Kevin's Watch

Will someone tell me what has happened to television? I try not to live in the past but omg, it's gotten insane! Shows about diving into water, stuffing animals, sitting in mud, hair cutting. We watch rich stupid women (and their men) make fools of themselves for their 15 minutes in front of the camera. Inane shows that say nothing, mean nothing and just seem to fill the 'void'.

I have seen ONE show not in reruns worth watching - The Big Bang Theory. Maybe it is that I don't have premium cable. Yesterday I was listening to an interview with the producer of Cheers. He said that today the average 1/2 hour show is actually 16 minutes whereas in the late 80's it was 24 minutes. Maybe trying to do something of significance into 16 minutes is impossible so people resort to schlock.

I miss the old shows. Mash, China Beach, Northern Exposure, Cheers, WKRP, All in the Family, Barney Miller.

Is it just laziness? Is it just easier to watch other peoples lives than using creativity to invent new situations. It just seems to me that the creative well written shows these days deal only with psychopathic murderers. I don't do murderers.

I don't know if you watch boxsets, lorin, but that seems to be the way to go these days. Most of the good shows these days seem to be produced by networks like HBO. Series like the Sopranos, the Wire, Mad Men and Game of Thrones have some of the best writing and acting ever produced for television. Despite the everflowing effluent that is reality TV, we are actually going through a golden age for a certain kind of television programme.

u.

the crap is cheap so more gets made because people watch it.

I gave up cable after BSG ended, with no regrets. There are a few shows that I still follow (though I tend to be waaay behind). Like ussusimiel said, there is some good stuff out there.

Never understood the 'reality show' fad, and really thought it would have died by now.

Yes, most of the stuff on tv is crap. That's why I don't own a television. I do follow a few shows on the internet and that's about it...

Sorus wrote: Never understood the 'reality show' fad, and really thought it would have died by now.

And I thought rap was going to die by the 90s. I mean, considering it hasn't done a single new thing in decades, I don't understand how people can still listen to the same regurgitated crap.

Netflix lets you watch those old series dirt cheap. Speaking of Cheers, we had fun going back to the beginning and watching some of that.

TV has always been stupid, but sometimes inspiring. You can find the same mix today, if you're willing either to spend some money or put in some effort. "Reality" shows are truly the dumbest form of TV drivel. I don't see how literate people can justify wasting time on them. I'd have to be in the hospital, paralyzed, unable to change the channel to watch something like that. Even then I might try to avert my eyes and say a mantra to get me though it.

Zarathustra wrote: TV has always been stupid, but sometimes inspiring. You can find the same mix today, if you're willing either to spend some money or put in some effort. "Reality" shows are truly the dumbest form of TV drivel. I don't see how literate people can justify wasting time on them. I'd have to be in the hospital, paralyzed, unable to change the channel to watch something like that. Even then I might try to avert my eyes and say a mantra to get me though it.

I guess that really is my issue. I am unwilling to spend 200/month for the right to watch cable. The networks don't offer much anymore. I have streaming on Netflix and can mostly find a decent movie. If it weren't for my phone and internet I would cancel cable all together.

Speaking of Netflix streaming. I happened upon this thing called Centipede and Centipede 2. You know, I consider myself a fairly jaded, seen all kinda gal but I have never ever ever seen anything like that. I made it through the first 20 minutes and had to shut it off. What concerns me is streaming is basically unblocked. NO CHILD should see such things.

Netflix needs to figure out how to create a separate site for stuff like that.

They do have parental control filters you can set on your account, as far as I know.

I'm Murrin wrote:They do have parental control filters you can set on your account, as far as I know.

OH! I didn't know that. Thanks for letting me know.

lorin wrote:Speaking of Netflix streaming. I happened upon this thing called Centipede and Centipede 2.

lorin, what were you thinking! Those films rank up there among the most obscene movies ever put on general release (here's a link to an article from the Guardian regarding the banning of one of them in the UK. The censors there reckoned that the film posed a 'real risk' to viewers ).

Do you usually watch horror films? I can't, and I'd be sure to check a film out before I'd start watching it.

u.

ussusimiel wrote:

lorin wrote:Speaking of Netflix streaming. I happened upon this thing called Centipede and Centipede 2.

lorin, what were you thinking! Those films rank up there among the most obscene movies ever put on general release (here's a link to an article from the Guardian regarding the banning of one of them in the UK. The censors there reckoned that the film posed a 'real risk' to viewers ).

Do you usually watch horror films? I can't, and I'd be sure to check a film out before I'd start watching it.

u.

