Man, TV really does suck anymore

[Daumantas]

You know, I actually used to think that having lots of cable channels would result in MORE, not less, good TV.

Remember that? "Wow - 50 channels! TV will really rock then! Imagine how GOOD the stuff on TV will be!"

I now realize that there is only so much talent to go around, and a process of dilution appears to have set in.

Inspiration: Qjakal's thread about Hollywood Squares. Remember when even game shows were occasionally worth watching?

Now, we get the likes of American Idol, which makes me want to set fire to my box.

This bugs me mostly because we PAY for cable. We used to get better stuff for FREE. I used to get eight or nine channels which never lacked for Something Good On.

Anyone else think TV - like cars, music, the appearance of American downtowns, etc. - has gone colossally downhill?

 

[qjakal]

Downhill...

..or is it just so diluted due to quantity that our perception is skewed? Animal Planet is good. I ilke HGTV half the time. Nick at Night is a good concept. Comedy Central has it's moments...HBO series like the Sopranos and 6 Feet Under are fine...and even some reality TV is fun. BUT, there's just SOOOOO many channels of drivel that it seems like everything that's on sucks most days.

Everybody Loves Raymond makes me smile...it contains many "family truths' and so I feel it has relevance.

Survivor is a train wreck that is difficult not to watch...

Biography and the Discovery and History Channels hold up pretty well also...

I don't really know if it's a lack of quality or just the damn quantity influencing the big picure...lol. Q

 

[red indian]

Welcome to planet earth guys!!!

Any Brit could have told you this years ago!!! most U.S. tv is total bollocks and it was total bollocks even before cable.

 

[qjakal]

uh huh...

Okay..I'll give you Monty Python and Faulty Towers....what else ya got, red? Q

 

[red indian]

Blimey Q!!....

Thats stone age T.V. over here!!! you will never get the good stuff, its far too offensive for you straight laced Americans, we "take the piss" (humiliate,make fun,mock) out of our Prime Minister, the Government, our institutions and our selves without mercy, and unlike almost all American comedy, there is no sugar coated ,lick ass, "we love you really, deep down" vomit inducing happy ending.

 

[TicklingDuo]

It seems every show on t.v. now is a retread of something else. Doctor drama(E.R.), Cop show(N.Y.P.D. Blue...and an endless list), Lawyer show(L.A. Law).
And every sitcom is rip-off of either Seinfeld or Friends, OR, the typical family with the doofus father, sensible mom and smart-ass kids who talk down to the parents.
I won't even go into the reality shows.
Although I have no business responding to this thread as all I really watch on television is Wrestling.

Drew

 

[BellaRisa]

It's always been like this, guys

T.V. has always been equal parts heinous and marvelous. Really, I'm a television trivia buff of sorts, especially '70's and '80's. For the last 50 years, for every awful show that's been on there's been a good one, depending on what you like and how late you were able to stay up. 'Hill Street Blues' was a very good show, 'Jennifer Slept Here' was not. As for cable, I get my money's worth thanks to the Sopranos, Six Feet Under, the Cartoon Network...heck, Noggin pays for itself every time my little girls curl up to watch Blues Clues or Little Bear.

As for game shows, I love Beat the Geeks and I still love Price is
Right...

Bella

 

[red indian]

But to answer your question........

(not that you will ever see them) look out for...."The fast show".."Ali Gee"...."Big Train"..."Stella Street"..."Harry Enfield"..."Phoenix Nights"..."Trigger Happy T.V."..."I,m Alan Partridge"..."Coogans Run"..."The Office"..."Paul Calfes Video Diary"..."Bottom"..."People Like us"..."Father Ted"..."Have I got news for you"..........and I worship at the holy shrine of..............."THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN"...we are bad at lots of things over here (War, getting over weight on junk food, covering ourselves in body armour to play sports, falsifying company accounts, going bankrupt on a galactic scale,not having the current World heavy weight boxing champion,taking all day to play a football game...ext) but when it comes to hard hitting cutting edge comedy with no sentimental cop out ending we beat you guys out of sight!!!

 

[The Godking]

That all really depends upon who's watching,now I've traveled a little, to England and Italy mostly, but one thing I have to say.... I do not find humiliation, barfing, pissing...etc.... funny, so I'll make you a deal red, keep it, I don't want it.... and as for the crap on T.V., I watch movies when I'm bored at home, screw the boob tube, thats why god created blockbuster and hollywood video...

 

[tklr5150]

Re: It's always been like this, guys

T.V. has always been equal parts heinous and marvelous. Really, I'm a television trivia buff of sorts, especially '70's and '80's. For the last 50 years, for every awful show that's been on there's been a good one, depending on what you like and how late you were able to stay up. 'Hill Street Blues' was a very good show, 'Jennifer Slept Here' was not. As for cable, I get my money's worth thanks to the Sopranos, Six Feet Under, the Cartoon Network...heck, Noggin pays for itself every time my little girls curl up to watch Blues Clues or Little Bear.

As for game shows, I love Beat the Geeks and I still love Price is
Right...

