The State of Television

[BL]

What do you think of television as a whole?

I think that the main networks are long due for a major revamp of program focus; many of the reality shows are getting old. I mean seriously, how many times have they done The Bachelor or Survivor? Like 10, and even considering stuff like that inherently gets old, regardless of how many twists they want to add to it. I personally do not watch any network television at all with the exception of maybe Deal or No Deal, and that is more because my family watches it than anything else. Cable is the next big thing, and it's only a matter of time before the networks find themselves not in the same position to take pop culture by storm. I personally spend about 80% of my television viewing time with Comedy Central, which I believe has a very good lineup of original material, and the networks are more interested in doing everything... TV just can't be like that anymore, you have to fill a niche.

[Nay (fhfreak)]

I don't watch that much TV.  I watch a lot of sitcoms like Til Death and According To Jim.  I also watch American Idol and Deal Or No Deal and that's about it.  We don't even have cable.

[BL]

Yeah, same here fhfreak... I would say I log in about 90 minutes to 2 hours of TV time a day on average. Of course, I spend probably about half my free time on the Internet (the majority of that time being spent at HR)...

[Nay (fhfreak)]

Like, I usually watch a lot of TV when I am sick and I usually don't feel like going on the computer, like yesterday and today, I'm sick and I just like watching TV and doing basically nothing.  But I've been watching TV for like 6 hours straight and I'm getting kinda bored so I'm just checking in and seeing what's new.

[fullhouseforever]

I pretty much touched on what I thought about it before in the other thread, but I'll re-iterate the point.  I hardly watch any new shows at all any more (the only ones I even make an effort to see consistently are KoQ- which will be over this season- and possibly FOX's Sunday cartoon lineup).  The only scripted things out there for me now are syndicated episodes of shows I've like in the past.  If it weren't for sports and some radio channels, I would hardly watch actual TV at all any more.

[MT Fan]

The only prime time television I watch is FOX Sunday Night, and NASCAR lol. I don't like a lot of the new shows that have been recently released with the exception of Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? and The Winner. Most TV I watch is on Comdy Central, FX, FOX and YES (A semi local channel which stands for Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network).

[Csoup715]

Yeah, same here fhfreak... I would say I log in about 90 minutes to 2 hours of TV time a day on average. Of course, I spend probably about half my free time on the Internet (the majority of that time being spent at HR)...

THAT much?!?!  i only watch on weekends, and even then probably only like 3-4 hrs total   lol.  i watch Law & Order, Whose Line, sometimes game shows like Deal Or No Deal or Jeopardy, sometimes ABC Fam/N@N, sometimes movies, Will & Grace, and i guess sometimes some other stuff but otherwise there's not that much good to watch, i agree....

[Left Turn]

I agree that American network tv has gone downhill in the last decade.

I think tv peaked during the early to mid-90s, with the late 80s being a runup to the peak. Most of my favourite tv shows aired during that time, all of wich were fairly popular shows:

Cheers (1982-1993)
The Cosby Show (1984-1992)
Full House (1987-1995)
The Wonder Years (1988-1993)
America's Funniest Videos (1989-present)
Seinfeld (1990-1998)
Home Improvement (1991-1999)
Fraiser (1993-2004)
Friends (1994-2004)

In the late 90s there was a move towards angry humour on most tv  sitcoms. New tv sitcoms failed to match the quality of those from the late 80s and early 90s. Eventually, all the remaining sitcoms from the 80s and early 90s era ended.

Going into the 21st century, there was a move away from sitcoms, and towards reality tv and crime shows. This shift reflected a move towards more conservative values on tv. There were new sitcoms, but most focused on the well worn family concept, and relied on angry, bigoted humour. There has been somewhat of a shift away from crime shows in the last couple of years, but the reality shows have continued unabated. The networks like reality shows because they don't have to pay actors to star in the shows, and they don't have to pay writers on these shows as much.

The only current shows on American network tv that I watch are:

Americas Funniest Videos
CSI
Gilmore Girls
The New Adventures of Old Christine

[fullhouseforever]

The last show that I watched with a passion was Raymond, which ended in '05 (although it started in the mid-90's).  I don't think there's been any show I've watched consistently that was created this decade.  Makes me wonder what the future will hold.  It will have to change for me to take an interest, but it wouldn't be the first time the focus has shifted.

[BL]

Yeah, same here fhfreak... I would say I log in about 90 minutes to 2 hours of TV time a day on average. Of course, I spend probably about half my free time on the Internet (the majority of that time being spent at HR)...

THAT much?!?!  i only watch on weekends, and even then probably only like 3-4 hrs total   lol.  i watch Law & Order, Whose Line, sometimes game shows like Deal Or No Deal or Jeopardy, sometimes ABC Fam/N@N, sometimes movies, Will & Grace, and i guess sometimes some other stuff but otherwise there's not that much good to watch, i agree....

Eh... yeah, maybe much shorter than that... sometimes it can be as little as 30 minutes (parts of the Daily Show and The Colbert Report), but as much as two hours. And I'm hardly watching Deal or No Deal anymore... South Park ABSOLUTELY whenever it is on... so at most two hours: Daily Show + Colbert Report + Deal or No Deal.

[Left Turn]

The last show that I watched with a passion was Raymond, which ended in '05 (although it started in the mid-90's).  I don't think there's been any show I've watched consistently that was created this decade.  Makes me wonder what the future will hold.  It will have to change for me to take an interest, but it wouldn't be the first time the focus has shifted.

I watched Raymond fairly regularly from '01 to '04. I  lost interest in it in the last season.

[MT Fan]

THAT much?!?!  i only watch on weekends, and even then probably only like 3-4 hrs total   lol.  i watch Law & Order, Whose Line, sometimes game shows like Deal Or No Deal or Jeopardy, sometimes ABC Fam/N@N, sometimes movies, Will & Grace, and i guess sometimes some other stuff but otherwise there's not that much good to watch, i agree....

Eh... yeah, maybe much shorter than that... sometimes it can be as little as 30 minutes (parts of the Daily Show and The Colbert Report), but as much as two hours. And I'm hardly watching Deal or No Deal anymore... South Park ABSOLUTELY whenever it is on... so at most two hours: Daily Show + Colbert Report + Deal or No Deal.

That pretty much describes what I watch except replace Deal or No Deal with King of The Hill, That 70's Show and the Simpsons. Not in all night though I watch maybe an hour or two each night.

[Summerlandluver09]

I watch television about an 1 and 1/2 a day on weekends and about an 1/2 an hr to an hr on the weekdays.

I have nothing to do really since it's been cold and wet outside.

[fullhouseforever]

I think my television watching has gone from a 3 or 4 hours daily routine to about 1 hour over the past few years.  Of course, there's always DVDs of the good ol' days if you're happier with television of the past.

[Csoup715]

i forgot That 70's show omg!!  lol yeah i watch that a lot, and the daily show & colbert report are really funny but i don't even know when they come on, i've only seen em like 4 times.  i watch Jay Leno and Conan O'Brian sometimes, SNL sometimes, Gilmore Girls i love but rarely see....

I also forgot Brothers & Sister and Desperate Housewives both of which i adore; i watch DH every week and then the first 10 mins of B&S (before the commercial break) because i don't want to be up until 11 on a sunday night since mondays such anyway and i don't want to be overly tired   lol