Trash Television

[Emil Miller]

Apart from a couple of news items, I haven't watched television for weeks.
Why? Because for the most part it's trash and also because I have a computer that allows me to surf the internet for genuinely interesting and entertaining items. Recently commenting on increased attendance at various plays and stage shows in London, Noman Lebrecht, who reviews musical performances for the UK press, said that this was because people are getting fed up with trash television.
Each week I scan the TV schedules and it's the same old rubbish they have been disihing out to totally undiscriminating viwers for years i.e Talent shows devoid of talent, Cookery programmes with 'celebrity' chefs, Soap operas of apalling banality and films about a) Dinosaurs. b) Navy SEALS. c) Serial killers. d)Vampires etc. etc. The remainder is largely made up of Steven Segal films ( I say films although they are essentially the same film) in which Segal, with names like Capt Brad Rockfist and Commander Rick Goodguy, goes around beating up dozens of baddies without turning a hair. Admittedly there is a certain amount of sport on TV which is live and can be entertaining for sports fans but it's not something that appeals to me personally.
Is there anyone else out there who also thinks that the majority of TV programmes are not just pleasantly soporific time killers but absolute rubbish?

[Shalot]

Let me recommend Xavier Renegade Angel. You can probably just find some episodes on Youtube maybe. TV shows do kind of suck, but there are a few that I watch. However, I always have my laptop open and I find that TV is the secondary activity - it's playing in the background. I like Family Guy also. I find that cartoons have a lot more to say than the shows you described in your original post. The Office is good - and that show with Amy Poehler. Any comedy is good, mainly because I can relate to a lot if what they're making fun of.

[bluevictim]

You should get together with this (http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28694) guy. :)

[papayahed]

I've been contemplating getting rid of cable for that reason, but for some reason I just can't bring myself to cut the apron strings..

[kilted exile]

I keep tv for sport. there are a few other shows I watch but basically it stays on maybe 8 different channels (of the over 300 I get). I would love to be able to just have the 8 I watch but unfortunately the way the packages work I cant. Its a big con

[Michael T]

Is there anyone else out there who also thinks that the majority of TV programmes are not just pleasantly soporific time killers but absolute rubbish?

You’re so right… 96.3275% is absolute rubbish! :sick:
You mentioned the news and I recall Sky and BBC spending hours of live coverage from Jade Goodie’s funeral. I can’t believe that nothing around the world was of more interest or importance than a very small-time celebrity’s funeral. However I do appreciate such programs as Newsnight, Question Time; University Challenge; Mastermind; The Book Quiz; Daily Politics and some of David Attenborough’s nature programs that we get over here in the UK. There are some good history programs but very little in the way of science. However, almost all of the programs I’ve mentioned or could have mentioned are provided by the BBC, whose radio stations are still of very high quality, such as Radio Three, Four and Five. :)

[1n50mn14]

I don't even own a television.
I get my news from the 'net and from the papers.
I rent movies that I watch on the computer.
And I find any T.V series that I want to watch on DVD or on the internet.
Voila!

(But I will admit, to my absolute SHAME, that I really, really, really miss watching Hollyoaks. After an eleven-twelve hour work day, nothing beats some smut.)

[Emil Miller]

You should get together with this (http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28694) guy. :)

Well he and I have a lot in common except that I do have a TV and, as I said, I watch news programmes occasionally but the rest is mainly dross and is, as he says, an insult to the intelligence. His reference to the "idiot box" is an echo of how television was described when it became available for the mass of the population of the UK in the 1950s. Today, looking through the schedules for the coming week, one of the reviewers described the weekend viewing as "brain rot." The worrying thing about TV is its power to overule reason. One day, I was talking to a colleague at work about television and he said that while he, his wife and daughter took their evening meal together, his ten-year-old daughter kept leaning over to one side to watch the television in an adjoining room. This annoyed the father who reprimanded the girl for her behaviour. The obvious question is, why was the television on in the first place and why the hell didn't he just leave the table and turn it off?
Here in the UK we have a quiz programme called Brain of Britain in whcih the contestants have to answer general knowedge questions, and I don't mean about pop groups or football but genuinely difficult questions. One year the winner was asked the secret of his success and he replied "I don't own a television."

[Zee.]

The Black Donnellys is good

[andave_ya]

Castle, Bones, and Doctor Who are fun :).

[Emil Miller]

Actually, this thread has given me an idea for another film.
The time is now and the world has been taken over by an evil gang of producers who have turned the world's population into TV watching zombies but help is at hand in the form of Colonel Rip Connors ( played by Steven Segal) who goes around smashing millions of TV sets.


Now that would be worth watching.

[wessexgirl]

I agree with most of what you said Brian, but there are some gems I wouldn't miss, such as Have I Got News For You, with the wonderful Paul Merton and Ian Hislop, The Apprentice, to watch with amazement and for a really good belly laugh at the ineptitiude of a bunch of self-aggrandising idiots thinking they're the best thing since sliced bread, and of course, pleb that I am Coronation Street, which I've grown up with, and is a part of my life. I don't watch any other soaps, and I don't think of it as such, it's a serial drama that was the first and best of its kind. All these others came after and pushed the boundaries of plausibility.