No I never watch any horror films. Last horror I watched was "When a stranger calls" in the 70's. One of my foster kids told me how I had to watch it. She didn't warn me. I only made 20 min. and didnt look at the second, but I did read the summary of the second. What a friggin' nightmare.

lorin wrote:No I never watch any horror films. Last horror I watched was "When a stranger calls" in the 70's. One of my foster kids told me how I had to watch it. She didn't warn me. I only made 20 min. and didnt look at the second, but I did read the summary of the second. What a friggin' nightmare.

That's what I would have thought. I was wondering had someone hacked you account for a minute

Looking around the web it seems that the 1st film had some redeeming features (some comparisons to David Cronenberg's 'body horror' films e.g. his remake of 'The Fly') even if it wouldn't be to our taste, but the 2nd (and 3rd ) seem to be irredeemable gratuitous cash-ins.

u.

And this is why I don't watch TV any more at home (apart from not having time to watch anyway). Since the beginning of this year I have watched only two programmes, the ones during the Richard III dig. I cringe at any reality shows, and there seem to be an awful lot of them now. I have to watch at my son's as he has the television on all the time, it seems, but that is just childrens' stuff, and he does put on the antiques type shows for us. If I was forced to watch TV, I would put on the UK Gold channel for the old 60s, 70s and 80s programmes that were so good - Fools and Horses, Good Life, To the Manor Born etc. etc.

I haven't had cable television service in 5 years and I do not miss it at all.

lorin wrote:I happened upon this thing called Centipede and Centipede 2. You know, I consider myself a fairly jaded, seen all kinda gal but I have never ever ever seen anything like that.

Those are probably the most disgusting movies ever made to date. It started as a drawing and an idea over one of the 4chan boards (I think), the self-proclaimed "asshole of the Internet".

I have to keep looking into things like this so that I know what is out there and can try to keep our kids shielded from it until they are old enough to shield themselves. This brings me to my usual saying about the Internet: think of the most awful or the most disturbing thing you can imagine (no, really, get down-and-dirty with it). Right now, somewhere in the world, someone is watching something more disturbing or disgusting than what you just thought about.

I guess I'm thankful I never heard or viewed any portion of the Centipede films. Geh.

The worst thing I think I've seen is "Real Housewives of NJ" (and I understand there are spin-offs for DC and maybe others). I watched it with Fawn out of curiosity... I thought those people were most pathetic drama queen losers, really well-dressed and pampered and followed around by film crews to watch the train wreck of perfectly good lives. And wasting the precious minutes and brain cells of thousands (millions?) of others along the way. Of course, that is their choice.

When my daughter was a few years younger, a tween, I noticed that she picked up mannerisms from television; she liked Hannah Montana and I started hearing some of HMs snarkisms coming from her lips-- till I pointed it out to her. She lost interest in the show soon after that. (I remember losing interest in TV when I was 13 or 14, realizing it was mostly stupid and that it did not fill the void in my life. I started playing guitar and roaming in the woods instead. It was all downhill from there. )

I still don't watch much TV except for box sets, since I find commercials such a headache. My daughter does the same, but she likes sitcoms like Community and Parks & Rec, I like dramas.

Io, do you remember The Darling Buds of May? Waiting for God? Those were fun. I saw them on public television years ago. Oh, and Keeping Up Appearances, omigosh that was funny!!

deer of the dawn wrote:
Io, do you remember The Darling Buds of May? Waiting for God? Those were fun. I saw them on public television years ago. Oh, and Keeping Up Appearances, omigosh that was funny!!

I never did watch Darling Buds, but I did watch Waiting for God (Stephanie Cole who I also remember from Tenko) and Mrs Bucket! That was a wonderful show. The chap who played Onslow died recently. I remember him from the early Coronation Street days when he was a lodger I think with the Ogdens. There were so many good comedies in the 70s and 80s. I forgot Last of the Summer Wine and As Time Goes By (90s that one I think) and there were loads more. Also the one on the spaceship with the cat and the hologram - can't remember the name of it at the moment. That was hilarious.

Iolanthe wrote: Also the one on the spaceship with the cat and the hologram - can't remember the name of it at the moment. That was hilarious.

Red Dwarf. Excellent show.

Yes, that's it. A few years ago they had a whole evening of Red Dwarf. Wonderful.

They used to play it here on PBS, late Sunday nights. Followed by the original Doctor Who. I was working graveyard then, and it became a weekly tradition.

Wouldn't mind watching it again, that show was brilliant.

Here is how I view it: reality TV came about because of the unholy breeding of soap operas and game shows. It then decayed further when the offspring mated with tabloids.

Everything else has been tinted by a 'soap-opera' philosophy of drama and a desire to be 'edgy'. Seriously, some stations like HBO and Showtime can make good stuff... if they weren't always trying to be so 'edgy'. It gets to the point where it is so gimmicky.

Also, deer, I love Keeping Up Appearances. Another British show I just discovered on YouTube is one called Dad's Army, which is just terrific!