Is TV really as bad as people say they are?

[The Admiral]

TV isn't bad. I smashed my head into a TV once and my only problems is subject-verb agreement and words of errors order.

In all seriousness, I don't watch enough TV to really comment, but I get the feeling hat a lot of people don't watch the shows they kvetch about, and the target audiences really don't. I don't know any youths who watch Gravity Falls, but I know plenty of adults who are anchored to Tumblr unless it becomes time for anime conventions (I assume their pants are all caught on nails.) who assert to me that it is the Greatest Show Ever, but without much explanation as to WHY.

[Thecatteam]

There are still good shows on. I don't watch cartoons anymore (except for MLP) mostly because I don't get the channels.
But there are some great comedies. I'm very partial to 30 Rock, even though this year is its last season. And Community.
The abundance of reality competitions on the major networks is a little staggering, but hopefully they'll die out.

[Kutie Pie]

In all seriousness, I don't watch enough TV to really comment, but I get the feeling hat a lot of people don't watch the shows they kvetch about, and the target audiences really don't. I don't know any youths who watch Gravity Falls, but I know plenty of adults who are anchored to Tumblr unless it becomes time for anime conventions (I assume their pants are all caught on nails.) who assert to me that it is the Greatest Show Ever, but without much explanation as to WHY.

Oh gosh, Gravity Falls XD. We discovered that when we were at Disneyland, and we were just laughing the entire time. It reminds me a little bit of Phineas and Ferb, but it feels very fresh. I assume it's on in the afternoon when kids are at school, so that could be why you haven't heard of younger kids watching it (which is weird, it debuted in the summertime, so some kids should've been able to see it). I don't know why kids wouldn't like it, but for older audiences, oh definitely I can see why there are fans outside of the demographic.

I haven't seen a lot of episodes to totally give a reason why you should watch it (if you haven't yet), but I really like the humor. Sure, the story is these pair of twins are spending the summer with their great uncle, and he just so happens to live in a place where weird supernatural stuff happens. I loved the episode where Mable got kidnapped by gnomes to be their bride.

*cough*

But yeah, you may be on to something. Not that I'm complaining that the majority of the audience is periphery demographic, I always think that's a good sign.

[Skydra]

There are a few standout, quality programs. Many of the things I see my younger sister watching are absolutely horrible in plot, characters, etc., much of which is Disney sitcoms and similar. There are quite a few good shows, some I watch (sparingly, I'm more commonly found playing video games) and some I hear are good, but so much of TV is the same generic thing. I'd say that if you randomly poll a few channels, most of them will be playing something not really worth my time.

I really don't think that TV has gotten worse, though. To me it seems that people just forget the bad shows of previous generations, while remembering the good ones, and then saying "there's so much more crap on TV these days" when they have just forgotten what wasn't worth watching. I mean, many people remember Seinfeld, and hell, it still reruns all the time, while nobody remembers the generic crap they watched when "nothing else was on."

[Golden_Latias]

Nah. It's all a case of Sturgeon's Law, along with people wearing the ol' Nostalgia Goggles and a little bit of True Art is Ancient. I don't think TV is any better or any worse than in the past. The only bad thing about it nowadays is the abundance of reality shows, and even then, it's not like it's all reality shows all the time on the major channels. And besides, who knows? Maybe one day, people will get bored of the reality shows and go watch something else, and the reality shows will die out.
As for good shows, I'm not sure, since I don't have time to watch a lot of TV. But I've heard good things about shows like Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones (and pretty much everything on HBO, for that matter), Community, and Modern Family, to name a few.

And as far as cartoons go, the reason people here might not find them enjoyable anymore is probably because they're not aiming them at your demographic, and also because they're not doing what you want them to do (aka being the old Nickelodeon/Cartoon Network/Disney). There were bad cartoons in the 90s, just like there are bad cartoons now. Captain Planet, CatDog, and Rocket Power are a few examples that come to mind.

Anyway, I apologize for writing this novel of a post, but frankly, I'm just tired of the whole "XXX channel/TV/whatever sucks now, because they're not doing what I want them to do" posts that I see everywhere on the interwebs.

[TeamRocketGrunt]

:|

Let me say this.
I am happy that classics are being remade a lot lately ex. the Smurfs, Muppets, and Yogi Bear got new movies, I saw them all but the new Smurfs movie and it looks funny. Also, Nickelodeon recently remade TMNT. When it comes to cartoons, I don't see the complaints. Sitcoms, however, the new ones are so bleh.

[Willow's Tara]

I do agree, that the quality seems to be declining but most of my annoyance is from reality shows and shows I don't actually consider TV shows. (pretty much anything on 7Mate these days. Pawn Stars, Repoman, Turtlaman, stuff that just seems pointless and senseless). And most of it has taken over the channels, aleast in Australia it feels like it. And for reason reality shows featuring "stars" that I have never heard of (Who the hell is Lara Bingle and Brynne and why do they have a reality show, they cannot be that famous).

And it seems to be getting worse, first there was Jersey Shore and suddenly, the ads have two other shows apparently modeled after JS.. So basically they are just making the same thing, but in a different location with people who are not actors (Real ones anyways).

