Posted on 07/05/2007 7:22:00 AM PDT by abb
I agree.
The only reality show that’s decent enough to watch is “The Amazing Race” on CBS.
All the others are junk, total junk.
When will cable finally go ALA-CARTE? or even single show order only?
I refuse to buy cable, had it... cut it years ago. Been down to basically broadcast for years now, and honestly don’t miss cable.... Broadcast has gone downhill as well...
I am about ready to just chuck the TV all together and just download shows I want to see or buy DVD’s of series I want to watch.
5 days a week, nothing but “reality” horsecrap in primetime on all 3 channels.
I am not home often, but when I am, there is rarely anything worth watching on....
A former couch potatoe, who has escaped, and will only watch something worth watching... and frankly there is little on cable or broadcast worth it today.
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
Quality Entertainment! ... That game was real fun in 1st grade when it was called, "I'm thinking of a number."
Smart move. Everyone I know discos on Friday nights.
The reason Who Wants to be a Millionaire became a ratings pit wasn't because of how often it was on, but because the geniuses at the network decided that people wanted to see celebraties on the show. Who cares if a sports or TV star can answer trivia questions and win money for a charity? People tuned in to watch average people, just like themselves, thier friends, neighbors and family, win money by knowing things.
It's what Are you Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? has good ratings. When they start tryng to get actors and sports stars on the show, it will tank quick.
Whenever a newspaper cuts reporters, they merely replace content with newsfeeds from anti-American AP and Al-Reuters.
Sure, they are losing readership numbers....but they might actually be consolidating worldwide readership CONTENT.
Suppose the entire world of newspapers went out of business tomorrow, and only the NYT remained publishing only AP and Reuters stories.
What would Drudge link to? Blogs and NYT articles. How many blogs does he link to now vs. AP/Reuters content....and of the blogs referenced, how many of them originate from AP/Reuters reporting?
I think the dwindling of grass-roots reporters could actually be bad for us in the long run.
Most of us wouldn’t know if NBC dropped programming on Friday nights.*
Friday nights with the big three has been a black hole night for many of us for years.
If NBC does this, the small tv nets/cable will grab hold of Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights and hasten the demise of NBC.
*I posted this personal reality re NBC before. A few years ago Dish dropped the San Francisco NBC channel, and we didn’t know it.
Our youngest son came home for a visit. After the second night, during breakfast the next morning, he asked if we knew that Dish had dropped NBC, and we said, “No, when did that happen?”
He said apparently a couple of months ago. He had watched one of Charlie’s talk with the CEO program and found out why the local NBC channel was dropped.
We didn’t miss NBC and enjoyed the few $’s off per month until another NBC station was added later in the year.
It makes a lot more sense to cut costs in the news division than it does to cut original programming, which is the only reason the network really has to exist. They could have a kid reading the AP wire into a camera for one one-hundreth the cost, and still get about the same ratings.
NBC hasn’t had “quality” programming since they cancelled “The Wonderful World of Disney” and “Bonanza”.
NBC hasn’t had “quality” programming since they cancelled “The Wonderful World of Disney” and “Bonanza”.
***
Actually, NBC has had a couple of good shows since then, but usually, the networks has found a way to cancel them. And that’s true of the other two networks as well.
CBS was notorious for taking a good show and moving it around so much that people couldn’t find it. Then the network would say, well, the show is low rated, so we’re cancelling it. Remember WKRP in Cincinnati? Very funny show...in some ways, way ahead of its time. But CBS moved it around so much that its fans couldn’t find it...then CBS cancelled it for low ratings.
I, for one, enjoyed Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Thought it was well written, paced well, great dialog. Plus, I was a huge fan of SNL back in the day and I thought the “tear down the 4th wall” approach was cool.
Dead and gone....
Excellent post, well said.
The original SNL was some of the best cutting edge television of its time. Now it’s not even close to funny or even midly entertaining.
NBC also had a show some years ago — Eerie, Indiana — weird, quirky, kinda sci-fi. Might have found an audience if NBC wasn’t so hell bent on killing it.
I still like Law & Order and its clones, but they are running out of ideas. Spent some time yesterday watching a marathon of old L&O shows on TNT. Most of them were from the Lenny Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) era. Those were some of the best. After he passed on (he left the show while he was terminally ill), L&O has really gone downhill. I’m gonna guess the original series will fade into oblivion and the other two will be gone shortly thereafter.
“When will cable finally go ALA-CARTE? or even single show order only?”
***
I would love to have that. Actually, I would love to have competition among cable companies. Friend of mine who came originally from Allentown, PA told me they have two cable outfits — if you don’t like one, you switch to the other. Here, if your township or municipality picks a cable system, you are stuck with it (unless you don’t want any cable, in which case you suffer with poor reception from rabbit ears), or you go with a dish (but where I am, dish reception is poor).
Why the “H” should I pay for cable that consists of 99% sports, alleged music channels (e.g., VH1, MTV) and so-called “news?” I mean, if you sports fans want sports channels, fine — you can have them. Maybe I’d like to have more movies such as Turner or Fox —why can’t I have just that? Or why can’t I purchase different packages of genres I like? No, I’m stuck with paying for nonsense, 99% of which I don’t watch.
And why are the good channels such as Sci-Fi only available in digital or premium packages? Anything to get subscribers to cough up more money for better programming. Stinks.
“Satan worshiping,”
Yes, so many programs involve worshipping Satan, I can’t decide which is my favorite.
I havent watched anything on NBC on friday nights since Miami Vice went off the air.
Miami Vice, Crime Story (anyone remember crime story)...and I guess that’s about it for interesting shows on NBC...and they arent even on anymore.
Judging from their ratings plunge, quite a few other folks are joining you.
IF Im home on friday night, the only things I watch are on sci fi, or something on discovery...
NBC blew their big chance when they were offered Battlestar Galactica a couple of years ago.
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