There have been some amazingly brilliant comedy creations over the last few years, for example, The Office, Alan Partridge, and for the thinking person, The Thick of It, which is a masterpiece. Blackadder was simply wonderful, and I know it finished over 20 years ago, but it, along with a lot of other great stuff can still be seen on digital and cable channels. There does seem a paucity of good, new stuff, but I tend to watch the oldies. We can't say it's all rubbish, as we in Britain do the best costume drama/literary adaptations there are, but as they are so expensive, they are a real, rare treat when they appear. I believe we have some more coming up soon.

I do hate the amount of sport on though, as often there is no other choice on the terrestrial channels, even on special occasions like Mother's Day, when anyone wishing to sit down and watch a good film or something with the family, is regaled with a choice of football, motor racing, horse racing, rugby, etc. so if they don't have digital, they're done for.

[amalia1985]

The main reason I own a TV is simply for watching football, basketball, and figure skating. Other than that...

[prendrelemick]

TV is bad and growing worse. We only have 4 terrestrial channels, and there is not one programme that is a "must watch" for me. The last thing I thought was good was Bleak House.
It's some sort of anniversary for the first showing of Abigail's Party, must be thirty years ago. It would never get made today, there is no ground breaking or risk taking in TV anymore.

Brain of Britain is a radio 4 show, where you still get the odd whiff of excellence.

[Delta40]

You mean you don't like Dr Phil????

[Zee.]

I LOVE the lifestyle channel coz i like watching cooking shows

[IJustMadeThatUp]

Most television is not worth my time, but there are a few good shows that pop up every now and again: Skins and Big Love are two that I enjoy at the moment.

[Emil Miller]

TV is bad and growing worse. We only have 4 terrestrial channels, and there is not one programme that is a "must watch" for me. The last thing I thought was good was Bleak House.
It's some sort of anniversary for the first showing of Abigail's Party, must be thirty years ago. It would never get made today, there is no ground breaking or risk taking in TV anymore.

Brain of Britain is a radio 4 show, where you still get the odd whiff of excellence.

But it's not just in the UK that this situation prevails it's a world-wide phenomenon. Occasionally I buy a French or German newspaper and the TV channels are showing similarly trashy programmes with quite a few American and British detective serials incorporated into the schedules.
Once when I was in Paris I turned on the TV in my hotel and saw an old British school kids comedy with Graham Stark as a teacher that was dubbed into apalling French. The thought of going to Tokyo and seeing Steven Segal dubbed into Japanese doesn't bear thinking about.


I agree with most of what you said Brian, but there are some gems I wouldn't miss, such as Have I Got News For You, with the wonderful Paul Merton and Ian Hislop, The Apprentice, to watch with amazement and for a really good belly laugh at the ineptitiude of a bunch of self-aggrandising idiots thinking they're the best thing since sliced bread, and of course, pleb that I am Coronation Street, which I've grown up with, and is a part of my life. I don't watch any other soaps, and I don't think of it as such, it's a serial drama that was the first and best of its kind. All these others came after and pushed the boundaries of plausibility.

There have been some amazingly brilliant comedy creations over the last few years, for example, The Office, Alan Partridge, and for the thinking person, The Thick of It, which is a masterpiece. Blackadder was simply wonderful, and I know it finished over 20 years ago, but it, along with a lot of other great stuff can still be seen on digital and cable channels. There does seem a paucity of good, new stuff, but I tend to watch the oldies. We can't say it's all rubbish, as we in Britain do the best costume drama/literary adaptations there are, but as they are so expensive, they are a real, rare treat when they appear. I believe we have some more coming up soon.

I do hate the amount of sport on though, as often there is no other choice on the terrestrial channels, even on special occasions like Mother's Day, when anyone wishing to sit down and watch a good film or something with the family, is regaled with a choice of football, motor racing, horse racing, rugby, etc. so if they don't have digital, they're done for.

I basically gave up on television years ago so, apart from Have I Got News for You and a few of the Black Adder series, I haven't seen any of the others you mention, not even Coronation Street, which must have been a soap opera because it started back in the days when commercial breaks were largely taken up with advertisments for soap powders. It was pretty obvious from the start, what with all those flat caps, hairnets and "Trooble in't mill" accents the kind of audience it was aimed at and it just didn't hold any interest for me, so as soon as that incredibly dreary signature tune started up, the channel was either changed or the TV switched off.
I agree that the costume dramas are very well done but, as you point out, they are few and far between.
As for sport, I usually watch the Wimbledon final and, very occasionally, some of the golf tournaments although I don't care for team sports. It must be taken into account, however, that the large audience for sport does guarantee money for television as a business which would otherwise find it hard to sustain itself, regardless of the low level of its programmes.

[TheFifthElement]

Ah, I don't know what you're moaning about. Trash TV is liberating.

I say Viva la Trashy TV. Long may it continue. And as long as it does I will continue to bake, read, play with my kiddies, cycle, rollerskate, cloud watch, swing from trees, run, hold a conversation, garden, dance, make love, write, sing badly, play board games or...shocker: the X-box, make lego models, picnic and climb big hills.

And anyone that likes to can happily gawp at the goggle-box all day long :D

[Emil Miller]

Ah, I don't know what you're moaning about. Trash TV is liberating.

I say Viva la Trashy TV. Long may it continue. And as long as it does I will continue to bake, read, play with my kiddies, cycle, rollerskate, cloud watch, swing from trees, run, hold a conversation, garden, dance, make love, write, sing badly, play board games or...shocker: the X-box, make lego models, picnic and climb big hills.

