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That's not true at all. If I go out and look in the dumpster behind my apartment complex, and declare that most of what I see in there is garbage, that does not indicate that I do not have an open mind. In fact, everything in there was purchased by somebody, but it is nevertheless garbage.
Some would go into that dumpster and say "Why did someone think this is garbage? I think it's a treasure." So if you go to the dumpster ready to consider everything in it garbage except for what you think is a treasure, you are judging all contents as garbage.
Likewise you are calling all TV shows garbarge unless you find a treasure. Again, closing your mind and judging everything by your standards alone without accepting the fact that one person's garbage could be another's treasure.
Some would go into that dumpster and say "Why did someone think this is garbage? I think it's a treasure." So if you go to the dumpster ready to consider everything in it garbage except for what you think is a treasure, you are judging all contents as garbage.
Likewise you are calling all TV shows garbarge unless you find a treasure. Again, closing your mind and judging everything by your standards alone without accepting the fact that one person's garbage could be another's treasure.
The thing is there used to be variety. There were shows which appealed to the same audience the blight of sameness on tv now does. But *some* shows. There were others which reached out to those who like mind candy and drama too. And not just yet more police and lawyers and doctors, thank you, but other parts of life. Those are what have been absorbed into the cable/satalite lineup becasue they found there really IS still a market. It doesn't show up with 90 percent of what you see is reality shows and game shows and yet more cops.
So have Survivor, and watch it if you like. But what about more of Jericho, which was about surviving the end of the world as we know it, and as the familiar turned into something hard and alien. It didn't have contests and nobody got voted off. You want real survival? Jericho said a whole lot more but it made you think too. But what we are getting is nothing but the occasional summer series that isn't a game show or a reality show on "free" tv, and an increasing amount of them on the cable networks. Why? the almighty dollar. It's a lot cheaper to produce. But I hope at some point people who watch them will get tired of seeing their fellow beings backstabbing and putting down everyone and plotting to win. A show or two, but do we need hours and hours of this and practically nothing else?
My current favorite show with new episodes is Eureka, on sciffy. Its always been kind of quirky and light and heavy at the same time, but this season opens with a suprise trip through time by some of the characters to 1947 and the towns founding. They make it back with a time traveler from 1947 in tow, but discover that its still Eureka but... not. Its amazing how the subtle touches make it still the same place but a really different one too. But while there is ONE Eureka, on cable, and ONE Person's Unknown, which is a miniseries, there are hours and hours and hours of what to ME is pure crap. So yes, its all in the perception but tv had dumped a whole audience which used to turn on and watch their shows but has found something else to do now.
Lets let the money boys go and make decisions based on creativity and intellegince and the missing *might* come back. Or then, it could just be too late.
That makes sense. You don't see TV antennas in rooftops anymore. It's cable, satallite or nothing these days I guess.
In some areas its been that way for a long time. Where mountains block signals or there is one tv station in a large area thats rural there is likely few channels that can been watched or watched clearly. With digital broadcasting its changed a bit, I assume, but not greatly.
When cable first appeared they had broadcast only packages for areas where the broadcast channels didn't reach and it was a good market. Since there is so little on that anymore its generally a part of the larger package today. And a lot of us have cable based internet as well. In this area there are no dsl or wireless setups available so if you want high speed its a 3g connect card with the cell company or cable.
The thing is there used to be variety. There were shows which appealed to the same audience the blight of sameness on tv now does. But *some* shows. There were others which reached out to those who like mind candy and drama too. And not just yet more police and lawyers and doctors, thank you, but other parts of life. Those are what have been absorbed into the cable/satalite lineup becasue they found there really IS still a market. It doesn't show up with 90 percent of what you see is reality shows and game shows and yet more cops.
So have Survivor, and watch it if you like. But what about more of Jericho, which was about surviving the end of the world as we know it, and as the familiar turned into something hard and alien. It didn't have contests and nobody got voted off. You want real survival? Jericho said a whole lot more but it made you think too. But what we are getting is nothing but the occasional summer series that isn't a game show or a reality show on "free" tv, and an increasing amount of them on the cable networks. Why? the almighty dollar. It's a lot cheaper to produce. But I hope at some point people who watch them will get tired of seeing their fellow beings backstabbing and putting down everyone and plotting to win. A show or two, but do we need hours and hours of this and practically nothing else?
