There is one show I try to watch, and it's on tonight. Commander in Chief, with Geena Davis as the president of the US. I've always liked her and I like the idea of the show. It's not bad.

 

Having grown up, many years ago, in front of a TV, it's sort of ironic that now I watch only sports and, occasionally, what passes for "news." Maybe I got it out of my system when I was a teenager--having a set of favorite programs each night of the week (!) had me spending a lot of time passively watching the box. (But some of it was actually rather good -- "I Spy," for example, was the paradigm of cool in its day.)

To the extent that mainstream TV programming is a reflection of our culture, it must be that we don't have culture, in the high-brow sense of the word at least. And now, more than ever, there are second-order shows -- shows about shows ("Entertainment Tonight" et al.) celebrating this non-culture. Yeesh.

Of course, all this is simply a vehicle to sell stuff -- and I think that's the root of the problem. Our consumer society drives the crap that's available on TV, which is designed to appeal to the least common denominator out there, drawing the most viewers. There are the occasional gems ("West Wing" in its early days, at least; "Commander in Chief" now, and others), but mostly it's nonsense.

But perhaps the most puzzling thing to me are the standard-issue sitcom characters now: women of various ages who still (mostly) fall into the Hollywood babe category and men who are fat and balding (and, usually, pretty stupid). Next time you go to a mall, check to see if this is what the world is really like. HPH

 

I do think there are television programs that appeal to the intellect and there are times that people simply want to be entertained. I really enjoy on occasion watching "Engineering Marvels" and "Engineering Disasters" and frequently the History Channel and Discovery have quite interesting programming. I don't even know the names of most of the sitcoms and really don't enjoy their brand of humor, but television can be quite enjoyable to many. I simply do not enjoy tv news very much.

 

I only subject myself to House on Tuesday nights the rest of the time we just put on a DVD. The amount of commercials and political campaigning on TV just irritates the hell out of me This is my primary reason for staying away from TV

I'm amazed how many people make decisions based on influential television My youngest daughter who's 3 was watching TV when some toy commercial came on and she immediately started asking for a new toy needless to say she threw a tantrum and made life hell for an hour .... Every time my oldest daughter would see a food commercial, "it's lets go eat" TV is just poison to our youth

 

Rick, you missed 'kids that are fat slobs', or should I be politically correct and say over-weight young people.

Certainly I agree with the view that nearly all of it is garbage. Personally, I watch one or maybe two hours in the evening. I am hooked on watching the Detroit Red Wings play hockey and I watch every game, when I can. In the past month I've watched 13 of the 16 games they played. Loved every minute of it. It would be the one and only reason for me to invest in a $4,000 tv.

I find the 'pc' to be a much better place to waste time....... and I find it is VERY easy for me to waste time, such as right now replying to a thread like this - since it won't change anything.

As I get older I find I don't enjoy reading books like I once did. I have several books I would love to read if I could get motivated to do so but for some unexplainable reasons I just keep putting them off. I wish I knew why. I really do.

 

[QUOTE=Kyras,Nov 8 2005, 10:52 AM] There is one show I try to watch, and it's on tonight.

 

It started out as common sense psychology, and now is "Jerry Springer" down in the dirt trash

 

History Channel is the only reason I have cable.
Too bad you can't get it on the internet.

 

If it wasn't for the History,Discovery,A&E channels, I doubt if I would own the idiot box.

 

Sorry--love TV, especially now that I've got High Definition! Monday Night Football is a treat in HD! I use TIVO or my cable box DVR to record the shows that I want to see, and then see them whenever I want, and skip right through the commercials. GREAT!

Newspapers are becoming nothing more than propoganda devices. Look at all the scandals this past year in the supposed best paper in America, and the fact that publishing the unvarnished story now takes a back seat to advancing the social theory of the paper, whatever that may be. I get most of my news online now, and check important stories using different sources to get the most realistic view.

I hate the reality shows--they suck the brain cells right out through my ears. However, TV is just the thing for me to unwind after a stressfull day.