I have said it before and I will say it again, reality shows will take over TV, actors will be out of jobs and it won't matter how pretty or young they are, or how well they can act.

Maybe it's just me, but I could have sworn the amount of reality shows used to just be something like Popstar, Big Brother and that was about it (Yes, like 10 years ago). And then Australian Idol came on (And why the hell they had showed American Idol. OR any freaking other country reality show is beyond me, like Top Model New Zealand, you are already wasting space with the Australian ones, and they go wasting more spaces with reality shows from other countries. And American Idol really made no sense, because you couldn't freaking vote for them anyways).

I still do watch quite a few TV shows, you know the ones that last long enough against reality shows. But the amount I used to watch 5-10 years ago has declined as well (Okay mostly because Buffy, Charmed, Heroes, Smallville, Desperate Housewives, Lost and others have ended since then, and I just haven't picked up many new shows, or they just keep getting cancelled, or disappear completely from Australia TV... Or are put on Sunday nights >.> Which is when I am at church).

So I guess it's half and half for me, I can still appreciate some of the shows, and in fact some such as Modern Family and Big Bang Theory, have a whole different meaning to me, then just some comedy (Or bad as some say as it seems). It's just reality shows, talk shows, pretty much anything that isn't real TV, including News (Which I can let bypass... Until..It's on, every damn night, every two hours, and then they got freaking damn News Break every half an hour). I just don't care for.

Oh, on the topic of cartoons, besides Pokemon (Which is an Anime anyways. Oh and the Simpsons.. And not so proudly, Family Guy/American Dad which I watch when there's nothing else to watch)) I don't really watch them all, especially the ones on ABC, just grew out of them believe it or not. Any new ones I can't be bothered watching.

[NintendoCoke]

I do agree, that the quality seems to be declining but most of my annoyance is from reality shows and shows I don't actually consider TV shows. (pretty much anything on 7Mate these days. Pawn Stars, Repoman, Turtlaman, stuff that just seems pointless and senseless). And most of it has taken over the channels, aleast in Australia it feels like it. And for reason reality shows featuring "stars" that I have never heard of (Who the hell is Lara Bingle and Brynne and why do they have a reality show, they cannot be that famous).

And it seems to be getting worse, first there was Jersey Shore and suddenly, the ads have two other shows apparently modeled after JS.. So basically they are just making the same thing, but in a different location with people who are not actors (Real ones anyways).

I have said it before and I will say it again, reality shows will take over TV, actors will be out of jobs and it won't matter how pretty or young they are, or how well they can act.

Maybe it's just me, but I could have sworn the amount of reality shows used to just be something like Popstar, Big Brother and that was about it (Yes, like 10 years ago). And then Australian Idol came on (And why the hell they had showed American Idol. OR any freaking other country reality show is beyond me, like Top Model New Zealand, you are already wasting space with the Australian ones, and they go wasting more spaces with reality shows from other countries. And American Idol really made no sense, because you couldn't freaking vote for them anyways).

I still do watch quite a few TV shows, you know the ones that last long enough against reality shows. But the amount I used to watch 5-10 years ago has declined as well (Okay mostly because Buffy, Charmed, Heroes, Smallville, Desperate Housewives, Lost and others have ended since then, and I just haven't picked up many new shows, or they just keep getting cancelled, or disappear completely from Australia TV... Or are put on Sunday nights >.> Which is when I am at church).

So I guess it's half and half for me, I can still appreciate some of the shows, and in fact some such as Modern Family and Big Bang Theory, have a whole different meaning to me, then just some comedy (Or bad as some say as it seems). It's just reality shows, talk shows, pretty much anything that isn't real TV, including News (Which I can let bypass... Until..It's on, every damn night, every two hours, and then they got freaking damn News Break every half an hour). I just don't care for.

Oh, on the topic of cartoons, besides Pokemon (Which is an Anime anyways. Oh and the Simpsons.. And not so proudly, Family Guy/American Dad which I watch when there's nothing else to watch)) I don't really watch them all, especially the ones on ABC, just grew out of them believe it or not. Any new ones I can't be bothered watching.

Oh dear god, The News. Fox, BBC, CNN, RT, ABC, they're all stupid. Your news probably isn't that great either. :3

[Willow's Tara]

NC- Probably not, I don't watch it but we got like Seven News, Today Tonight, Ten News, Nine News, 60 Minutes, The Project (Which I think is meant to be some sort of news), I think ABC news as well. And for some reason on stuff like SBS India News, Greek News etc (Aleast it's on a different channel entirely that I never watched). I have heard many, many people say Today Tonight is full of garbage and I think it is too (It's right after the 7 News). I am not sure about the others as well.

[OldManJenkins]

I really hope "reality" tv is just a fad. I mean I enjoy shows like Dirty Jobs and Mythbusters where you actually learn stuff but I hope to god the Teen Mom, 16 and pregnant, the real world, etc doesnt last.

[NintendoCoke]

I really hope "reality" tv is just a fad. I mean I enjoy shows like Dirty Jobs and Mythbusters where you actually learn stuff but I hope to god the Teen Mom, 16 and pregnant, the real world, etc doesnt last.