And anyone that likes to can happily gawp at the goggle-box all day long :D

I couldn't agree more with the alternatives given, except for swinging from trees, which woud do my back in. However, if you're a licence fee payer, aren't you entitled to something better for your money?

[manolia]

The remainder is largely made up of Steven Segal films ( I say films although they are essentially the same film) in which Segal, with names like Capt Brad Rockfist and Commander Rick Goodguy, goes around beating up dozens of baddies without turning a hair.

Bah Chuck (Norris) does it best :D

I have a tv solely for sports and news..although the news programs in my country are not much better than trash tv.

[TheFifthElement]

However, if you're a licence fee payer, aren't you entitled to something better for your money?
Hmm, it's a good question and I think the answer is going to be down to personal choice. I'm quite fond of the BBC on the whole and I do think it's value for money. BBC 1, 2, 3 and 4 are probably my most watched channels and the radio/web services are pretty good, in my opinion, too. Plus the BBC is one of the few channels in UK making original TV and it's pretty hard to beat their wildlife type programmes like Planet Earth, the Blue Planet and so on; and if you enjoy adaptations then you'd have to look really hard to find a better channel than the BBC to do it. BBC Four are about to launch into a poetry season which I'm very much looking forward to. But again, personal opinion. Those are my thoughts, you may disagree as might many.

Compared to what I used to pay for Sky (used to being the operative) the licence fee seems, to me, like a bargain.

[PoeticPassions]

I agree that most of what is on TV is total garbage. Reality shows have invaded... and everything has been spiraling downwards even more so, ever since.

There are some programs I do watch, but I still mainly get them off the net, and those are: The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Aljazeera news network (they have amazing programs and documentaries), Family Guy, and sometimes reruns of Fresh Prince of Bel Air. :)

Oh and Brian, you are forgetting Chuck Norris in all of this. :D

[Delta40]

Are we suggesting that the type of tv trash or alleged non-trash we view says something about us? and if it does - what? Come on - out with it now! I want to know if the shows we watch are the right kind of shows - are they fashionable for example? Do they make my butt look fat? Do they go with the decor? Perhaps they complement my cuisine? Or are they intellectually stimulating and go with my IQ? Say it out loud! Are you rating us in some tacit way? What's the deal???? LMAO

[LostPrincess13]

Interesting thread...:D I have to admit, I'm a TV addict...:blush: One of the reasons why I decided to go home instead of staying at the dorm is because we have cable TV at home. Don't get me wrong though, it's just that I couldn't stand watching soap operas back at the dorm. It drives me crazy! I mean, I can practically predict every line that comes out of the characters' mouth (which drives my dormmates insane! :lol:). I like to unwind by watching comedy shows on StarWorld, and Family Guy, American Dad, and the Simpsons on ETC. I know these cartoons may seem inappropriate, but if you examine it closely, the satire there tells a lot about the world these days. I like to get my brain working with shows that require problem solving, shows like CSI, House, and Shark. Educational channels like the Discovery Channel, National Geographic, and Travel and Living enable me to experience other cultures, see new sights, and learn about the wonders of nature within the comforts of my own home.
I grew up with TV, and it has helped me lot. But then again, it depends on what you're watching and how you take it in.;)

[Emil Miller]

I agree that most of what is on TV is total garbage. Reality shows have invaded... and everything has been spiraling downwards even more so, ever since.

There are some programs I do watch, but I still mainly get them off the net, and those are: The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Aljazeera news network (they have amazing programs and documentaries), Family Guy, and sometimes reruns of Fresh Prince of Bel Air. :)

Oh and Brian, you are forgetting Chuck Norris in all of this. :D

I had more or less foresaken TV before the reality invasion took place but it really put the cap on what, for me, was a pretty weak form of entertainment anyway. I think the inventor of "reality TV" should be hung up by his ...er, ears. I vaguely recall Chuck Norris but for some reason it's Steven Segal who can usually be seen saving the world on British TV, except for an equally implausible hero called Claude van Damme whos muscles might give the girls a treat but most of his male viewers muscles are probably located between their ears.

[Jozanny]

May I just use this thread to complain for a moment? I have some bad habits for a writer. I am online too often and watch more television than I should. I hate most television programming, maybe 87%, but I was never courageous enough just to do without the appliance, if I can call it that--but unlike my family, I wasn't going to indulge in viewing technology.

When I moved in here I had a career that consumed about 60 hours a week, so a twelve inch color from a Japanese company was fine and dandy. I installed cable on it but bagged it later. I worked too many hours, and 87% of cable was recycled from network. I slowly became a public television geek, and was perfectly happy. The Japanese analog set and I had a decent fifteen year marriage.

Enter digital, and I am about 700 dollars out for a glorious cinema quality picture, at least when the antenna doesn't go Skynet on me! (get that?:D) and I have a 350 dollar DVD player which needs to be reinstalled below it, (I'm working on it and when I get some bloody technician to come out and help me then I'll subscribe to Netflix...)

AND IT IS STILL THE SAME OLD DRECK ON THE NEW DIGITAL CHANNELS!!!

I worry about what all this upgrading is going to do to the poor in the short run, like me, since give or take two years I will return to a subsistence level of income unless I turn into one lucky freelancer. Whatever this digital age will ultimately amount to, it isn't all it's cracked up to be.