My current favorite show with new episodes is Eureka, on sciffy. Its always been kind of quirky and light and heavy at the same time, but this season opens with a suprise trip through time by some of the characters to 1947 and the towns founding. They make it back with a time traveler from 1947 in tow, but discover that its still Eureka but... not. Its amazing how the subtle touches make it still the same place but a really different one too. But while there is ONE Eureka, on cable, and ONE Person's Unknown, which is a miniseries, there are hours and hours and hours of what to ME is pure crap. So yes, its all in the perception but tv had dumped a whole audience which used to turn on and watch their shows but has found something else to do now.
Lets let the money boys go and make decisions based on creativity and intellegince and the missing *might* come back. Or then, it could just be too late.
I don't watch cop shows because I don't enjoy them. I hadn't heard of Jericho. I'll try to catch it on NetFlix or On Demand if it's offered.
Thank you for allowing me to continue to watch Survivor. When did you stop watching it? It is after all a type of game show for entertainment only. Some of the winners like Ethan Zohn and Rupert Boneham used part of their winnings to help underprivileged kids. There is a little bit of good in most things, even a game show.
Eureka was ok for me but not my favorite. Kind of formula and not so well written in my opinion. I disagree with your praises of it but I defend to the death your right to watch it. Therein lies the tale. If I don't like a show I don't watch it but I don't condemn it to begone. So you may have it and watch it if you like.
You say there are "hours and hours of what to ME (you) is pure crap." Why are you watching these shows if they are crap? Hours and hours of them? That's a lot of TV watching.
And for heaven's sake. It's just television. If you are not being entertained enough go out and see a play or watch a movie. Read a book. Visit friends. Do whatever it is the audience who you claim has dumped TV does to replace their TV watching. Do you have actual STATS on that by the way?
Enjoy the shows you do like and don't make it into a philosophy. To paraphrase Freud. "Sometimes a TV show is just a TV show." They aren't all meant to have deeper meanings.
Sorry, Newton Minnow's "vaste wasteland" for me is just one more source of entertainment I can either chose to watch or not.
I don't watch cop shows because I don't enjoy them. I hadn't heard of Jericho. I'll try to catch it on NetFlix or On Demand if it's offered.
Thank you for allowing me to continue to watch Survivor. When did you stop watching it? It is after all a type of game show for entertainment only. Some of the winners like Ethan Zohn and Rupert Boneham used part of their winnings to help underprivileged kids. There is a little bit of good in most things, even a game show.
Eureka was ok for me but not my favorite. Kind of formula and not so well written in my opinion. I disagree with your praises of it but I defend to the death your right to watch it. Therein lies the tale. If I don't like a show I don't watch it but I don't condemn it to begone. So you may have it and watch it if you like.
You say there are "hours and hours of what to ME (you) is pure crap." Why are you watching these shows if they are crap? Hours and hours of them? That's a lot of TV watching.
And for heaven's sake. It's just television. If you are not being entertained enough go out and see a play or watch a movie. Read a book. Visit friends. Do whatever it is the audience who you claim has dumped TV does to replace their TV watching. Do you have actual STATS on that by the way?
Enjoy the shows you do like and don't make it into a philosophy. To paraphrase Freud. "Sometimes a TV show is just a TV show." They aren't all meant to have deeper meanings.
Sorry, Newton Minnow's "vaste wasteland" for me is just one more source of entertainment I can either chose to watch or not.
Jericho is available on netflix and is shown on sciffy as well. It's a very different sort of show from the average, and makes you look around you and appreciate what you have.
I watched the first season of Survivor. It thought it was boring. Make it real. Forget voting people off and all that Make it about surviving and keep in that element that nobody survives alone and that its all about using what everyone has. What I didn't like about it or any of is stepchildren is that its about people being greedy and being rewarded for back stabbing and using. If you were REALLY stranded on a desert island you'd value the skills of everyone because everyone would be a part of the solution.
