More Reality TV Crap to TVLAND

[MarcB]

Remember the WB Network Reality Show High School Reunion? Well it's coming to TVLAND Soon with all new episodes. See: http://www.sitcomsonline.com/blog/2006/10/i-network-november-sees-growing-pains.html and scroll down. (It's 2 stories in one)

 

[KML0224]

This goes along with the new Mr. T show. Can't they just throw this crap onto VH1 instead?

 

[toby]

And another reason not to watch TV Land.
Are they making programming decisions while drunk or something?

 

[BRNout]

Calling it crap is being kind.

The programmers at TV Land must be a bunch of youngsters who have no clue about what this channel is, was or what it should be. Things have gotten so bad at TV Land that, in the past 5 years, it has gone from my most watched channel to one I haven't stopped at in months.

A travesty of destroying that which was not broken.

Maybe the idiots at Viacom should hire some homeless guys to program the channel. They couldn't do any worse.

 

[MarcB]

I think all the Viacom cable networks are horrible.

Nick-At-Nite: I only watch Full House and Roseanne. The other show I like that's on there occasionally is NewsRadio and it's on at a bad time slot. (Yes I know it's now on TBS. I've been watching it there). They also need to put the shows back on at the proper times and lose the crap - Hijinx and Fatherhood. Ship Hijinx over to Comedy Central and put Fatherhood on during regular Nickelodeon Programming. And lose the stinking marathons. Marathons are supposed to be only for special occasions - not an everyday thing.

Spike TV has been horrible since it came on. Change it to a reality show channel.

TVLAND: Send all the reality shows - Chasing Farah, Pitty the Fool, High School Reunion, etc over to the new Spike TV Reality Network that I suggested above. The 60 mins/Entertainement Tonight Specials can stay since they have to do with classic TV. But enough is Enough with Bonanza, Gunsmoke, etc. Save the marathons for special occasions - Holidays, Annivesaries of death of starts, big annivesary of when the show debut (20 year, 25 year, 30 year, etc)

CMT - This is the only Viacom network that has gotten better in the last few months. They're back to showing non-stop music videos 6AM-4PM Monday-Friday.

Comedy Central - Can we get some more comedy besides "The Blue Collar Comed Tour?" And lose those horribele animated shows aside from South Park. And show some more movies instead of showing the same ones over and over again.

BET - They hardly show music videos anymore. Schedule is mostly filled now with reruns of Jaime Foxx and Wayan Brothers.

MTV - Enuff with the stinking dating shows! Good Show - Pimp My Ride.

MTV2 - Smart move was bringing back Celebrity Death Match. Good cartoon Chico & Guapo. Hope that comes back. High School Stories good show. Yo!Mama - Good show, but since it's a comedy show stick it on Comedy Central.

VH-1 - Send all the relality shows over to the new Spike TV Reality Netowrk. Only show movies that have something to do with music.

 

[EnbyCee]

TV Land is just following in the footsteps of dozens of other cable channels, particularly their Viacom siblings...now that they're carried on standard basic cable in many areas, they're being watered down with lowest-common-denominator crap, and much of the programming made them a good channel in the first place will soon be relegated to some obscure channel only available on higher-priced digital tiers.

Nickelodeon, MTV, VH1, A&E, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic, Bravo, Cartoon Network, AMC have already gone this route. Enjoy what's left of TV Land while you still can.

 

[JayDavis]

MTV a LOOOONG time ago had this amazing concept of play these things called "Music Videos". Of course, that was back in the 80's. Now all it is is CRAP (I mean, Rap) TV.

VH1 used to play videos as well. Now they suck just as bad as MTV. This entire week they've been featuring all this rap junk from about 7pm to 10pm, CDT. Can there not be ONE fricking channel in the Viacom empire that actually plays "normal" videos these days?

TVLand truly has started to SUCK. I used to watch it all the time with Leave it to Beaver and The Andy Griffith Show. Not anymore..............

Who else is just TOTALLY sick of Reality TV? I certainly am !!

I got to thinking about this a few nights ago, why can't TVLand show the old Mission Impossible show or Batman or The Green Hornet? What about The Red Skelton show?


Just wondering............

 

[toby]

TV suits seem to think people like fakeality and think it will generate ratings and revenue.

 

[Morgan Wick]

TV suits seem to think people like fakeality and think it will generate ratings and revenue.