I needed to get that off my chest, and have to go burp Skynet again. [Growls]

[Lokasenna]

There is good TV on, its just getting increasingly hard to find. For example, I'm rather enjoying the BBC 4 Poetry Season at the moment, but its getting sod all notice in the TV guides. Instead, things like "Britain's Got Talent" get flagged up instead.

That said, I probably only watch about 2 hours a week...

[crystalmoonshin]

I LOVE the lifestyle channel coz i like watching cooking shows

Same here. It's been some time since I watched TV and I always end up watching The Lifestyle Channel, as well as Asian Food Channel.

But that aside, I'm also into TV5 Monde and TVE just to practice listening to French and Spanish people.

I agree with Lostprincess. Not all TV programs are rubbish. The History Channel is a great favorite of mine as it helps me know more about interesting places and the history behind them. (I suck at history and I think this really is a great help.)

I don't watch local TV shows. Those are what I call rubbish. Majority of the people here in my country are addicted to soap operas and Asianovelas which I think are all crap.

As for the news, well, I do read the daily newspaper.

[Helga]

I have to say that I do watch a lot of tv shows, I'm a big sci-fi fan and I love my star trek, though they aren't producing any at the moment. I like heroes and the office is always funny along with a few other shows but also I love tv because of the films I wouldn't even know about like nature and animal shows.

but I do agree that for the most part it's trash, how many law and order series do we need and also CSI, I liked the new york one mainly cause sinise is really good, and there are way to many reality shows about fashion and cooking... I have to admit though... I love survivor I have seen all the seasons and I love it, I'm not gonna say it's very 'good' tv but something in me just loves it and I have another tv fault, guiding light, I started watching it when I was 9 and lucky for me since they cancelled it in the u.s we here in iceland are 11 years behind so I don't have to worry. it's a bad show I know but kinda addictive....

[Emil Miller]

I have to say that I do watch a lot of tv shows, I'm a big sci-fi fan and I love my star trek, though they aren't producing any at the moment. I like heroes and the office is always funny along with a few other shows but also I love tv because of the films I wouldn't even know about like nature and animal shows.

but I do agree that for the most part it's trash, how many law and order series do we need and also CSI, I liked the new york one mainly cause sinise is really good, and there are way to many reality shows about fashion and cooking... I have to admit though... I love survivor I have seen all the seasons and I love it, I'm not gonna say it's very 'good' tv but something in me just loves it and I have another tv fault, guiding light, I started watching it when I was 9 and lucky for me since they cancelled it in the u.s we here in iceland are 11 years behind so I don't have to worry. it's a bad show I know but kinda addictive....

Helga, i love your name but your choice of TV programmes are those of the proverbial couch potato. I notice that your atavar says that you are 'losing your mind' and.... 'at home! where else?' Please try to get out more.

[Buh4Bee]

Is there anyone else out there who also thinks that the majority of TV programmes are not just pleasantly soporific time killers but absolute rubbish?

I have actually stopped watching TV, because I can't deal with the lack of intelligent shows. Part of the problem is when I want to watch TV, there are a lot of reality shows on. Or the good shows are on later and I am asleep. I have turned to Netflix and Hulu to feed my TV craving when it reemerges as a beast every so often. I also listen to the radio like a mad person. (NPR/VPR).

There have been broadcasts on VPR documenting the alternative audience turning away from general TV and relying on such sources as down-loadable sites or mail order like Netflix. There seems to be a backlash against dumb TV and a desire to watch TV on one's own schedule (DVR).

[Emil Miller]

I have actually stopped watching TV, because I can't deal with the lack of intelligent shows. Part of the problem is when I want to watch TV, there are a lot of reality shows on. Or the good shows are on later and I am asleep. I have turned to Netflix and Hulu to feed my TV craving when it reemerges as a beast every so often. I also listen to the radio like a mad person. (NPR/VPR).

There have been broadcasts on VPR documenting the alternative audience turning away from general TV and relying on such sources as down-loadable sites or mail order like Netflix. There seems to be a backlash against dumb TV and a desire to watch TV on one's own schedule (DVR).

I think you are right about people turning away from television. So-called reality TV has killed off what remained of a decaying medium anyway. It is totally beyond me that anyone would willingly watch a lot of nobodys performing what can only be described as embarrasing rubbish. There is also the fact that some of the performers are paid ridiculous sums of money for their trashy contribution to the medium. Jonathon Ross, a completely unfunny and puerile exhibitionist chat show host was reportedly given a six million pound contract by the BBC who subsequently had to suspend him for three months because of his childish abuse of a former TV star over the telephone.
Now I hear that his salary is to be cut by half because of criticism from the license paying public. Personally I wouldn't employ him as a tea boy in the programming department, although, given the obvious inadequacy that reigns supreme in those offices, perhaps that is the best place for him.
Now I read that an equally uninspiring showbiz 'personality' called Graham Norton is likely to replace Ross at some point. I can't wait to start redecorating my home so I can watch the paint dry.

[Buh4Bee]

I think you are right about people turning away from television. So-called reality TV has killed off what remained of a decaying medium anyway. It is totally beyond me that anyone would willingly watch a lot of nobodys performing what can only be described as embarrasing rubbish.

I don't get the appeal of the phenomenon myself. All I can say is I agree with your rant!

