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More Bad TV

A word to the wise about DVR. Although one can increase the time allowed to record a show, I wouldn't put it past the networks, especially cable, to purposely run over the allotted time just to jam in more commercials or cable network promos.

TWC for example use to allow a person to DVR a show say at 7 pm. Now they have it set up so it comes in blocks of a few hours: For example 6 to 10 pm., and one can only advance that start time by 15 minutes at the latest.

As for TV getting bad, hell yes it is. Most of the shows on television today are pure crap in my opinion. Remember when networks use to run "movies of the week?" Now it is either reality shows, or more cop dramas. :mad:
 
justpassingthough said:
I think the whole "reality TV is killing quality TV" thing is a cop-out. There are close to a billion channels now, right? Or something along those lines. Yes, reality TV now makes up a big part of cable and network programming. I'm guessing if you add up all of the original scripted programming available in any given week of the year, though, and match it against any week pre-cable, there is now more original scripted programming available to viewers than ever before.

On top of this, due to the wide spectrum of channels, programming is more targeted than ever before. Cable channels especially, are producing programming that appeals to very specific demographics. In the past, network programming had to cast a wide net and get as many eyeballs as possible. Crime procedurals on USA, adult dramas on TNT, and comedies on TBS don't have to appeal to as wide of an audience. Arguably, these shows appeal to the core audience, and only their core audience. If you don't like it, there is something else to watch on another channel.

Personally, and this is just an opinion, I don't think television has ever been as high quality as it is currently. For every "Toddlers and Tiaras", there are outstanding scripted programs like FX's "Rescue Me" or Showtime's "Dexter"- groundbreaking shows that would have never made it to television 10 or 20 years ago. I also think the greatest testament to television's quality is the star power- as a number of big name movie actors have tackled television in the past 10 years or so (recent examples- Lawrence Fishburne, Terrence Howard, etc)
Click to expand...

I love the points you raise--the media pecking order isn't quite so cut and dry anymore. To piggyback on your point about notable Hollywood stars joining small screen projects: You've also got credible producers and directors turning to cable TV series explicitly for the sort of creative license and boundary pushing they thought would be found in the film world. And its not just with what could be considered paint-by-number dramas or comedies, either--the same TNT that will debut Franklin & Bash is also being pretty ambitious with Falling Skies, a project with Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks pictures.
 
justpassingthough said:
I think the whole "reality TV is killing quality TV" thing is a cop-out. There are close to a billion channels now, right? Or something along those lines. Yes, reality TV now makes up a big part of cable and network programming. I'm guessing if you add up all of the original scripted programming available in any given week of the year, though, and match it against any week pre-cable, there is now more original scripted programming available to viewers than ever before.

On top of this, due to the wide spectrum of channels, programming is more targeted than ever before. Cable channels especially, are producing programming that appeals to very specific demographics. In the past, network programming had to cast a wide net and get as many eyeballs as possible. Crime procedurals on USA, adult dramas on TNT, and comedies on TBS don't have to appeal to as wide of an audience. Arguably, these shows appeal to the core audience, and only their core audience. If you don't like it, there is something else to watch on another channel.

Personally, and this is just an opinion, I don't think television has ever been as high quality as it is currently. For every "Toddlers and Tiaras", there are outstanding scripted programs like FX's "Rescue Me" or Showtime's "Dexter"- groundbreaking shows that would have never made it to television 10 or 20 years ago. I also think the greatest testament to television's quality is the star power- as a number of big name movie actors have tackled television in the past 10 years or so (recent examples- Lawrence Fishburne, Terrence Howard, etc)
Click to expand...

I agree whole-heartedly. It's also my opinion that TV has never been better, and that's the viewpoint I usually post when others spew about how bad TV "has become" and seem to want to return to the days of Quinn Martin detective shows and The Brady Bunch.

You touched on a couple of basic and premium cable's fine dramas (Dexter and Rescue Me). Those are only two of many new series that you never would have seen on TV twenty or thirty years ago.

Two recent series I am watching - The Killing on AMC, and Game of Thrones on HBO. The critically acclaimed Breaking Bad is coming back to AMC for a third (fourth?) season in a couple of weeks, as is Ray Romano's Men of a Certain Age.

Great TV is out there folks - all you have to do is look for it.
 
"The solution: Do away with over the air transmissions and go all digital."

If you'll recall, they did sort of "compromise" on that a couple years ago. Whether or not it actually worked out as everybody had hoped is still open for debate.
 
Mark_Giardina said:
TWC for example use to allow a person to DVR a show say at 7 pm. Now they have it set up so it comes in blocks of a few hours: For example 6 to 10 pm., and one can only advance that start time by 15 minutes at the latest.
Click to expand...

So you're saying if you want to record a show from 8pm to 9pm you actually have to record 6pm to 10pm?? I have never heard of such a thing. Why would TWC do this? Are you sure it's not just bad guide data? I would dump TWC in a heartbeat if that was the case. Is there an option for a manual record where you can specify the exact start and end times? Verizon has that feature.
 
This morning when I woke up TBS was running an episode of Married with Children
that featured Seven Bundy.

No discussion of Bad TV would be complete without a mention of THAT little disaster!
 
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