Bella

Hit the nail on the head. I'm actually a film/television student, so I'm pretty well-versed in pop culture. Every society thinks that cultures which preceded it were so much more superior. That's only because all that remains of past cultures are the cream of the crop, the upper 25% or so. The rest is forgotten with time, and the same will happen 10 years, 50 years, 1000 years down the line with our tv shows, movies, and so on.

 

[Strelnikov]

Even Discovery and History Channel are getting repetitive lately. About all I watch any more is the old movies and the crazy Australian who swims with crocodiles.

Strelnikov

 

[HeBeGeeBee]

As far as "reality TV", I think the best shows are on the Food Network. Even though I'm a guy, for some reason I'm fascinated by some of the things they do on those shows. I also am a fairly decent cook...my chili can't be beat. But I'd just as soon watch Emeril as "Dog Eat Dog"...although the host (hostess) of "Dog Eat Dog" is MUCH better looking than Emeril.

I just remembered that this is my 150th post...watch as I instantly transform from a "Novice" to "Regular". In true Emeril syle, here I go...BAM!!!

 

[BellaRisa]

Re: But to answer your question........

(not that you will ever see them) look out for...."The fast show".."Ali Gee"...."Big Train"..."Stella Street"..."Harry Enfield"..."Phoenix Nights"..."Trigger Happy T.V."..."I,m Alan Partridge"..."Coogans Run"..."The Office"..."Paul Calfes Video Diary"..."Bottom"..."People Like us"..."Father Ted"..."Have I got news for you"..........and I worship at the holy shrine of..............."THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN"...we are bad at lots of things over here (War, getting over weight on junk food, covering ourselves in body armour to play sports, falsifying company accounts, going bankrupt on a galactic scale,not having the current World heavy weight boxing champion,taking all day to play a football game...ext) but when it comes to hard hitting cutting edge comedy with no sentimental cop out ending we beat you guys out of sight!!!

Thanks to BBC America and PBS, I've been watching british comedies since the late '80's. I love their humor, from 'Fizz' and 'Fresh Fields' to 'Father Ted', 'League of Gentlemen' and 'British Men Behaving Badly', 'Red Dwarf' and 'Chef'. And then there's 'Ab Fab' and 'the Young Ones'...

But as much as I love British humor (A Hard Day's Night is my all time favorite movie script) There have been just as many American comedies that I loved-'All in the Family', 'Seinfeld,' 'Night Court', 'Titus'...the list goes on. Really, it depends on the quality of writers, and there are good ones on both sides of the pond, luckily

Bella

 

[TicklingDuo]

I agree, Bella, British humor is much funnier and smarter than American cookie-cutter, warm-fuzzy, happy-ending humor. The best example of one of their best shows: "Keeping Up Appearances"
Although for the Ultimate american sitcom, Nothing beats "Seinfeld"!
I loved their one rule for the show: No Hugs!

Drew

 

[Biggles of 266]

League of Gentlemen!

Wanna buy some pegs Dave?

Egsoob be, hab adybody gad a baddle oran goo?

The Columbian Natter-Jack, otherwise known as... the Devil's Toad!



Mickey from the restart program reminds me of some guys in high school who only did manual arts and sport.


and who could forget...

The Special Stuff (my hillary briss impression loses something with emoticons)

 

[Bulldogge]

I'd certainly agree that most t.v. sucks these days, but I am fortunate that our local Public Broadcasting System runs a "Brit Wit" every Saturday night, nothing but various British Comedies. Good Stuff

But on the other hand, why not just spend less time in front of the idiot box and more time reading?

 

[Daumantas]

Hey, listen...I take a back seat to no one in reading. I regularly take in the likes of Dostoevsky and Shakespeare and Whitman and plenty of other classics as well as history, religion, philosophy and countless other topics.

My problem isn't that TV isn't "cutting edge" or intellectual enough. I don't go there expecting it. I go elsewhere for that. I assume TV is going to be trivial.

MY point is that TV just plain sucks. They don't know how to make good, stupid shows anymore. "Gilligan's Island" - stupid and absurd, right? Yet we all know the episodes almost by heart. Why do you think that is? Come on now...own up...

 

[JPie1]

Yeah TV for the most part is downhill

Being the Culinary Person I am I do love to watch the cooking shows and get all fired up for some new culinary delight to try. Then there are my few inbetween shows of the 110+ channels I have. At this point of the game most TV is just mind release if you work a demanding job and take care of kids, I don't expect to get all that much intelligence from it. The one thing I do love to watch come summer I can't even watch because the Yankees YES network can't come to terms with cablevision and then they give us some lousy .55 monthly credit for it. We will just have to continue pursing other interesting diversions (like tickling for one) to keep us busy!!

JPie


PS...maybe its time we created the tickling channel, all tickling all the time!!

 

[red indian]

Hi Biggles me old mucker!!!

"Whats all this noise? we will have no trouble here!"

"Good morning job seekers!!"

"I can i cant?"

"Jeff cant tell a joke! jeff IS a joke! jeff enters a talent contest and loses, me mam said i would win!!! you all know i,ve got this gun dont you!!!!"

"This is a local shop for local people"


"whats the capital of france mickey love?"...."er....wine?"