[billl]

I like Survivor. But that's enough reality TV for me. It reminds me of a sport, sometimes. After all, in football (on either side of the Atlantic) there are elements of secrecy, deception, and basically everyone except one ends up losing. And (on Survivor) there's people getting medically evacuated, going without food, all kinds of stresses, and all sorts of interesting loyalty/ostracism stuff regarding alliances and performance in events. There are real desert island moments, from time to time. I don't like how, in the end, it requires a TON of backstabbing, but I try to remember it's a "game," and root for the people who manage to behave as honorably as they can.

But there's way too much reality TV now, people finding spouses, bringing cameras into their homes and family life, shows where it's just indignity after indignity, and I can't believe what's happened to MTV, etc.

Anyhow, I spend an hour a week on Survivor for some weeks during the year, and I watch about 2-5 hours of TV a week total (maybe 3-8, if you count hulu and DVDs), so please don't think I'm trying to argue against anyone's movement away from it! Just wanted to defend that show a bit, as being head and shoulders above the rest in that broadly lamentable genre.

[kasie]

Brian - has BBC4 slipped under your radar? I'm sure you would enjoy some of their programmes.

[Emil Miller]

Brian - has BBC4 slipped under your radar? I'm sure you would enjoy some of their programmes.

I can't get BBC4 as I only have the standard 5 stations but I haven't watched anything for about six weeks and I just don't miss it. I basically gave up on TV a long time ago and there is so much more of interest on Youtube and similar outlets on the computer, where I can choose what to watch. I honestly think that television is on the way out.

[kasie]

Ah, that would explain it. I started watching tv again when I got myself a digibox and found there were Freeview channels that broadcast things I enjoyed watching. I haven't much time for 'reality' shows - what's 'real' about putting a motley collection of people together in a 'house' and leaving them to shred each other? - but I've enjoyed the music programmes and the poetry season that have been on these last few weeks.

[Joreads]

Joss Weldon is back with Doll House thank goodness. If it is Joss Weldon I am in. Other than that I stick to what I like on DVD

[Buh4Bee]

I hope you haven't fallen off the wagon. There were a few close calls recently for me, but I pulled up my britches and put down the remote.

Sadly, my 91 year old grandmother had to go a whole week without any TV, because of cable issues. It was remarkable! I was visiting her and preaching about the improvement of quietness. When you are 91, a week without TV is like a month without teeth. It's a real handicapped and almost isolating from life. We all made it and I was glad there was no TV. I hate the constant droan of the sitcome laughter.

[papayahed]

Joss Weldon is back with Doll House thank goodness. If it is Joss Weldon I am in. Other than that I stick to what I like on DVD

ohh, I just added that to my netflix queue.

[Nightshade]

I can't get BBC4 as I only have the standard 5 stations but I haven't watched anything for about six weeks and I just don't miss it. I basically gave up on TV a long time ago and there is so much more of interest on Youtube and similar outlets on the computer, where I can choose what to watch. I honestly think that television is on the way out.

Ummm Brian the digital switch over is about to happen anyday now, in which case you should be able to get all the freeview channels, and I mean if you are basically paying for the full run of the BBC via the tv liscnece fee its a shame not to watch the only decent stuff on there :nod:

And come on Torchwood was AMAZING!!!!!
Even if my family thought it was unnesseraliy dark and terrible.

[kratsayra]

Joss Weldon is back with Doll House thank goodness. If it is Joss Weldon I am in. Other than that I stick to what I like on DVD


ohh, I just added that to my netflix queue.

I'd say about the first half the season of Dollhouse is not up to Whedon's usual standards. But then it starts getting really good. So hang in there and you will be rewarded!

Most TV is pretty bad, but there is the occasional show that is entertaining, and I like being entertained. That being said, I don't have a TV. We download, rent, watch on hulu, or buy used dvds of shows that we like. No need for a tv, since there are only three current shows that I enjoy watching. I really like not having a tv - it is totally unnecessary - I waste plenty of time on the internet without it anyhow! haha. Even when I have had a tv (like in a room I rented where cable was part of the rent), I almost never watched it.

[Joreads]

I'd say about the first half the season of Dollhouse is not up to Whedon's usual standards. But then it starts getting really good. So hang in there and you will be rewarded!

.

Could agree more it took him a little while to find his feet with this one.

[MANICHAEAN]

You forgot:
Quatarmass (Is that how it was spelled?)
The 65 Special,
This Is Your Life,
Hancocks Half Hour (Wonderful stuff)

And on the magic sound box:
Around The Horn.
The Billy Cotton Band Show.

I'm showing my age now!

[kasie]

You forgot:
Quatarmass (Is that how it was spelled?)
The 65 Special,
This Is Your Life,
Hancocks Half Hour (Wonderful stuff)

And on the magic sound box:
Around The Horn.
The Billy Cotton Band Show.

I'm showing my age now!

You most certainly are! :D

And what about Doomwatch? and Up Pompeii? And I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again? And The Ascent of Man, and Alistair Cooke's America and Hitch Hiker's Guide, the original on the radio, and.......ah, where are the shows of yesteryear?

Does this prove Brian B's original point?

[MANICHAEAN]

Yes it proves Brian's point.
Bliss it was that very dawn to be alive!

