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Commercials are pretty much dead at this point. Between DVDs, Netflix, OnDemand, DVR, Amazon, etc. there is no reason to watch commercials at all (except perhaps for live sporting events). Our daughter was 5 before she ever watched broadcast TV (Charlie Brown Xmas special) and when the first ad came on she said "It's over" and left the room.
While there's a lot of crap out there, I think there's more good stuff than ever before. I'm also not really worried about violence or gore. Unless it gets so bad that they start writing crazy things like a guy who sleeps with his mother and then tears out his own eyes, or a woman killing her own children to get revenge on her cheating husband. Then I'll start worrying.
In reverse order. I agree with the reference to Greek Tragedy as proof that our entertainment has been gory for a long time, not just now.
As far as commercials being dead, I don't know. One of the reasons I gave up watching TV was that as a night worker, I eventually realized that TV was time stamped by the commercials being shown. Ie, syndicated daytime would show tech schools and lawsuit lawyers for those people sitting at home during the day. Thursday and Friday night TV showed ads to sell the weekend: Lowe's, home improvement, cars, the movie opening up, Spanish TV shows the Macy's sale for Friday. Since I wasn't watching TV when it was shown, it became very disorienting to be exposed to this, even if it was the next day. Such as watching TV at 10 AM and they are telling you to watch the Tonight Show.
But that also illustrates another point, another question. If the people using DVR's (I assume you mean one with a hard drive and not one that uses DVD's), then what they doing when the show is being recorded with its commercials?
I do not understand the need for soft-porn+, profanity, gore violence or similar in television programming to include cable. There is nothing entertaining and only there to fill time and amuse 16 year olds.
Give me some solid dialogue and acting and I can work with that.
But that also illustrates another point, another question. If the people using DVR's (I assume you mean one with a hard drive and not one that uses DVD's), then what they doing when the show is being recorded with its commercials?
You just fast forward through them. Most of what I watch on On Demand also lets you fast forward through commercials (although broadcast networks usually don't let you do that, but whatever I watch on networks I DVR). Most ad breaks take the same amount of time, and with my current DVR I hit the fastest forward speed it allows, do a slow count to four, and hit play again. 95% of the time it starts the show right at the end of the break. The ads become nothing but a big blur.
The only time I see ads at all are while watching sports, but I just do what I've been doing for decades - hit the mute button and talk to friends for a bit.
You just fast forward through them. Most of what I watch on On Demand also lets you fast forward through commercials (although broadcast networks usually don't let you do that, but whatever I watch on networks I DVR). Most ad breaks take the same amount of time, and with my current DVR I hit the fastest forward speed it allows, do a slow count to four, and hit play again. 95% of the time it starts the show right at the end of the break. The ads become nothing but a big blur.
The only time I see ads at all are while watching sports, but I just do what I've been doing for decades - hit the mute button and talk to friends for a bit.
I'm still lost here. How can you fast forward through the commercials when you are recording at the time of broadcast? The only way I can see fast forwarding through commercials is if the recording of the broadcast was done sometime in the past and the show is being watched now in the present. Which comes back to the question I was asking.....then what are people doing so much at the time of broadcast that they need to record to watch later?
Now, you've answered that in part by saying you hit the mute during commercial breaks with sports to which I am assuming you are watching in the present when they are broadcast. Unless sports have their own special way of doing commercials; I don't know because I don't watch sports anymore. I gave that up when they started loading the screens with stats of other games, what I call the Terminator View. IE, http://cdn.ientry.com/sites/webprone...t2-id-scan.jpg
But back to what I was asking: what are people doing so much at the time of broadcast that they need to record to watch later?
Now, one might answer, "Well, the same thing you are doing, Tamm" but the problem with that answer is that I have never gotten back to watch most of what I have recorded, as I said here: Channels That Have Improved Over Time (post where I start with "Well, to each their own"). So what are people doing at the time of the actual broadcast?
