as I know - "WKRP" (hasn't been seen since the brief showing on ION this past spring), Burns & Allen, Carol Burnett, Laverne & Shirley (hasn't been seen since Lifetime dropped the show a few years ago).
Click to expand...

ALN currently carries WKRP Monday nights (along with other MTM shows).
 
MarcB said:
Laverne & Shirley (hasn't been seen since Lifetime dropped the show a few years ago).
Click to expand...

Are you sure they ever carried this show? Are you sure you're not confusing it with Hope & Faith or one of them other shows?

Also, didn't WKRP run on FX for a short while?
 
DToTheJ said:
Are you sure they ever carried this show? Are you sure you're not confusing it with Hope & Faith or one of them other shows? Also, didn't WKRP run on FX for a short while?
Click to expand...

Reruns of Hope and Faith were/are on the WE network. L&S ran on Lifetime for a while. At one time it aired 8AM-830AM. Followed by Designing Women.

WKRP on FX? I don't think so. I first saw the show years ago in reruns on the former TV 26 in New London, CT. Later I watched it on E! WKRP and ALICE ran on E! while The OJ Trial was in recess. Then I watched both on TNN. WKRP also aired briefly on TNN's sister station TVLAND. After TNN flipped to Spike, both WKRP and Alice disappeared. Both showed up on ION (which is ironically is channel 26 in New London) in 2007.
 
MarcB said:
After TNN flipped to Spike, both WKRP and Alice disappeared. Both showed up on ION (which is ironically is channel 26 in New London) in 2007.
Click to expand...

I know Alice appeared all too briefly on ION, but I don't believe WKRP ever aired there.
 
azumanga said:
MarcB said:
After TNN flipped to Spike, both WKRP and Alice disappeared. Both showed up on ION (which is ironically is channel 26 in New London) in 2007.
Click to expand...

I know Alice appeared all too briefly on ION, but I don't believe WKRP ever aired there.
Click to expand...

Before the actual debut of Pax in 1998, some of the Pax stations did air an informerical hosted by Michael Young about what is coming to the then-new network. A few shows that the informerical featured as "coming soon to PAX TV" for some reason never did make it to Pax such as Alice ( though it did make it to Ion YEARS later ) plus The Facts of Life and I believe WKRP was featured. Not sure why neither show made to PAX even though the network promoted it anyway.
 
I go back a bit farther than some of you. I remember when there were a variety of shows on TV: Westerns, comedy, dramas, and specials.

I’m not about to throw away my TV set, but this coming spring I am dumping cable TV. Why should I spend good money each year to watch the same repeated programs? Even the so-called news networks feature just documentaries and radio talk shows at night (CNN, MSNBC, FOX). And let's not forget the informercials that bombard cable TV. With all that revenue coming in one would think that my local cable TV company would at least give me the choice of picking what stations I want to watch.

As for buying an HD TV, forget it! I don’t care if the price comes down to $19.95 and Billy Mays throws in a toilet bowl cleaner; there is nothing on TV worth me spending that kind of money for; except maybe a good football game. And my current set works just fine, thank you very much.

It is not my age that prompts me to be turned off my TV. It’s the mentality of many networks and cable company executives who believe that people will watch almost anything. According to recent surveys the audience for television and radio is on a steady decline. And those “suits” on Madison Avenue and in Hollywood wonder why.

Ed Murrow's famous quote about TV is coming true.
 
MarcB said:
As for WKRP I'll have to check my notes when I get a chance.
Click to expand...

You keep notes on WKRP's carriage? Don't tell me you keep a notebook in which you track plaintiffs' and defendants' judgments on "The People's Court", too.
 
I am fed up with TV too (almost) because one has to sift thru the crappe to find something that is worth watching.
I am looking forward to the a few of the Bowl Games, the NFL playoffs, the 6 hour mini series on CBS in Jan.(Commanche Run) but I can't think of much else.
 
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