[Emil Miller]

Incontrovertible proof is seen below.
I chose this one because it is so funny but
I could have posted any of them and still have
shown that TV has definitely gone down the
drain since.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpFFhJlxEzc

[MANICHAEAN]

When I go home on leave to the UK every 4 months and am invariably roped in by my daughter for baby sitting, I must confess that confronted with; the comfy chair, multiple cable channels, a plasma screen and a control that resembles a flattened darlek the only thing I can invariably find of a creative nature is a cookery programme!
Think back to that contradiction in terms of a supposedly reserved English race that yet produced comedians at the nexus of their craft:
Hancock. The Blood Doner: "It might be only a smigen to you, but its a matter of life or death to some poor bug--er"
Frankie Howard: " Eh no, no misses, dont mock"
Tommy Cooper: "I was at this party in Bayswater. Got off with a very pretty Oriental girl. Anyway we danced all night and then I said, your place or mine? And before I knew it I was on a plane to Hong Kong"
The American humour in the post war period never really took hold in the UK. Was it the canned laughter, although I found George Burns hilarious in his dotage pointing fun at old age.

[Emil Miller]

Yes I think the canned laughter had a lot to do with it, but some of the Jack Benny shows and, as you have mentioned, George Burns ( say good night Gracie ) were very funny. In literary terms, Art Buchwald must be rated one of the funnniest writers ever.

[islandclimber]

I love the old British Shows, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Black Adder, Fawlty Towers, Not the Nine Oclock News, Jeeves and Wooster (yay for Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry together), etc... but you can only find these shows online really...

Seinfeld is pretty good... The Office can be great at times..

sometimes, like tonight, when I'm feeling tired after work I'll just go veg out and watch whatever is on the four channels I get here, like Big Brother tonight.. it is so bad, but so captivating hahaha..

when I don't have to work physically all day I don't ever watch tv as then I spend my time climbing, surfing, hiking, etc... but with work, sometimes it feels great to just sit back and watch trash

[AmericanEagle]

Each week I scan the TV schedules and it's the same old rubbish they have been disihing out to totally undiscriminating viwers for years i.e Talent shows devoid of talent

There are talent shows with talent. Have you seen "So You Think You Can Dance" or "Project Runway"?

[weltanschauung]

i havent watched tv in over 5 years. thank you, youtube.

[aeroport]

I love the old British Shows, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Black Adder, Fawlty Towers, Not the Nine Oclock News, Jeeves and Wooster (yay for Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry together), etc... but you can only find these shows online really...


Here you can track most of these down on PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) at some point (mostly Saturday afternoons), though not Jeeves and Wooster, sadly.
In fact, most of the shows I can even stand to watch anymore are to be found on our PBS member station:

Charlie Rose
NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
NOVA
Frontline
Mystery! (Inspector Lynley Mysteries FTW!)
Masterpiece

All of this fantastic programming with NO commercial breaks. Good television does indeed still exist, but only in a couple of places, it seems.

Beyond this, I watch the occasional 'Family Guy' online, but that's about it.

[motherhubbard]

I love PBS. I don't care for Mystery, but I love all the others you mentioned. I would add Antiques Roadshow. The children's programing is also tops. It's the children are allowed and all that we care to watch.

[Emil Miller]

There are talent shows with talent. Have you seen "So You Think You Can Dance" or "Project Runway"?


i havent watched tv in over 5 years. thank you, youtube.

I live in England so I am naturally referring to UK programmes, but I did see a bit of an American talent show called (I think) America's got Talent which was excruciatingly embarassing, even more so than its British equivalent.

I haven't watched TV now for about eight weeks. Youtube provides me with such a wealth of entertainment possibilities that I am even beginning to neglect this forum. I honestly don't see how television can possibly compete with the alternatives that exist nowadays. They have been getting away with rubbish for years and if they go out of business, I for one will not miss the TV companies pathetic output.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Brian, another great thread and hilarious to boot!

I still cherish the fond memories of the family scrambling for the fold out TV trays and arranging them in a semi circle around the old Zenith encased in a charming wood cabinet, while mother hastily plopped once frozen Swanson’s Salisbury steak dinners on each tray. Once served and settled and given the customary warning not to sit too close to the TV or you might get radiation poisoning, it was time to lose ourselves in some wholesome American TV. Nothing like capping off a Sunday evening with a rousing spat between Festus and Doc Adams over a lost mule while sipping on a cold brew at the Long Branch saloon or Sergeant Schultz being threatened with a tour of the Russian front by Colonel Klink.

http://www.tvland.com/photogallery/photos/fetus.jpg

http://www.tvland.com/photogallery/photos/Hogan_040.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/70/Werner_Klemperer_Klink_screenshot.jpg/200px-Werner_Klemperer_Klink_screenshot.jpg

Now that was great original TV and TV worth watching! Several years ago I had lost all hope in TV until TV Land came along and resurrected the classic shows that I was weaned on. TV Land started out fine and in fact I was able to sway my fourteen year old over to the classics. He is now obsessed with MASH, Andy Griffith and the original Star Trek series. Unfortunately, even TV Land has now fallen prey to the virulent pestilence known as Reality TV. They deign to occupy the prime time slots with the likes of The Cougar, She’s Got the Look and High School Reunion, leaving me to stay up at all hours of the night to get my fix of Beverly Hillbillies and The Monsters.