You imply that's not true.

So, will Viacom ditch this strategy and restore the old ways of these networks once they realize none of this works?

The example of VH1, which has been Behind the Musiced I Love the X0'sed Celeb-realitied Best Week Evered to death, suggests no. We need to start a petition drive to drive out the monsters that have taken over Viacom.

I know! Re-unify it with CBS and put Les Moonves in charge. He's the darling of the industry, after all...

 

[Braves2005]

About CMT,sure they play videos from 6 AM to 4 PM,and that's the only time they play them,the other times they show very lame shows such as Trick My Truck(where supposedly they build a truck,like I really care),reruns of VH1's stupid shows,Hogan Knows Best and Ted Nugent's show,Inside The Coyote Ugly showing half-naked ladies,Making Of The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders,and please oh please,why are they rerunning the Miss America Pageant again and again? We already know the winner. Move the Miss America Pageant to Lifetime,should have done that in the first place,but show it on what you call "Country Music Television"

Nick at Nite cannot and will not show any new reruns of shows like Designing Women,Mad About You,Murphy Brown,and Newsradio without burying them in the late night hours. I like Full House,I don't like Roseanne,I have seen Fresh Prince,but they seem to be rerunning them over and over and over again. Why? Did Roseanne,The Olsen Twins,and Will Smith buy a part of Nick at Nite or something?

 

[Markxxx]

Well advertising is much more targeted now. We learned in 1970 that rural audiences don't buy much. Then we saw people over 50 don't buy, what we are seeing now is a direct market launch to those UNDER 16.

I just finished some analysis for an advertising company. It was very interesting. For instance the 16-20 crowd spend virtually all their income on their cars and music. It's astonishing to realize as late as 1940, 90% of all children 16-21, who worked at jobs contributed almost all their income to the household. They were given an allowence out of the money they earned. Now less than 5% of the 16-21 year old groups help out at all. All their money is going toward music, and cars. This car is a reusult of poor mass transit. The number is different in NYC and Chicago, which are heavy in mass tranist.

But the newest group is the "tween market" This is what Nick-at-Nite wants. What does a 14 year old have to spend his money on, JUNK that's what.

I was really shocked at how much advertising is targeted to younger and younger people. This is off topic, but did you know 1 in 5 children UNDER 2 years old drinks soda pop. 7-Up and Dr Pepper even have a line of bottles for babies.

So this is why I think you see repetive programs. It is the target. I recall reading in a bio of Desi Arnaz, the Phillp Morris company, (they sponsored I Love Lucy) couldn't figure out WHY the weren't selling cigarettes. Desi said basically they were delivering a huge audience so it wasn't the shows fault.

But today we know different. Ratings mean nothing if it draws the kind of audience that is too poor to buy or refuses to buy the products advertise.

In terms of the reality shows, I also agree it's garbage but it fits in with the young people who put their homemade videos on You Tube. Actors and writers have in many ways outpriced themselves. It is insane that artists can make one or two movies now and retire millionaires for life.

While there were many issues with the old studio system, these talented people now have no need to create. They can sit back on their reruns and get rich. That didn't happen in the past. They did well but they still HAD to keep working and that spawned more creativity.

 

[KML0224]

As for no music (or not enough of it) on MTV or VH1, there's always The Tube, if your cable system or a local station has it on a digital subchannel. (WTXX-DT [CW] channel 12 carries The Tube on "20-2".)

 

[aarontabr]

I'm still mad that Viacom hijacked The Nashville Network (TNN) and renamed it Spike TV.

 

[captex]

why don't they move all those cable channels and tv networks away from new york and la.

 

[pqgeorge]

Am I glad I recorded many hours of TV LAND and NICK @ NITE, before the suits at Viacom started ruining both of them. I find myself not watching Nick anymore and very rarely do I watch TV LAND now. I'm 46 and in one of their target demographics. Slowly but surely, I find very little to watch on TV LAND now. This "reality" (yeah, right!) stuff is for the birds. TV LAND was SUPPOSED to be an all-classic TV network. I'm finding less and less programming that qualifies as "classic".

It always seems to be that same thing. You start enjoying a certain channel and they reprogram it. For example: fX used to play some great programming "Mission: Impossible", "Batman", "Backchat" et.al.. Then in 1997, they "rebranded" in favor of FOX retreads, ....you know..... "FOX gone cable". Gone were the classics and "the fX Apartment". I don't watch FX anymore.