So what are people doing at the time of the actual broadcast?
I almost never watch anything at the time of broadcast. Other than sports - why would you?
I set the shows I like to record on an ongoing basis, and watch them when I can. I never think "what is on?", I look at my list and watch the shows I like when I have the time. That said, there are some shows I look forward to and watch fairly soon after they air - but it is still after they air. For example, I watch Doctor Who with my daughter the night it airs, but we start watching it at least half an hour after it starts (which works well with our dinner time). That's plenty of lead time to avoid commercials. Hell, the entire concept of a show being "on" seems pretty foreign to me at this point, and is completely crazy to my daughter.
I almost never watch anything at the time of broadcast. Other than sports - why would you? .........
Well, that rather comes down to the point of it with me. Ie, "I almost never watch anything...at the time of broadcast or any other time".
I don't have the time to watch it when it is broadcasted and I don't have the time to watch it any other time, either. (nutshell speaking, mind you, where the lag time between recording and watching is so great it would easily exceed the memory capacity of any cable company provided recorder).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Attrill
.....I set the shows I like to record on an ongoing basis, and watch them when I can. I never think "what is on?", I look at my list and watch the shows I like when I have the time. That said, there are some shows I look forward to and watch fairly soon after they air - but it is still after they air. For example, I watch Doctor Who with my daughter the night it airs, but we start watching it at least half an hour after it starts (which works well with our dinner time). That's plenty of lead time to avoid commercials. Hell, the entire concept of a show being "on" seems pretty foreign to me at this point, and is completely crazy to my daughter.
However, you have answered the question. Thank you.
I don't think Beyonce humping around in her underwear during halftime on TV says much about her musical talent. If people want to pay to see her do it, fine by me. Wasn't a Madonna fan, either. Never saw Miley Cyrus perform anything except her slutty award performance so can't comment on her talent or lack of it but you have to think, if she really had any, why do it?
Don't care for the "sympathetic villain" offerings on TV and in the movies as in, it's okay to kill somebody if you didn't have a daddy or you grew up poor or the "intelligent hookers" with "big hearts" who are the go-to people in so many police dramas.
If you think what the TV folks are peddling is degenerate c*** let their advertisers know by not watching those shows.
Hey, Televison hasn't completely turned to trash. Have you seen Fargo, Game of Thrones, Big Bang Theory, American Horror Story? Those are decent shows!
I cannot comment on any of those shows because I have either never heard of them, or haven't watched a single episode. However I have watched Bing Bang, and even though you inaccurately used the term "decent" (more on that in a minute), I know what you meant.
To the OP's topics, one of the problems with the degradation of our culture is the desensitizing that is done by liberal Hollywood. For instance, it is hard to find a TV show anymore that does not reference homosexuality either in the form of a positive joke or tacit social acceptance. That is in part one of the reasons younger kids/adults are accepting of redefining marriage and the family unit. The show Modern Family is but one example.
As a matter of fact, several liberal and homosexual producers have been openly working on desensitizing audiences to homosexuality for their own political agendas. Now just imagine if you had a producer who believed in racial discrimination against minorities, and whenever he could, threw in some anti-minority scenes, or had the theme of the show support someone who was a racist.
If he admitted such a thing, he would probably lose his career. Yet not too long ago when homosexuality was not being accepted by the mainstream, this is exactly what was admitted to, and nothing happened to them.
Another show that has about every single social taboo/degradation in it is Ray Donovan. It is about a "fixer" in Hollywood who cleans up problems among the entertainment industry. I was convinced to give it a try by a friend, and in the episode it had depictions of premarital sex, prostitution, interracial sex, murder, drug use, pedophiles, explicit vulgarity, misogyny, homosexuality, and so many forms of crime, I lost count. This all in the one episode.
I don't know how popular this show is, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is.