Gilliatt

[ktm5124]

You should get together with this (http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28694) guy. :)Well he and I have a lot in common except that I do have a TV and, as I said, I watch news programmes occasionally but the rest is mainly dross and is, as he says, an insult to the intelligence. His reference to the "idiot box" is an echo of how television was described when it became available for the mass of the population of the UK in the 1950s. Today, looking through the schedules for the coming week, one of the reviewers described the weekend viewing as "brain rot." The worrying thing about TV is its power to overule reason. One day, I was talking to a colleague at work about television and he said that while he, his wife and daughter took their evening meal together, his ten-year-old daughter kept leaning over to one side to watch the television in an adjoining room. This annoyed the father who reprimanded the girl for her behaviour. The obvious question is, why was the television on in the first place and why the hell didn't he just leave the table and turn it off?
Here in the UK we have a quiz programme called Brain of Britain in whcih the contestants have to answer general knowedge questions, and I don't mean about pop groups or football but genuinely difficult questions. One year the winner was asked the secret of his success and he replied "I don't own a television."

you walked right into that one ;)

either this thread is a brilliant satire or... i hate to break it to you... you are somewhat... insufferable.

The real thing to complain about is not that television is trash but that good television shows are often suffocated by bad ones. Take Firefly, for instance.

Television can be a medium of art just like film, music, books, etc. To deny an entire medium the right to dignity is provincial and naive. And to tell people what they should or should not enjoy (i.e. call them a "proverbial couch potato") is just plain obnoxious.

[Joreads]

The real thing to complain about is not that television is trash but that good television shows are often suffocated by bad ones. Take Firefly, for instance.



How true is that. I don't bother to watch anything now until a second season is confirmed. I am so tried of great shows being pulled off the air:flare:

[Emil Miller]

you walked right into that one ;)

either this thread is a brilliant satire or... i hate to break it to you... you are somewhat... insufferable.

The real thing to complain about is not that television is trash but that good television shows are often suffocated by bad ones. Take Firefly, for instance.

Television can be a medium of art just like film, music, books, etc. To deny an entire medium the right to dignity is provincial and naive. And to tell people what they should or should not enjoy (i.e. call them a "proverbial couch potato") is just plain obnoxious.


If you go to my original post, you will see that the term "trash television" was coined by the newspaper columnist Norman Lebrecht. I merely used it to describe what I'm sure many people think. Not least, other contributors to this thread who find that the number of enjoyable programmes has diminished markedly in recent times. Three days ago the Evening Standard, the same newspaper that Lebrecht writes for, had a news item headed:
'Why Radio 4 soars as TV Hits Rock Bottom'
" At long last, Britain is dumbing up."

The report then went on to reveal that station Radio4 has recently added almost half a million listeners, bringing its audience to ten million.
The article goes on to say "Is it any wonder so many people are tuning in when so many are turning off television ?"

The independant Office of Communications (Ofcom) has recently reported that, according to their enquiries, many people believe television has deteriorated in the past five years because of bad language, violence and a soaring number of repeats.
As I have said, I no longer watch television and I shouldn't be surprised if it eventually disappears to be replaced by the computer where people can meet their own entertainment requirements.

Of course, it may be somewhat insufferable for Sebastian Shakespeare who wrote the article to imply that those still watching television have been 'dummed' down, but as his illustrious namesake might have said...that's the way the cookie crumbles.

[AmericanEagle]

I live in England so I am naturally referring to UK programmes, but I did see a bit of an American talent show called (I think) America's got Talent which was excruciatingly embarassing, even more so than its British equivalent.

"America's Got Talent" has one of the weakest talent pools by far. The best act that they had was Nuttin' But Stringz, but they didn't win.

[Jozanny]

I have been hearing for a couple of years, at least, that Kirstie Alley wanted a fat actress show, and apparently now she has one, Big Life, which airs tonight on Lifetime.

I have no idea why any executive would think this thing has staying power.

[Jazz_]

I used to watch quite a bit of TV - but recently I've been struggling to find anything good.

I watch:
Dr. Who (though it's between seasons and hasn't been on for a few months)
The Mentalist (not "great" TV - but still enjoyable)
Wilfred (occasionally)

I do watch plenty of shows from my large collection though (everything I ever really liked I have :D) - so this makes up for the lack of quality TV.

[Abras]

Trash?? Well, maybe everything except RuPaul's Drag Race (http://www.logotv.com/shows/rupauls_drag_race)!!

[Jozanny]

I used to get cable, and I know Lifetime caters to Womens Interest, and I know Kirstie replaced Long on Cheers, but I do not know why this adds up to a show anyone wants to watch. I am overweight, try to cut down on trans fat and junk, but why is this a show, even under a more recognized name? Most women over 35 know they cannot have Paltrow's figure--not that I think Paltrow is particularly sensual.

If anyone views it, I am curious as to what the concept is.

[Helga]

I watch to much trash tv these days.... chuck and private practise.... know it's trash but I still seem to watch most episodes... I am waiting for Lie to me to continue, I love that and Heroes.... but now I'm addicted to those Life documentaries and making life, about how they make the documentary... so interesting.

[MrRegular]

I've never paid for TV, haven't seen a movie for a year probably and haven't sat down and watched tv for more than 15 minutes/week for about three years now.
Isolating myself to literature and creative activities has definitely increased my perspicacity and I find myself to be much more calm and clear-headed. Now whenever I do see a TV it seems so abrubt and ridiculously dumbed-down that I'm amazed no one else notices.

