US made telly shows are dying..

Platapus · 08-29-09, 04:16 PM

TV production, like any product, has to respond to the desires of the customer.

Evidently, the public likes dumb "reality" crappy shows. It sells advertising.

That's why they call Television a Medium. Because it is rarely well done.

Sea Demon · 08-29-09, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Platapus

Evidently, the public likes dumb "reality" crappy shows. It sells advertising.

Yes. So many stupid programs...I can't even watch modern TV shows anymore. And screw "reality" TV. When looking for sitcom type programming, the only thing I can stomach is going down memory lane like on TVLand. Some of those old episodes of Sanford and Son crack me up. The closest I can get to "modern" is some of the episodes of Seinfeld. That's it. Then it's Sports, Discovery, Sci-Fi, and a few others.

Torplexed · 08-30-09, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sea Demon

then it's Sports, Discovery, Sci-Fi, and a few others.

Aren't they the SyFy Channel now? Bizarre name change, but I guess it made sense from a business standpoint, since they so rarely show actual Sci-Fi anymore.

Task Force · 08-30-09, 10:38 AM

yep, they changed there name...

Buddahaid · 08-30-09, 11:02 AM

I think the SyFy channel is my biggest disappointment in all of cable TV. When I got my cable years ago, I thought I would watch it a lot, but very few things held my interest and I ended up addicted to Speedvision instead. Then, that was ruined when it became Speed channel and I never watch it. Speedvision was great, F1 cars, boats, Reno air races, world rally, Dakar, IRL, etc. Now it's mostly NASCAR, which I hate, except for the road courses. And now, much of the stuff on the science and documentary channels is hard to watch as it seems tailored for short attention spans. "When we come back..", ad, ad, ad, ad, ad, summarize previous ten minutes, five minutes of content, "When we come back...". A whole hour show has fifteen minutes of content!

And yes, the British programming we see here is the best, but it's all on PBS and you are compelled to donate or feel guilty. Mystery, Red Dwarf, Father Ted, etc.

Buddahaid

Buddahaid

08-30-09, 11:46 AM

Out of US television I only watch the documentaries, mostly from PBS. I used to follow the series Seconds from disaster which is kind of a documentary series but I think I've seen the whole series by now.

Germans and French make good documentaries with a good, non-US point of view. Too bad there aren't more of those with subs around.

mookiemookie · 08-29-09, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Platapus

TV production, like any product, has to respond to the desires of the customer.

Evidently, the public likes dumb "reality" crappy shows. It sells advertising.

That's why they call Television a Medium. Because it is rarely well done.

Not to mention that reality shows are, by comparison, very cheap to make.

There's still great TV around - The Wire comes to mind. Planet Earth (well, that was BBC, but still), Mad Men...I'm also a sucker for House.

goldorak · 08-30-09, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Platapus

TV production, like any product, has to respond to the desires of the customer.

Evidently, the public likes dumb "reality" crappy shows. It sells advertising.

That's why they call Television a Medium. Because it is rarely well done.

Whats strange though is that tv programming in the seventies, eighties and early ninties was way way better than the crap we see today.
So were people just more intelligent a decade or 2 ago ?
On the other hand I appreciate public funded (through tv license) channels, such as the BBC, ARTE, RAI TRE etc...
The real change at least in Italy, was that during the eighties and ninties our tv stations bought american amd japanese (mostly anime) tv series like there would be no tomorrow.

Nowadays a lot of shows are locally produced so we tend to see less and less american shows. We even get to see BBC shows such as Life on Mars. I was nicely surprised by this. Now all I want is Dr Who and Torchwood.

08-29-09, 04:16 PM	#1
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,386 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	TV production, like any product, has to respond to the desires of the customer. Evidently, the public likes dumb "reality" crappy shows. It sells advertising. That's why they call Television a Medium. Because it is rarely well done. __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.

08-30-09, 10:38 AM	#4
Task Force Rear Admiral Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: SPACE!!!! Posts: 10,142 Downloads: 85 Uploads: 0	yep, they changed there name... __________________ Task Force industries "Taking control of the world, one mind at a time"

08-30-09, 11:02 AM	#5
Buddahaid Shark above Space Chicken Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 9,331 Downloads: 162 Uploads: 0	I think the SyFy channel is my biggest disappointment in all of cable TV. When I got my cable years ago, I thought I would watch it a lot, but very few things held my interest and I ended up addicted to Speedvision instead. Then, that was ruined when it became Speed channel and I never watch it. Speedvision was great, F1 cars, boats, Reno air races, world rally, Dakar, IRL, etc. Now it's mostly NASCAR, which I hate, except for the road courses. And now, much of the stuff on the science and documentary channels is hard to watch as it seems tailored for short attention spans. "When we come back..", ad, ad, ad, ad, ad, summarize previous ten minutes, five minutes of content, "When we come back...". A whole hour show has fifteen minutes of content! And yes, the British programming we see here is the best, but it's all on PBS and you are compelled to donate or feel guilty. Mystery, Red Dwarf, Father Ted, etc. Buddahaid Buddahaid

08-30-09, 11:46 AM	#6
OneToughHerring Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	Out of US television I only watch the documentaries, mostly from PBS. I used to follow the series Seconds from disaster which is kind of a documentary series but I think I've seen the whole series by now. Germans and French make good documentaries with a good, non-US point of view. Too bad there aren't more of those with subs around.