The thing about Eureka this season is its totally mixed up the box. Its the right time and the right city, but an alternate. Its almost the same, except the statue is bronze instead of granite the autisitic boy is a normal brilliant teenager and several of them are married or in relationships that they weren't. And they cannot let anyone know they took a trip through the time machine. It takes the town and makes you look at it in a brand new way. I've seen time travel been a couple of episode gimmic but this is the new Eureka.
And I can think of game shows and reality shows as junk in my perception. I didn't say anyone had to share it. And I have no problem with there being *some* of it but it should not totally dominate. Lots of people don't care for it and simply have turned off the tv. Restore variety and things which appeal to a multitude of intelligence, tastes and likes and you'll get something that is decent and balanced.
I tracked down Jericho and I will give it a shot although it doesn't sound like the kind of thing I would like. Having lived through the Cold War I don't really care for doomsday shows. On The Beach gave me nightmares.
You call what goes on Survivor back-stabbing I call it strategizing. Potato - potahto. But there is the competitive aspect that I understand many people don't like. You should seek out the British Survivor. It is really about people trying to survive in harsh environments.
There are many reality shows I don't like. But before I make up my mind I give them a couple of watches. I think it takes more than one episode to make up my mind. Sorry, I am just not impressed by Eureka and I watched quite a bit of it when my friends urged me to. It's a fun show but nothing special for me.
Who are the lots of people who are turning off their TV's? And why is that so bad? People have done that ever since TV began; you don't like a show don't watch it. TV is aimed at the majority. If the majority didn't watch certain types of shows, there wouldn't be so many of them. So the majority is getting what they want.
But as others have stated, there are also many other different types of shows. There are lots of channels and choices. You say "they" should not have as many as the shows you don't approve of causing "those who have turned off their TV's" to turn them off. I suspect most people simply turn the channel to something more suitable for them.
So suppose the type of shows that don't meet your approval but have a strong viewership were put in your hands to dump, which would you get rid of? How many is too many? Would you take a poll of those who agree with you and vote for what goes and what stays? Would you allow those who watch these shows to have a say?
The proliferation of various types of shows reflect what the majority is watching. Like it or not, TV is aimed at the majority of viewers who are also the consumers who keep the sponsors going. But I will say it again; there are choices. My choice wouldn't be Eureka. It's not impressing me so by your reasoning if I were in charge I could dump Eureka because I don't watch it. But I wouldn't do that in deference to those who do.
Ok, bottom line censorship is censorship. Complaining that the shows you deem unworthy, even though others enjoy them, and stating they should be taken off the air is nothing more than censorship.
I do think television has gotten bad over the year. The only things I ever watch anymore is news, music videos, Food Network occasionally, and Discovery Channel. Every channel is becoming clones of each other. TLC is no longer "The Learning Channel" with a bunch of rubbish reality shows. Cartoon Network is turning into live action shows, MTV is Melodramatic TV etc
Ah! But it was Tuesday I couldn't go anywhere, not Thursday! I was lost in LOST this year. Normally, missing certain shows wouldn't be a problem, really. I only get broadcast TV and it's pretty bad most of the time. I especially hate sports, reality shows and those singing or dancing shows, people are so gaga over. But satellite wouldn't even be worth the money they charge.
I agree, too many informericals and too many reality shows. Hell I barely watch the news because its so biased. The only show I usually go out of my way to watch usually is Top Chef. There are also a lot of crime and medical series on and I dont care for those. I find myself watching movie channels a lot.
I can only hope that the TV Police never come to my town. I have had two major surgeries in the past five years. That, coupled with a round of chemo, made for a lot of limited mobility and activity. Whether or not anyone else was watching, I had little else to do. Reading, crocheting, doing puzzles, all occupied my time to some extent. But when those activities palled, I was glad to have a TV. I watched an astounding series, LIFE AFTER PEOPLE, and was mesmerized. I only hope they throw this into the rerun pile so I can encourage my friends to watch it.
I will say that I have lost patience with most of the shows that are on now, and thinking of ponying up the extra bucks for HBO. And you will only get my remote when you pry it out of my cold, dead fingers.
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