[JuniperWoolf]

I think that the absolutely WORST part of television has to be the advertisements. God, they just make me want to rip my hair out. What an insult to the intelligence of the general public.

[Emil Miller]

I've never paid for TV, haven't seen a movie for a year probably and haven't sat down and watched tv for more than 15 minutes/week for about three years now.
Isolating myself to literature and creative activities has definitely increased my perspicacity and I find myself to be much more calm and clear-headed. Now whenever I do see a TV it seems so abrubt and ridiculously dumbed-down that I'm amazed no one else notices.

That's because you were prepared to do something about it while others, who might also want to do something more interesting, lack the will. While I admit that I never thought much of television anyway, I did think that perhaps I might miss certain programmes: political comment, general news etc etc. but I don't miss it at all. I still have my television but it sits there waiting in vain for me to switch it on. It's a bit like smoking, once the habit is broken there's no point in going back.
'

[Musicology]

Yes indeed Brian ! I heartily agree.

A friend of mine from Indiana USA once told me if he was forced to watch television programmes he would rather shoot the thing with a double barrel shotgun first ! Since he would be exercising his sanity over something insane and would be exercising his own power of consent over that of others.

LOL !


Apart from a couple of news items, I haven't watched television for weeks.
Why? Because for the most part it's trash and also because I have a computer that allows me to surf the internet for genuinely interesting and entertaining items. Recently commenting on increased attendance at various plays and stage shows in London, Noman Lebrecht, who reviews musical performances for the UK press, said that this was because people are getting fed up with trash television.
Each week I scan the TV schedules and it's the same old rubbish they have been disihing out to totally undiscriminating viwers for years i.e Talent shows devoid of talent, Cookery programmes with 'celebrity' chefs, Soap operas of apalling banality and films about a) Dinosaurs. b) Navy SEALS. c) Serial killers. d)Vampires etc. etc. The remainder is largely made up of Steven Segal films ( I say films although they are essentially the same film) in which Segal, with names like Capt Brad Rockfist and Commander Rick Goodguy, goes around beating up dozens of baddies without turning a hair. Admittedly there is a certain amount of sport on TV which is live and can be entertaining for sports fans but it's not something that appeals to me personally.
Is there anyone else out there who also thinks that the majority of TV programmes are not just pleasantly soporific time killers but absolute rubbish?

[Emil Miller]

Yes indeed Brian ! I heartily agree.

A friend of mine from Indiana USA once told me if he was forced to watch television programmes he would rather shoot the thing with a double barrel shotgun first ! Since he would be exercising his sanity over something insane and would be exercising his own power of consent over that of others.



If an author were to write a modern equivalent of 1984, Winston Smith's worst nightmare would probably be having to watch Britain's Got Talent. What beats me is why there isn't a question mark at the end instead of a full stop. The amazing thing about it all is that snake oil salesmen like Simon Cowell and Piers Morgan, instead of being tarred and feathered and run out of town, are swanning around in limousines on Sunset Boulevard and elsewhere and actually look as though they believe in the quality of the beads they are selling to the natives. It is precisely because televsion has become a cliche that the peddling of rubbish has become it's raison d'etre and that is why I have relegated my TV to the back burner.

[Buh4Bee]

This is a great thread.

I get sucked into American Idol. I find it gives me something to get excited about, kind of like sport for the dramatic. It's good clean fun, so why not. I can't speak for the whole industry or Simon Cowell's personality.

I was off the TV for a very long time until my husband bought the Roku. This is a horrible way to squander hours on trash Shotime shows. I'm currently watching Weeds- third season. The shows are about 25 minutes long, so they are a good way to pass a half hour when you have down time between the afternoon walky and baby nappy.

[teashi]

This thread reminds me of a quote from Orson Welles. "I hate television. I hate it as much as peanuts. But I can't stop eating peanuts.":sick:

[Emil Miller]

This thread reminds me of a quote from Orson Welles. "I hate television. I hate it as much as peanuts. But I can't stop eating peanuts.":sick:

I prefer the Groucho Marx quote: "Television is very educational. Everytime somebody switches it on I go into another room and read a book."

[Bastable]

Wilfred (occasionally)
.

Wilfred! Love that show!

I don't watch tv at all. Although i do watch some tv shows, they're always on dvd after the fact and are recommendations from friends who do.

[soundofmusic]

This thread reminds me of a quote from Orson Welles. "I hate television. I hate it as much as peanuts. But I can't stop eating peanuts.":sick:

Wonderful quote:hurray: I guess we saw what television and peanuts did to Orson Wells...
Many of the people I meet keep their televisions on all day and night; but they turn every light out when they leave the rooms. I don't think they exactly watch the shows; if you ask them what they think, they look rather dazed and confused. I think people have lost the ability to converse and they are too stressed to do other activities; so they "veg" in front of the tv

[Emil Miller]

Wonderful quote:hurray: I guess we saw what television and peanuts did to Orson Wells...
Many of the people I meet keep their televisions on all day and night; but they turn every light out when they leave the rooms. I don't think they exactly watch the shows; if you ask them what they think, they look rather dazed and confused. I think people have lost the ability to converse and they are too stressed to do other activities; so they "veg" in front of the tv

Yes the last sentence of the quote from Orson Welles should have read: "But I can't stop eating."
Having said that, he was a true renaissance man.