Game Show Network, used to play a slew of classic game shows " such as "To Tell The Truth", "I've Got A Secret', "The Name's The Same", "What's My Line" and more. Now as "GSN, the network of games", you're lucky if you can see a classic "Match Game 7X" with Brett and Charles going at it. Other than that, it's all "interactive" crap.

I find myself buying DVD's and watching my library of when NICK and TV LAND were good.

How I would love to watch "Patty Duke", "Batman", "Dragnet" (color and black & white), "My Three Sons" (the original black and white ones), "Dobie Gillis", "The Adventures Of Superman".

"Fresh Prince", "Roseanne" and all of that 80's and 90's stuff "just don't cut it". This all seems to be the TV version of the "WCBS-FM murder". And why not..... both the Viacom networks and WCBS-FM are commonly owned.

 

[captex]

I'M ANOTHER HAS RECORDED SOME SHOWS AND RECENTLY GETTING DVD'S ALSO . IT SEEMS THEY REALLY DON'T KNOW HOW TO PROGRAM THESE CHANNELS FOR PEOPLE OVER 35-70 OR SO, WHICH IS THE TARGET AUDIENCE. I LIKE SHOWS LIKE MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, HILL STREET BLUES, WILD WILD WEST. NORTHERN EXPOSURE. THE SHOWS ON TV LAND I DON'T REALLY LIKE AND OTHER CHANNELS INCLUDING ALOT ON THE NETWORK TV.

 

[Morgan Wick]

I think the problem is, such-and-such of all the money spent by viewers as a result of advertising (say, 50%) comes from the 18-(3/4)9 demographic.

Problem is, Viacom especially (but to some extent the others too) want to program 100% of TV towards that one segment. Even the niche programming for other segments is being constantly bowlderized towards the "money demo," even though "spreading the wealth" across networks could theoretically make you even MORE money, by not just programming towards 50% of the money, but oh, say, something like 100%.

It is one of the failings of capitalism: all things must become mainstream, and nothing can stop it; here, mainstream means "whatever makes the most money for the big corporate conglomerate that has inevitably purchased the network by this point".

All the original "general-purpose" cable networks look alike now. Not just the Viacoms (Spike, MTV, VH1), but USA, FX, A&E (which really REALLY needs to change its name), the Turner networks...

 

[bpatrick]

So this is why I think you see repetive programs. It is the target. I recall reading in a bio of Desi Arnaz, the Phillp Morris company, (they sponsored I Love Lucy) couldn't figure out WHY the weren't selling cigarettes. Desi said basically they were delivering a huge audience so it wasn't the shows fault.

Paul Klein, who ran NBC before Fred Silverman in the 1970s, started his
career in 1953 as a market-research analyst for the now-defunct Milton
Biow ad agency, which represented Philip Morris. He found that Lucy's
audience was primarily children and older women (I suppose that means
women over 50, but don't hold me to that), neither of whom were Philip
Morris smokers. Eventually he advised Philip Morris to advertise on Medic,
Lucy's competition on NBC from 1954-56, which had a heavier male
audience. Klein was one of the foremost disciples of demographics, but
he foundered at NBC because he thought the audience had an appetite
for specials over series. He canceled nearly every regular series on NBC,
and by 1977 he had four nights (Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday)
which consisted largely of movies or "event" programming. What he never
realized is that there has to be a backbone of regular series to support a
network, supply the revenue to make those "event" shows. So Silverman
was left in the unenviable position of having to practically rebuild NBC's
schedule from scratch. I'm starting to get off-topic and want to wind
this up, but Klein went a little overboard with his support of demographics.

 

[bpatrick]

Nick at Nite cannot and will not show any new reruns of shows like Designing Women,Mad About You,Murphy Brown,and Newsradio without burying them in the late night hours. I like Full House,I don't like Roseanne,I have seen Fresh Prince,but they seem to be rerunning them over and over and over again. Why? Did Roseanne,The Olsen Twins,and Will Smith buy a part of Nick at Nite or something?

You ought to try the ABC Family Channel. You'd swear that was
a joint venture of the Olsen twins, Jaleel White, Sasha Mitchell,
and Ben Savage.