Those are like, the only good reality shows left, lol.

Also, I found a Cracked article that shows why the media sucks: http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-reason...rusting-media/

[ParaChomp]

Agreed, more of today is turning to their computers as opposed to their televisions but there's still the odd good show on television. Other shows have picked up and become better. Speaking of computers, I hate how they're taking over! Dragon's Den (a show where people pitch their products and sell part of their company to wealthy entrepreneurs) now has an online feature on the official site where you can answer given polls about what's currently happening and it takes so much away from the viewing experience.

Do I think computers are going to take over television? To an extent, I do however I still believe that big screens and sound systems that stream the videos that are played on your computer will still exist. In the end, TV isn't as bad as people think it is, it's the fact that the internet is taking over and that our tastes are changing but we aren't aware of it.

[Golden_Latias]

I really hope "reality" tv is just a fad. I mean I enjoy shows like Dirty Jobs and Mythbusters where you actually learn stuff but I hope to god the Teen Mom, 16 and pregnant, the real world, etc doesnt last.

Well, Jersey Shore will be gone after it's next season. That's a start.

[Kutie Pie]

Well, Jersey Shore will be gone after it's next season. That's a start.

Yes, but Snooki has her own show, Snooki & JWoww, which is going to have a second season. I don't see that as a "start", let alone the network learning its lesson.

[Golden_Latias]

Oh. I was unaware of Snooki's show. Never mind about my last post, then.

As long as reality shows remain popular, MTV isn't going to learn their lesson. And you know what? That's what it all boils down to: money. MTV is owned by Viacom. Making money is their #1 priority, and heck, it's probably their #2 and #3 priority, too. And since reality shows and tween sitcoms are the trend right now, that's what they're going to show. There's no money in showing anyone anything else, just because a tiny minority of people are mad that MTV isn't doing what they want.

I don't like it, but there's nothing we can do about it, short of waiting until the reality show and tween sitcom trends come to an end. And they will. All trends come to an end eventually. If you don't like MTV, don't watch it. There's other stuff to watch on TV.

[Armando Payne]

I mean it depends, I mean there's good shows (90s, Buffy, 00s, Fillmore, 10s, Modern Family) and there's bad shows (90s, Fatdog Mendoza(sp), 00s, X-Factor, 10s, Glee and all their horrible spin-offs and rip-offs.) for every generation (note, I've only been around since the 90s so that's why it starts off there.) and every decade, 30, 40 years from now, nobodies going to remember the bad tv shows, (Keeping Up With The Kardashians, The Soup, X-Factor yada yada yada.) Whereas we are going to recall all the good TV shows (Modern Family, Homefront, The Big Bang Theory.)

[NintendoCoke]

I mean it depends, I mean there's good shows (90s, Buffy, 00s, Fillmore, 10s, Modern Family) and there's bad shows (90s, Fatdog Mendoza(sp), 00s, X-Factor, American Idol, 10s, Glee and all their horrible spin-offs and rip-offs.) for every generation (note, I've only been around since the 90s so that's why it starts off there.) and every decade, 30, 40 years from now, nobodies going to remember the bad tv shows, (Keeping Up With The Kardashians, The Soup, X-Factor yada yada yada.) Whereas we are going to recall all the good TV shows (Modern Family, Homefront, The Big Bang Theory.)

There, fixed it for you.

And to be honest, isn't Captain Planet a ripoff of Green Lantern? Also, I don't get what it is on the internet that is cool to hate on my generation. (Born 1999, which i guess makes me a 00's kid. I consider myself a mix of 90's and 00's, however). I mean there had to be plenty of bad cartoons back then too, you know. Aside from Captain Planet, there was:

Some MC Hammer cartoon(MC Hammer. MC f***king hammer. come on.)
Rambo(it destroyed the awesomeness of the film by toning down the violence)
Rubix, The Amazing Cube(Do i need to explain?)
Basically, every merchandise cartoon ever. Be glad we don't see these anymore.
And there was also this(Don't watch if you want to eat for the next month) http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=VKX5V_FvHQ0

My point is, the 90's had just as bad cartoons as today. Quit letting Nostalgia take over.

Sorry for the long rant. (Also, f**k the news)

[Golden_Latias]

Captain Planet was the only bad cartoon from the '90s that came to mind at the time when I posted, but you brought up some pretty painful memories there.

But there were others. Now that I think about it, almost all of the non-anime cartoons that Fox Kids broadcast were pretty forgettable, too.

[Zazie]

Captain Planet was the only bad cartoon from the '90s that came to mind at the time when I posted, but you brought up some pretty painful memories there.

But there were others. Now that I think about it, almost all of the non-anime cartoons that Fox Kids broadcast were pretty forgettable, too.

Life With Louie was pretty damn awesome. Don't discount stuff just because it wasn't on cable or because you don't really remember it.

[Golden_Latias]

Life With Louie was pretty damn awesome. Don't discount stuff just because it wasn't on cable or because you don't really remember it.

I said almost all. Life with Louie was an exception.