I am increasingly disturbed by the shows that are on television these days. I am very disappointed with the cancellation of The Event and No Ordinary Family. These are not the only shows, which I enjoy, that are close to or have been cancelled this year. V, The Event, Chuck, Fringe, No Ordinary Family, The Cape, all cancelled or in danger of cancellation in a short time. Out of those five, only two have been renewed for another season and while that seems promising the sobering fact the negates any promise is that both of them (Fringe and Chuck) have been moved to Friday...where they will slowly lose ratings because people, even myself, go out on Fridays. All of these shows exercise the imagination and as I heard my favorite author say about something else, "gives the mind something to consider."
In the stead of these intellectual shows are "reality" shows and music based shows such as The Voice, Survivor, Celebrity Apprentice, American Idol, The bachelor or Baccalaureate etc. These shows are somewhat okay, but how many singing programs and "reality" shows can we possibly have?
Reality shows, seriously? I guess they'd be more accurate and I could relate to them more if reality was SCRIPTED and EDITED!!! And there is those bachelor shows....they team up a man or woman with 20 or more people of the opposite sex in hopes that they will choose a spouse at the end of the season. That's good old wholesome television right there, folks! That's a GREAT way to find love...by spreading myself thin over 25 women, making out with at least one of them every night, alternating from girl to girl, while learning the most surface and superficial garbage about this total stranger...but who cares right...I mean, she is hot!....Oh wait...there is that LARGE sum of money at the end of the show, if I choose a mate....ha, what a bunch of crap! How much do you want to bet in each of their hearts, minds, and perhaps discussed behind the scenes among themselves, is the option to marry in order to win the money and then divorce and split it between them. Yeah, that could be the real motive behind these contenders.
Then there is the mildly "intellectual" crime dramas, CSI and Law and Order and all those other murder shows. Let us be serious about these shows. We all should know that it takes longer than a week to solve a murder. But not in these fantasy worlds the producers come up with. I know what you are thinking now...or will later, upon reading this...."But those scifi shows YOU like ARE fantasy....that's why you like them right?" Well, those science fiction shows I like ARE fantasy....BUT, in those shows the situation changes every episode and, more often than not, each episode is a continuation of the encompassing plot of the entire series.
However, these crime dramas have a very vague encompassing plot and are, more than less, centered around individual episodic plots, in which, every single week someone is murdered, and that gets really old. How many murders can happen under the noses of one pare of detectives in a single year? It gets old. CSI stands for Crime Scene Investigator, which suggests that these people could investigate MANY crime scenes...but instead it is always a murder scene. It seems that the producers and writers of these television dramas are stuck in the same "easily entertained American rut " the writers and producers of the reality and music tv show are stuck in. Oh well, I am only one voice.
People, we need better television. I totally accept that not everyone wants a science fiction or fantasy show for entertainment....but at least lets have some more variety. All we have is "reality", music, or murder shows to choose from. Those producers and writers who dare bring their own imaginations into view and risk the scoffing of the critics and Nielson Box are adventurous, but often undermined by the poor ratings systems in this country. As stated above, the entertainment moguls seem to think America is stupid and easily entertained....but then again maybe America is stupid and easily entertained. I mean, isn't what the TV people keep on television what the American people show the most interest in? Isn't that how ratings work?
In the stead of these intellectual shows are "reality" shows and music based shows such as The Voice, Survivor, Celebrity Apprentice, American Idol, The bachelor or Baccalaureate etc. These shows are somewhat okay, but how many singing programs and "reality" shows can we possibly have?
Reality shows, seriously? I guess they'd be more accurate and I could relate to them more if reality was SCRIPTED and EDITED!!! And there is those bachelor shows....they team up a man or woman with 20 or more people of the opposite sex in hopes that they will choose a spouse at the end of the season. That's good old wholesome television right there, folks! That's a GREAT way to find love...by spreading myself thin over 25 women, making out with at least one of them every night, alternating from girl to girl, while learning the most surface and superficial garbage about this total stranger...but who cares right...I mean, she is hot!....Oh wait...there is that LARGE sum of money at the end of the show, if I choose a mate....ha, what a bunch of crap! How much do you want to bet in each of their hearts, minds, and perhaps discussed behind the scenes among themselves, is the option to marry in order to win the money and then divorce and split it between them. Yeah, that could be the real motive behind these contenders.
Then there is the mildly "intellectual" crime dramas, CSI and Law and Order and all those other murder shows. Let us be serious about these shows. We all should know that it takes longer than a week to solve a murder. But not in these fantasy worlds the producers come up with. I know what you are thinking now...or will later, upon reading this...."But those scifi shows YOU like ARE fantasy....that's why you like them right?" Well, those science fiction shows I like ARE fantasy....BUT, in those shows the situation changes every episode and, more often than not, each episode is a continuation of the encompassing plot of the entire series.
However, these crime dramas have a very vague encompassing plot and are, more than less, centered around individual episodic plots, in which, every single week someone is murdered, and that gets really old. How many murders can happen under the noses of one pare of detectives in a single year? It gets old. CSI stands for Crime Scene Investigator, which suggests that these people could investigate MANY crime scenes...but instead it is always a murder scene. It seems that the producers and writers of these television dramas are stuck in the same "easily entertained American rut " the writers and producers of the reality and music tv show are stuck in. Oh well, I am only one voice.
People, we need better television. I totally accept that not everyone wants a science fiction or fantasy show for entertainment....but at least lets have some more variety. All we have is "reality", music, or murder shows to choose from. Those producers and writers who dare bring their own imaginations into view and risk the scoffing of the critics and Nielson Box are adventurous, but often undermined by the poor ratings systems in this country. As stated above, the entertainment moguls seem to think America is stupid and easily entertained....but then again maybe America is stupid and easily entertained. I mean, isn't what the TV people keep on television what the American people show the most interest in? Isn't that how ratings work?
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ReplyDeleteI agree that television shows are terrible now. It's not just the plots (or lack there of) or story lines either. It's the content. Being a parent of three kids, it's difficult to allow any of my kids to watch anything without being subjected to any number of things that we try and shield them from. Sex, violence, homosexual activity, lewdness, disrespectful children, children's marketing campaigns, witchcraft, etc.
ReplyDeleteFor example, one Thanksgiving Day parade we let Jacob watch thinking that, of course, that would be family friendly, turned out to have EVERY commercial break be filled with Pharmaceutical commercials. I mean EVERY one! Jacob asked us the next day if he could get some of the "butterfly medicine" (Lunesta) because he "had trouble sleeping". I'm not making this up.
Television gets in our kid's heads. And, whether we want to admit it or not, it gets into ours as well and will have an effect on our lives and thought processes. Guard your mind.