As to the Big Bang, it depicts premarital sex, acceptance of deriding religious views, and the aforementioned homosexual references in the form of acceptance. Furthermore, the lead character is not only a homosexual in real life, but acts like it as well. Sure he is portrayed as heterosexual because he has a so called girlfriend, but his mannerisms are almost all but effeminate. It is a witty show and does have some redeeming qualities with it's high brow and educated humor(unlike the Simpsons type of shows).
The point is that few shows anymore depict strong moral and/or religious family values like they once did.
Shows like The Waltons, Little House on the Prairie, Full House, 7th Heaven, Happy Days, Leave it to Beaver, The Cosby Show, Gilligan's Island, Bewitched, Father Knows Best, The Brady Bunch, The Andy Griffin Show, etc. are long gone.
Heck most of those shows are from the 60's-70's with maybe a few from the 80's-90's. What shows today are without vice, and set an example of how people are decent, patriotic, God fearing families that strive to live a proper life, and help their fellow man?
I of course have not even touched on music of today, with only some country music having good moral values expressed.
.......The point is that few shows anymore depict strong moral and/or religious family values like they once did. Shows like The Waltons, Little House on the Prairie, Full House, 7th Heaven, Happy Days, Leave it to Beaver, The Cosby Show, Gilligan's Island, Bewitched, Father Knows Best, The Brady Bunch, The Andy Griffin Show, etc. are long gone.
Heck most of those shows are from the 60's-70's with maybe a few from the 80's-90's. What shows today are without vice, and set an example of how people are decent, patriotic, God fearing families that strive to live a proper life, and help their fellow man?
I of course have not even touched on music of today, with only some country music having good moral values expressed.
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I think even with the old shows, one has to be looking for it or at least tuned to it to see it.
Two examples:
In an episode of The Beverly Hillbillies, a medical doctor comes to the mansion. Jethro meets him, says how he is studying to be a doctor. "Oh, where are you studying?"
"Mostly in the kitchen." In the course of the conversation, it comes out that he is studying under Granny.
"Oh, your grandmother is a doctor." In the Doctor's tone of voice at that moment, there is acknowledgement, even respect. After all, this was the 60's and women doctors were still pretty rare.....but for an elder woman to be Doctor was quite an accomplishment....and that tone of respect from him I rather like.
Second example: Hawaii 5-0, "Presenting....in the Center Ring...Murder", Danny and another return to Steve to tell him that they saw the Cuban high wire act and they seem tense, more nervous than opening night jitters.
"Well, Danny, you have to remember where they are from. In their country, a visit from the State Police usually means the end of the line.".
Do either of these examples have much to do with being decent? Probably not but they do show a level of detail that is hard to find these days in modern productions. Why is debatable. It may be as more time is made for the commercials that such detail is just not put in. It may be that writers these days have been conditioned against putting in lines that suggest sub themes for people to dwell on.
For example, when Star Wars first came out and the storm troopers were matching to prevent the Em Falcon from taking off, there were two "housewives" in the background, perhaps exchanging recipes. That type of detail in a movie I LOVE........but I suspect it was removed when Lucas did his redos, because he wanted to show Mos Aisley as a modern city. I suspect, I don't think I ever intentionally bothered much with that redo.
Back to the writers, if they are the source of this. When you've grown up watching syndicated movies and shows where they have snip snip snipped things that someone saw as "wasn't crucial to the story", how are you going to learn to put in things that are interesting but not necessary?
Now just imagine if you had a producer who believed in racial discrimination against minorities, and whenever he could, threw in some anti-minority scenes, or had the theme of the show support someone who was a racist...
Another show that has about every single social taboo/degradation in it is Ray Donovan... I was convinced to give it a try by a friend, and in the episode it had depictions of... interracial sex...
Well, that's odd. Are you somehow implying that interracial relationships are immoral?? Racism is immoral! (And, actually, I see a lot of racism on TV nowadays. Pretty sad.)
And I agree with the OP. But I think this has been happening slowly for quite a long time now. It will only continue to get worse.
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