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Am I getting old, or is TV getting crappy?

post #1 of 42
1/16/07 at 9:46am
Thread Starter 
Or both?

I stopped on the way to work this morning and saw some DVDs of old shows, like Mr Ed, Lassie. It got me thinking about the TV programs I liked and miss. Nowadays the only things we watch are "Desperate Housewives" and "Boston Legal". Almost everything else seems so junky. We got rid of cable after the second kid moved out (150 channels of crap for $50/mo).

I can see where now that I am middle aged some of the stuff that I thought was neat when I was a kid might not appeal to me (like Bewitched or Gilligan's Island). But I miss shows like Moonlighting and St Elsewhere. I thought they were clever, entertaining and realistic.

Anyone else young and old want to chime in?
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post #2 of 42
1/16/07 at 9:52am
There are a few good shows on. I don't have cable but I don't feel like i am missing much. All the shows I do want to watch are for the most part on free TV.
Have you seen Gray's Anatomy? I love love love that show!
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post #3 of 42
1/16/07 at 10:00am
tv is getting crappy..... I definately agree.
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post #4 of 42
1/16/07 at 10:03am
I'm fairly young, but I think that TV is just like this, there are always going to be one or two magnificent shows, and the rest just sucks I don't have very high standards so I watch a lot of crap though
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post #5 of 42
1/16/07 at 10:10am
I dont think TV is any crappier than ever. we now have hundreds of crappy choices so it's more noticeable. But HBO is starting the second part of Rome. that's pretty good. and West Wing, Sex and the City and Deadwood were sublime.
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post #6 of 42
1/16/07 at 10:24am
Thread Starter 
I tried watching Gray's Anatomy once and thought it was too stupid. It is really popular but to me it is like a show about a bunch of high school kids (kind of like Beverly Hills 90120) except somehow these people have medical degrees and are in their late 20s. And they are so whiny. I remember this one openeing scene about one of them whining about having to hold someone's heart and how it was so hard to take responsibility. This is not like any of the doctors I have run into. I also can't get into Brothers and Sisters, despite the hype.
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post #7 of 42
1/16/07 at 10:26am
I've been watching reruns of Growing Pains a lot lately. I think I still have a thing for Kirk Cameron.
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post #8 of 42
1/16/07 at 10:28am
Have you ever seen House? I think you'd probably like that, based on the other shows you watch. It's on Fox, Tuesdays at 8PM. Hugh Laurie, who plays Dr. Greg House, just won a Golden Globe for his work.

I agree, though. While there are some really awesome shows (my faves are Boston Legal, House, CSI re-runs, West Wing, and Entourage....DH and GA are guilty pleasures) there are mostly just junky ones. I mean, how many more pseudo-reality game shows can we possibly come up with?!?!
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post #9 of 42
1/16/07 at 10:32am
Well, I'm as old as I feel and I feel pretty grumpy most of the time, and I think there's so much crap on tv. There's so few shows that compell me to watch them every week. Maybe my standards have gotten higher, or it's just that I've watched so much tv in my life that everything just seems very predictable now.
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post #10 of 42
1/16/07 at 10:46am
TV today IMHO sucks. I never cared for the Leave it tyo Beaver balogna, but I did enjoy 1980's TV much more, (Hill street Blues, St Elsewhere, Family Ties, that type of stuff). Today TV seems so juvenile; sexual innuendo and sexual jokes that a smarmy 14 year old would tell; graphic violence; serial killers, etc. It's boring already.
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post #11 of 42
1/16/07 at 10:59am
There are some really good, quality shows around. Law & Order (SVU is the best, IMO, but all of them are good), House, even Bones is pretty good (kinda like Quincy but they've been dead longer ). Think about it - everyone has named about 4-5 shows tops that were really great shows from a whole decade. We still have about the same ratio of really good shows to dumb ones, and guilty pleasure ones too. Now we have Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives, then we had Dallas, Dynasty and Knots Landing.

I think the differences are that there were really only 3 channels by and large back then that showed regular shows, and now there are hundreds with different genres to choose from too (educational, DIY stuff like DIY, HGTV, Food Network, stuff like that). That and the advent of Reality TV.
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post #12 of 42
1/16/07 at 11:14am
I don't enjoy many of the shows that are on air these days, but I do love House, CSI (the original), Numbers (even though it's factually incorrect much of the time), 24, and Standoff. Ok, only one of those isn't a crime drama, but it is about solving a mystery.

I'll watch reality TV shows only when I want to sit and be mindless and numb. If I want to think and be truly entertained, the above shows are what I watch.
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post #13 of 42
1/16/07 at 11:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2dogmom View Post
I tried watching Gray's Anatomy once and thought it was too stupid. It is really popular but to me it is like a show about a bunch of high school kids (kind of like Beverly Hills 90120) except somehow these people have medical degrees and are in their late 20s. And they are so whiny. I remember this one openeing scene about one of them whining about having to hold someone's heart and how it was so hard to take responsibility. This is not like any of the doctors I have run into. I also can't get into Brothers and Sisters, despite the hype.
Its ok if you like soap operas.
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post #14 of 42
1/16/07 at 11:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by emrldsky View Post
I don't enjoy many of the shows that are on air these days, but I do love House, CSI (the original), Numbers (even though it's factually incorrect much of the time), 24, and Standoff. Ok, only one of those isn't a crime drama, but it is about solving a mystery.

