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TV is definitely a wasteland. Not like it was in the 50's, 60's, and 70's. Now the programming is mostly bad. But the sheer number of commercials shown nowadays is OBSCENE! Also, commercials used to be about food, clothing, toys, etc. Now they are unpleasant "health commercials". I am sitting there watching TV, trying to relax, then those commercials come on - dealing with health issues and problems - take this take that medication - it will help - beware of side effects - you may develop other health issues - you may go crazy - you may die...
Try to relax when every few minutes these commercials come on dealing with back problems, acid reflux, asthma, cancer. It may be better to just read a book or go for a walk - no commercials there.
I totally agree with you about the commercials on TV however as bad as they are on TV it is even worse on the radio. I noticed recently on the radio here in Denver some songs are actually speeded up to make way for more commercials. Heck some radio stations are now having ads during their top of the hour legal IDs. "...powered by the Honey Smoked Fish Company available at King Soopers ( Kroger ), Safeway and Sam's Club this is K*** Denver !!". Until recently one of my old radio stations in Virginia it was this "..From the Miller Honda studios..part of the Miller Auto Group.."..and then they would do the ID.
TV is definitely a wasteland. Not like it was in the 50's, 60's, and 70's. Now the programming is mostly bad. But the sheer number of commercials shown nowadays is OBSCENE! Also, commercials used to be about food, clothing, toys, etc. Now they are unpleasant "health commercials". I am sitting there watching TV, trying to relax, then those commercials come on - dealing with health issues and problems - take this take that medication - it will help - beware of side effects - you may develop other health issues - you may go crazy - you may die...
Try to relax when every few minutes these commercials come on dealing with back problems, acid reflux, asthma, cancer. It may be better to just read a book or go for a walk - no commercials there.
Or when you're sitting down with your family watching t.v and your little one asks "what's erectile dysfunction?".
I'm still upset about MTV. I loved that show when it first came on, the concept was awesome. Then it turned into anything but music television.
Weather Channel: My current cable carrier dropped them and replaced them with Accuweather, which is essentially what the Weather Channel used to be. It's wall-to-wall weather. Prior to losing the Weather Channel, I did start seeing the weird hour-long produced shows that were tangentially weather related. Like "Storm of the Century" type shows. I guess technically it's a "drift" from the original format, but I can see people arguing that it's still about weather. On the other hand, I suppose if you wanted to check the weather during that hour you were screwed. However, the bottom line is you can't really blame them because a weather channel is pretty much used by people maybe for only five minutes a day maximum. I can't see it holding viewers at all.
TLC: I never really watched it ever, but I did begin to really notice when it was just shows about midgets, fat people, and trailer trash. Only reason was because I'd be going through the listings and see what was on it and go, "didn't this used to be called The Learning Channel?" I think the drift happened naturally because, if I recall, it used to try to incorporate "oddities" into its programming, like "here are some weird parasites that were found in someone." From there, it's sort of natural to devolve into a sideshow.
Discovery: There are a few major shows on here now, none of which are actually animal-related. They have Alaska shows, survival shows, and reality work shows (Deadliest Catch and Gold Rush). I will admit to liking Dual Survival, although much less so as time has gone on (it's pretty repetitive, you can only watch someone make fire with a bow drill so many times), but I often like the personalities of the people, which makes me watch. The other shows are all worthless. The Alaska shows are the worst because it's all people who are terribly proud of how they live "off the land" and yet they're destroying it (and I'm not an eco-freak). It'll be like "well, when I need to heat my home, I don't just flip a switch." Uh, yeah, you go chop down a tree with a chainsaw and drag it home with a snowmobile. Every time they need to make anything, they chop down five trees.
History: There's like zero history going on here. The two major shows they have are Pawn Stars and American Pickers, both of which are you watching people getting ripped off. I'll admit, I sort of like the personalities of the American Picker guys, but I can't watch it anymore. They're always like "I need to have some meat on the bone," which means they usually buy everything at 50% of what they sell it at. Pawn Stars is even more ridiculous. Something will be valued at $10,000, but they'll go "I'll give you $3,000 ...I mean, I have to frame it." Also, on Fridays, I think it's all day B.S. alien shows. I have no idea how that snuck into their lineup.
Just finished Rockford Files on Netflix. Loads of charisma from every actor-major or minor. The scripts were a bit improbable but entertaining.
Now watching Emergency and Quincy, M.E. on Netflix, Kolchak-Night Stalker. Interesting shows which just plain attract one's attention.
Television certainly seemed more entertaining then as a whole.
Is this the same A&E that now has "Monster Truck Challenge"? (or is that the History Channel or Bravo?), The Housewives of Whatever city...I remember a long time ago A&E was like PBS with a lot of BBC shows, arts, and culture, even foreign movies (maybe this was Bravo). What happened? In recent years, I do not recognize some of these channels anymore because of how drastically they have changed.
I remember when CBS use to be the "Old People Network". They'd always show stuff that catered to the older population. Now they kind of drifted away from that and now appeal to a more younger audience
Of course they have (now that I am older). They still have a lot of decent shows . For many of the shows I used to like now I have to go to channels like Antenna TV or H&I.
What upsets me most is the length of the seasons. The new fall shows premiered right after labor day in the good old days and many were live. As someone else said - you'd wait all summer for them after seeing the promos. They'd actually run until the Christmas holiday with most having a Xmas show and then they'd take 3-4 weeks off - come back and run again it seemed until the end of May or middle of June. Most of the programs now run for - 8 - 10 weeks and take a break - come back with a few more episodes and are done by the beginning of May. When they start back up - I forgot what happened the previous season!
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. For many of the shows I used to like now I have to go to channels like Antenna TV or H&I.
