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There is a lot more crap than there ever has been but the trade-off is that some of the best and most creative TV shows are on the air right now. The emergence of cable network TV shows has pushed television to a whole new level. They have a lot more flexibility than the big networks ever had and because of that, they are producing quality television that this country has never scene. Shows like Breaking Bad, Dexter, Mad Men, Sons of Anarchy, Homeland, Justified, American Horror Story and so many others just beat the pants off old favorites like MASH.
Television is better now because it was never capable of being better than it is now due to the political correctness that the major networks have always had to follow.
There's a payoff to that though and we saw that in the last episode of Homeland. Okay so feasibly the lead character may have kopped out, bottled it, or been torn between his family and his duties when deciding whether to blow himself up but no Al-Queda cell or Islamic fundamentalist network would turn around and think "Hey, you had the chance to take out the Vice-President and a whole host of prestigious targets but blew it because you saw the potential to snag the President, hmm, that sounds like using your initiative, we like that, we're Aces on plan B!"
Yes it's possible but after a whole season of great television Homeland just appeared to descend into farce in order to avoid having to begin again with season two but at what cost? We now have a Homeland agent with Bi-polar undergoing shock therapy and we will now have to sustain our disbelief for another season when if he doesn't pull the damn cord this time we are just going to bin this series in frustration because we know the same routine may be dragged out until season 5 when they've built up enough momentum for a whole fat box set of "will he, won't he" tension.
And that's the only problem that I have with the quality dramas we have right now. The exceptions have been 'Game Of Thrones' and 'The Wire' which were bold and brave decisions. Other than that though even though we have excellent dramas we also have writers desperately urged to drag out the plot. This dented 'The Sopranos' and 'Breaking Bad' to a certain degree but admittedly the writers in these shows have surpassed all expectations in stretching out these storylines even though any persepective or sense of disbelief has long ago been abandoned in favour of affection for great characters, dialogue and humour and in that respect 'Breaking Bad' overcomes any gaping pitfalls with ease.
These gems glitter brightly but I still miss the integrity of shows like 'Hill Street Blues' which had touching displays of humanity alongside the gritty authenticity that is missing in alot of today's shows. What would American schoolchildren give today for a show like 'Welcome Back Kotter' instead of the "I'm too smart, savvy and sassy for my shirt" bratty interplay of most of the drama Queen soap operas that pass for children's entertainment these days.
Even 'Kojak' had a roguish charm that is missing in today's television shows but then maybe shows like 'Hill Street Blues' , 'Welcome Back Kotter' and 'Kojak' reflected the more harsh environments of their era. I mean Hollywood and television networks are run by generally wealthy, white upper class intelligentsia and they are more plikely to relay to an audience a show that that reflects life through the prism of their bratty, molly coddled kids than a show about Hispanic children in a run down school in a project in East LA.
Perhaps society in big cities was alot closer in daily interaction with the seedy underbelly, grime and deprivation in the 70's and 80's and as a consequence scrennwriters had much more of a charismatic spectrum of charcters of which to draw from before uber commercialisation homogenised everyone and completed the job that Harry Beale warned us was coming in the 70's and has turned us into the lifeless, souless humanoids we are today. I mean, the Brooklyn neighbourhood where 'Welcome Back Kotter' was set probably has condos going for $500,000 dollars today and is probably nothing like the everyday, blue collar neighbourhood it was then.
Even the characters in the best shows are from the fringes of society today. Manstream is glossy, it's sheeny, it's spoilt, its overprivileged and rich (or at least we're given the impression that middle-class is scraping by with a yacht and a bar in the Hamptons), thinks its alot smarter than it really is and quite frankly, it's dull as dishwater and it sucks as a result of having absolutely nothing to say.
Last edited by Fear&Whiskey; 07-21-2012 at 04:38 AM..
I like to watch some of the old sitcoms from the 60's and 70's just to laugh at how politically incorrect they were at that time!!! They didn't even know what political correctness was. (((Sigh))) Things sure have gotten more complicated since then........
I do watch the Law and Order episodes but my favorite detective show is still New York Undercover. I loved how it developed the characters personally and showed their lives outside of the police work. And the cases continued, so it wasn't like a new case every episode.
Television is a lot worse these days. Nothing but crappy reality shows and talent competitions. The only saving graces are stations like ME-tv, Retro- tv, and Netflicks.
Friends was the last great show. Two and a Half Men (with Charlie Sheen) was amazing, but it premiered while Friends was running. TV today is garbage as there are a bunch of dumb reality shows and retarded sitcoms. In fact, I've noticed alot of shows tried to copy Friends but failed. I stick to reruns for now.
Friends was the last great show. Two and a Half Men (with Charlie Sheen) was amazing, but it premiered while Friends was running. TV today is garbage as there are a bunch of dumb reality shows and retarded sitcoms. In fact, I've noticed alot of shows tried to copy Friends but failed. I stick to reruns for now.
Friends was the last great show. Two and a Half Men (with Charlie Sheen) was amazing, but it premiered while Friends was running. TV today is garbage as there are a bunch of dumb reality shows and retarded sitcoms. In fact, I've noticed alot of shows tried to copy Friends but failed. I stick to reruns for now.
I enjoy Switched at Birth and Drop Dead Diva.
I was never a big Friends fan...even now I can't get into the reruns.
Without a doubt, TV is better today than it was twenty, thirty, forty, fifty years ago. I know we all love the TV shows we grew up watching and look back at them through rose tinted glasses, but if you were actually critiquing your beloved nostalgic show against one of the hits today then there would be no comparison. Too many of those golden oldies are over the top trite, corny, family friendly fluff. You can appreciate them in their context, since when most of them were airing their material was fresh and bold, but they pale in comparison to their modern counterparts.
And yes, of course there's a ton of crap also available today, but judging all of television on a show like The Real Housewives is like judging New York City by a visit to the city dump. Don't be a whiny runt and pick the worst show you can think of to compare to your favorite old show.
Without a doubt, TV is better today than it was twenty, thirty, forty, fifty years ago. I know we all love the TV shows we grew up watching and look back at them through rose tinted glasses, but if you were actually critiquing your beloved nostalgic show against one of the hits today then there would be no comparison. Too many of those golden oldies are over the top trite, corny, family friendly fluff. You can appreciate them in their context, since when most of them were airing their material was fresh and bold, but they pale in comparison to their modern counterparts.
And yes, of course there's a ton of crap also available today, but judging all of television on a show like The Real Housewives is like judging New York City by a visit to the city dump. Don't be a whiny runt and pick the worst show you can think of to compare to your favorite old show.
That's the problem, too little family friendly stuff, can't even watch the comedy channel with kids.
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