I'll watch reality TV shows only when I want to sit and be mindless and numb. If I want to think and be truly entertained, the above shows are what I watch.
Ahhh I watch the same .... no reality cept for dancing with stars and idol

I watch wildfire, mash , quincy, bones , ugly betty , ghost whisper... if I want smutt I watch dog the bounty hunter

Glad to know I aint the only one going that aint quite right on NUMBERS
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post #15 of 42
1/16/07 at 11:41am
There's always been the good with the bad on tv. I really dislike a lot of reality shows featuring girls gone wildish behavior and spoiled children given their hearts desire (I have a real problem with My Super Sweet Sixteen if you can't tell).

That said, I enjoy Lost, Bones, The Amazing Race, The Office and as a guilty pleasure, I'll confess I sometimes watch reruns of BH90210 on the soap network, which does feature spoiled teenagers in the early years. At least they were acting.
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post #16 of 42
1/16/07 at 11:42am
Almost 50 and I miss Bugs Bunny on Saturday mornings!!! *sucks thumb and pouts*
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post #17 of 42
1/16/07 at 12:03pm
If you think US television is bad then you want to see some UK television- its all reality shows and quiz's now. Theres some stuff like Lost and Heroes I still enjoy but aside from the excitement of Criminal Minds I can pass on most of it...

That said- I think movies are a lot worse than they used to be, a complete dirth of original ideas
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post #18 of 42
1/16/07 at 12:06pm
I think in the past 2 or 3 years TV has given us some excellent shows. We've got Lost, Ghost Whisperer, Ugly Betty (one of my personal favourites), Boston Legal, 24. When I look at tapes and DVD's of the old shows, I think they seem almost childish in comparison. I personally think TV is better than it was in the 80's.
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post #19 of 42
1/16/07 at 12:22pm
I watched the Strictly Come Dancing series before Christmas and that was the first time I had watched anything since it was on last year. TV is boring.
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post #20 of 42
1/16/07 at 12:47pm
I found that I was only watching Adult Swim, House, and the History Channel, and most of the time they were reruns. 3-ish hrs a day if that of shows I had usually seen enough times that I was bored of them.

I had them shut the cable off, and am not missing a thing as far as I'm concerned.
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post #21 of 42
1/16/07 at 1:36pm
Yes I do agree there are plenty of crappy shows on. I do like House as does my hubby. I myself watch alot of documentaries and stuff. We also watch a lot of TLC, Discovery, Discovery Health and stuff like that. Hubby really likes Mythbusters.
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post #22 of 42
1/16/07 at 2:15pm
TV's crappy.

We use our television for video games and movies. We use our computers for news and weather. We don't watch TV shows at all anymore.

Cheers, from
SwampWitch
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post #23 of 42
1/16/07 at 2:59pm
We don't have Cable, so we're limited, but House and Bones are shows I stay home for. I used to go out every Wednesday night with the girls, but now if a new Bones is on, I'm apt to stay home. They changed House to 9pm here, so I even have to stay up past my bedtime to watch it.
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post #24 of 42
1/16/07 at 3:08pm
Yes and no. I am lucky enough to have HBO and Showtime and the shows on those two channels keep me going. I will not miss: Dexter, Weeds, Rome, and Big Love. IMO they are some of the best written shows on TV since MASH. Network TV has left me high and dry many times. I do watch Heroes, but that's about it.

The majority of TV shows now follow some sort of formula that I don't agree with. They keep running them until people stop watching. To me it would make sense to make a show with a clear beginning, middle, and end like some of the Anime in Japan. It would also allow for better writing and acting.
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post #25 of 42
1/16/07 at 3:17pm
i work second shift so I dont really watch to many primetime shows. I just think those are mostly the rotten programing. But I do like CSI LasVegas and Law and order SVU. I used to watch SNL but not any more. I dont watch much because of the sexual portrayal of women and men in many shows, esp the real world (although sometimes i will land on it while channel surfing) desperate house wives, sex in the city, any soaps any anything on MTV. Instead I like watching Family guy, its stupid and they offend everyone which makes me realize how uptight we all can be. I also like the Food Network and VH1's reality shows because they are just pathetic and at the end of the day I need the humor..thank u flavor of love!!!
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post #26 of 42
1/16/07 at 4:48pm
I don't have time to watch tv very much anymore. I only watch Keith Oberman's Countdown on MSNBC and Gilmore Girls.
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post #27 of 42
1/16/07 at 5:53pm
I don't watch alot of primetime tv due to my working hours but I honestly think tv has gotten really vulgar and I miss being able to sit down with my whole family aged 2 -90 and watch a show all the way through without something offending someone on it or being inappropriate or embarrasing. Yes I am an adult but I come from a very conservative family as far as how you conduct yourself. And so I really miss shows like The Cosby Show, Full House, Family Ties, and others like them. And even the old soaps weren't so out there and they left alot more to the imagination then today when shows leave very little to the imagination.
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post #28 of 42
1/16/07 at 6:21pm
most shows on TV are junk. I mean i watch the dick van dyke sometimes on tv land. and that show makes me laugh. When itta watches friends, i just go read a book or go play on the computer. the new battle star is the first show i have watched in years.It just seems to me that the older comdies shows are much better, in both acting and writting.
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post #29 of 42
1/16/07 at 8:33pm
Actually there are more shows I like on now than I have time to watch. I usually try to catch these.

Prison Break
House
Supernatural
Bones

Seems my list is a little short on comedy so I'll add Two & a Half Men and My Name is Earl.

I like the Animal Cop shows too.

And American Idol.
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post #30 of 42
1/16/07 at 8:50pm
I rarely watch network TV and would go nuts without cable. I love Court TV - Forensic Files, Body of Evidence, etc. (the trials are pretty boring). I also love History Channel, Animal Planet, A&E, Biography. As you can see, I PREFER non-fiction.

Yep, most of the stuff on network TV is crap, not worth my time.
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