Urgeok Ramblings - Re-evaluating TV
 

Back in the 80's I swore off TV. Beta machines were available for rent (too damn expensive to buy yet), and the movie channel's were starting up on cable.

this was because i loved movies - and TV was almost 100% garbage. sitcoms and game shows. The last show i watched around that time which i enjoyed was Happy Days.

since then - i've watched nothing but movies. Every now and then someone would 'force' me to watch something on TV when i was at their place .. because this new show was sooooo awsome.

Like that TV show Bruce Willis started on .. all i saw was a TV version Mickey Rourke wannabe.

then cheers .... crap

seinfield .... garbage

friends ... FUCK OFFFFFFFFFF !!!!

stupid shows. sit-coms are the absolute worse. obvious unfunny sexual innuendo isnt TV worthy .. yet people ate that shit up... (woahhh ... he really was implying ... 'his dick !!!! woahhh wow - crazy envelope pushing stuff right there.)

everything i saw made me hate TV more. It was obvious home video was having an effect. the little snippets i saw showed that TV was upping the ante - trying to compete with home video. even commercials were higher gloss ... employing a lot of film techniques (which work better in a film, mr shakey cam trying to make a pain killer commercial seem less static)

but....


something has happened lately ... thanks to DVD, thanks to HBO ...

I've found some TV shows i actually like lately. Dead Like Me, Dexter, Battlestar Galactica, arrested developement, robot chicken... i even found Boston Legal entertaining thanks largely to James Spader, William Shatner, and some snappy writing that seems to avoid most of the shit chiches the crap from back in the day fell into.

and because i watch them on DVD .. no commercials .. i can fast forward through opening credits ... i dont have to wait a week for the conclusion of a cliff hanger.

I've even gone back and gotten some old series boxsets for nostalgias sake.


Now - i'm not saying that i expect to like even the shows i dig forever. these things have a habit of falling in on themselves.

The ideas run out, the writers change, series are stretched out far longer than they should be to keep the cash coming.
See, a big change for the dramatic series is that you have to see them from the very beginning. the trend has been lately - that the season is one big story... you cant jump into it from the middle - you miss the whole point.

it's cool in one way - but bad in another - often they try to stretch a show to serve the running time ... so instead of the tight lean show that started ... it becomes bloated and less relevant as it goes.

I'm praying the shows i like dont go this way. I havent seen season 3 of Dexter yet - and each year i'm almost afraid to watch the new season because i dont want to be there when they run out of ideas ... especially since the premise itself presents some serious limitations. so far some very clever and talented people have avoided this trap .. but sooner or later it's bound to happen.

Battlestar Galactica is ending after season 4. gotta respect that.
eventually there needs to be a resolution ... not something rushed because the series didnt get renewed .... but something planned .. the natural completion of the story.

its definately better to burn out - than to fade away.



sorry about the ramble. feel free to mention all of the crappy shows you watch that i'm likely to despise :D

Your so right man, i like your whole "friends fuck offf!!" thing haha. I love watching robot chicken but alot of the tv shows on today suck. I just buy the older sitcoms like happy days, cosby show, my three sons, and i just recently bought looney toons on dvd, I loved that cartoon when i was younger. I also bought myself abbott and costello the whole pack. I love older shows. Another thing thats pissing me off is Reality shows :mad: Most of them are just really horrible especially mtv. Stupid HILLS! i hate that stupid show so much.

I like TV. I watch more TV than movies. I find many things I like, you just have to sift through all of the rubbish.

I am still very selective about what i bother to watch, most of it is still garbage. However:

Dexter: good stuff
South Park: Insightful subtext and toilet humor. Plus they "go there" when other shows just think they do
Grey's Anatomy: Hey, gives me somethign to watch with my wife. Plus there is plenty of funny, and some horrifying injuries.

Hmm... Weird. I think that is it. And I dont even really watch Dexter, i just listen in while my wife watches it and I do computer stuff.

i dont even know what that is.

one of the things about not watching TV - is when you say it people dont believe you ...

they'll mention some big popular show i'll have never heard of and they'll think i'm lying. (i have heard the name Greys Anatomy - but i have no idea what it is)

i think i was most suprised when i first heard about some show called
Charmed. it ran for 8 years !!! never heard a word about it.



i have to correct a statememnt though - i have watched a lot of kids shows on TV in the last 6 years or so. I watch everything with my kid. so i'm up on whats happening on Treehouse, teletoon, and the family channel

only tv i watch is family guy, and once in a while ufc and wec fights...since i moved to the garage, i havent had cable television. im not missing out on much,,,

Argh the crap they show over here is exactly that ..CRAP..
so many friends re runs..the simpsons 3x in a row on channel 3.
everybody loves raymond re runs..!!
all the freaking hospital programmes all repeats..
then we get those fucken rich family series where everybody is screwing everybody elses wives n husbands...sex in the city crap ..an ooooooooooooh
so many reality shit..'rolls her eyes'.

Charmed...eugh. But 8 years? Wow. I have relatives that watch it, but I can't be bothered. I tried once, utter rubbish.


I do watch a lot of other stuff.

-family guy
-south park
-Doctor Who
-Torchwood
-the simpsons
-american dad
-Little Britain
-Scrubs
-QI
-Mock the Week
-Never Mind the Buzzcocks
-Malcolm in the Middle.

Many many others. Those are just the ones I can think of.

I find it somewhat ironic Urge that you watch so many crappy movies and claim to like them, but you'll give short shrift to good TV. It took me a while to break down and watch Seinfeld, but I loved it once I did. There's a lot of satire there- especially the whole arc they did about Jerry & George creating a sitcom "about nothing" - affording them the opportunity to parody themselves.

Most sitcoms ARE garbage- clones of clones of clones. Mad About You was an exception, IMO. Every episode was a tiny jewel that ran like a one act play. Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt were the perfect New York couple and the supporting cast had some amazing suprises- Hank Azaria, Mel Brooks, Sid Caeser, Steven Wright, Carol Burnett... on and on.

I'm a fan of the Nighttime Drama as well- the extended run really affords actors an opportunity to delve into a character and create subtlety and depth the way a movie can't. It also affords writers a chance to delve into issues and take on topical subjects in a way that movies can't. I like Boston Legal for the same reasons you mention, though I'll admit I haven't watched since Rene Aberjonuos left.

NYPD Blue I loved for the same reason- Denis Franz created a singular character that was brilliant- a flawed, tragic hero. Another brillianr supporting cast.

ER did the same for me. Also tackled many important subjects. Same for St. Elsewhere and LA Law. Currently CSI (only the original, not the spinoffs) has a unique approach- combining a unique visual style with compelling characters and an emphasis on scientific puzzles. I could go on, but those are highlights for me.

I appreciate where you're coming from because I was a TV snob for years myself. Most TV is indeed crap- but so are most movies. The best TV is a joy and a revelation that can teach, inspire, involve and entertain. I don't hate it or love it any more or less than any other form of media. Every type of media has its strengths and weaknesses. Find the bright spots and ignore the rest.

short shrift to what you consider to be good tv ? :)

i've said many a time that i'd rather watch (what you consider to be) a bad movie than (what people consider to be) good TV.


I can almost always find something i like in the movie ... i'm happy to invest 90 ad free minutes in a movie rather than a 20 min sit-com. at least the movies are different people in different situations - not the same guys doing the same things every week ... with some moral message tacked on.

plus - and here's the thing i forgot to mention in the origional post ....

when i watch entertainment - i like to be a fly on a wall .. not a member of live studio audience.... i dont like the presentation you get with a sit-com (i'm mentioning these specifically because you mentioned Friends)

it's like watching a play ... and i dont enjoy most plays .. i find watching live plays stressfull ...
there - the truth is out - sue me...
(i do however - enjoy musicals)

most plays play to the audience .. they pause for the laughs - they project their voices unnaturally (understandably) they are aware that the audience is there ... i don't enjoy that format.

i love movies - pure escapism - where i can lose myself in the film .. events taking place without the players being aware that they are being watched.


its not right or wrong - it's just the way i am - and one important key as to why i dont like most TV.


and by the way - i dont watch shitty movies on purpose ... i'm just curious about movies and i'll try them out... but I'm not curious about watching TV because of a combination of all the reasons i gave.

and i dont claim to like anything .. i either like them or i dont...
its not something i would bullshit about.