I don't know a single person who watches a lot of television these days(many of whom watched a lot of television several years ago), and I'm pretty sure ratings have dropped a lot over the years. When did TV shows start to become this lousy?
TV & Film The decline of TV shows
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There have always been lousy TV shows. (Do my fellow baby boomers remember My Mother the Car?) It's just that the good TV is the stuff that stands out in our collective memory, largely because it's mainly the good TV that has continued to air in reruns.*
And it's mostly the younger generations, with easy and comfortable access to digital entertainment on the internet, that have stopped watching a lot of TV, on TV. They'd rather just watch everything online. It's their parents and grandparents who still watch plenty of TV, on TV. The persistent graying of the traditional TV audience is bad news for Hollywood and Madison Avenue, who prefer younger viewers, which is why we're seeing more and more new "television" on the internet. And this trend will continue. And there's going to be a lot of crap put out on the internet in addition to the "good" stuff.
*I have a book about movies which points out that there were thousands of bad silent movies. These have been lost, typically because in the silent era, once the films had concluded their runs at the theaters, they were actually tossed in the garbage. It's the good movies, the Chaplin and Keaton classics especially, that were saved from destruction and which we remember and watch today. It's the same thing with television. In our collective memory, we think of past decades of television as being generally "better", when in truth no past decade of TV has been better or worse than the current decade of TV. We just remember the good stuff - see above.
And it's mostly the younger generations, with easy and comfortable access to digital entertainment on the internet, that have stopped watching a lot of TV, on TV. They'd rather just watch everything online. It's their parents and grandparents who still watch plenty of TV, on TV. The persistent graying of the traditional TV audience is bad news for Hollywood and Madison Avenue, who prefer younger viewers, which is why we're seeing more and more new "television" on the internet. And this trend will continue. And there's going to be a lot of crap put out on the internet in addition to the "good" stuff.
*I have a book about movies which points out that there were thousands of bad silent movies. These have been lost, typically because in the silent era, once the films had concluded their runs at the theaters, they were actually tossed in the garbage. It's the good movies, the Chaplin and Keaton classics especially, that were saved from destruction and which we remember and watch today. It's the same thing with television. In our collective memory, we think of past decades of television as being generally "better", when in truth no past decade of TV has been better or worse than the current decade of TV. We just remember the good stuff - see above.
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And unfortunately we're going to continue to see a lot of reality TV because it's cheaper to produce than scripted TV and the networks will continue to use it to pull in viewers that would otherwise defect to the internet.
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I agree. 
I can't relate to a lot of TV shows that appeal to younger viewers, such as "Girls". I also don't like a lot of shows that everyone else, critics and viewers alike, absolutely adore, such as The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, etc. I escape to the old stuff, the TV that I remember watching when it was new, and then I really feel old.
I can't relate to a lot of TV shows that appeal to younger viewers, such as "Girls". I also don't like a lot of shows that everyone else, critics and viewers alike, absolutely adore, such as The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, etc. I escape to the old stuff, the TV that I remember watching when it was new, and then I really feel old.
ledboots
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Agree. To be fair, most sucked before Seinfeld, too.Most of the sitcoms created after Seinfeld have sucked.
:cue Seinfeld music:
I think some of the more recent TV shows are of a very high quality and almost like films but condensed down to a shorter time. Some of the US shows have very good writers and actors. I really like The Walking Dead, Dexter, Homeland and I used to love 24. I don't watch much UK TV but I have heard that Luther is excellent.
I love The Real Housewives. I'm obsessed with watching those shows, especially the OC and the Beverly Hills ones.
I love The Real Housewives. I'm obsessed with watching those shows, especially the OC and the Beverly Hills ones.
Ha ha...I have been known to watch the last two episodes in each season of the Bachelor/Bachelorette, lol.
Those are still on?
I disagree with the premise of this thread.
While reality shows have sucked the creativity and quality out of a large segment of what's on TV, there is actually more, better quality, TV available than ever before.
Shows like Firefly, The Shield, Justified, The Good Wife, Awake, with the quality of writing and acting they demonstrate, simply weren't around when I was young. And that's not even taking into account the shows that are available on premium cable channels, or the imports from Britain.
The quality of quality TV outshines the quality of movies, and has for some years. Other than *M*A*S*H*, I have a hard time coming up with an older show that matches many of the shows that have been available in recent years. (And yeah, I'm old enough that anything within the last decade or so is "recent.")
While reality shows have sucked the creativity and quality out of a large segment of what's on TV, there is actually more, better quality, TV available than ever before.
Shows like Firefly, The Shield, Justified, The Good Wife, Awake, with the quality of writing and acting they demonstrate, simply weren't around when I was young. And that's not even taking into account the shows that are available on premium cable channels, or the imports from Britain.
The quality of quality TV outshines the quality of movies, and has for some years. Other than *M*A*S*H*, I have a hard time coming up with an older show that matches many of the shows that have been available in recent years. (And yeah, I'm old enough that anything within the last decade or so is "recent.")
Point taken...although the only show I watch out of the ones you listed is The Good Wife. I do love The Walking Dead, Parenthood (5 stars), Blue Bloods, Grey's Anatomy (although not so much anymore).
And Dancing With the Stars.
Point taken...although the only show I watch out of the ones you listed is The Good Wife. I do love The Walking Dead, Parenthood (5 stars), Blue Bloods, Grey's Anatomy (although not so much anymore).
And Dancing With the Stars.
I too like Parenthood very, very much - I just didn't think about it, otherwise I would have mentioned it in my original post. I haven't watched the others, but I've heard good things about them.
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Agreed.
Sure there are some shitty shows out there, but there's also a good chunk of shows that are hugely popular , have high ratings, and a large faithful audience.
Showtime and HBO seem to constantly develop quality shows (Queer as Folk, The L Word, Oz, Dexter, Six Feet Under, Sopranos, True Blood, Homeland) and now Netflix is even jumping on the tv show bandwagon.
hungryraccoon
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I agree ^. There's some amazing tv shows about. I barely watch the actual television, but catch up with shows online - especially things that aren't aired here. I think that's what the majority of people do.
It's good because you don't have to watch the crap that's on the tv at the time. You can watch the good shows whenever the heck you want.
It's good because you don't have to watch the crap that's on the tv at the time. You can watch the good shows whenever the heck you want.
Spang
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Orange is the New Black, you guys. The opposite of decline.
You do now.
That makes 2 !
I also agree that there are plenty of good quality programmes.
I'm picky and always choose what I'm going to watch beforehand. I'm a big fan of Discovery, Animal Planet, National Geo and Crime channels.
I also watch a lot of programmes on Lifestyle channels which include programmes like Location, Location,
Moving home or Abroad, Travel and various cooking programmes.
I also like the Oldies i.e. Gold Channel and still enjoy Allo, Allo and The Golden Girls.
According to everyone that I know, apparently nobody watches the TV, says they.
For me, growing up I watched a lot of Married With Children, The Simpsons, and Full House. The Simpsons lost its humor sometime around season 10-12, and the others went off the air. It was sometime around the mid- to late-90's where it started to decline.
There are a lot more Americans today than there used to be. I understand the internet has hurt ratings, but I would think the tens of millions more potential viewers should help make it less of a decline. Idol has lost a lot of its popularity so you're left with very few shows that pull in great ratings these days.
There are a lot more Americans today than there used to be. I understand the internet has hurt ratings, but I would think the tens of millions more potential viewers should help make it less of a decline. Idol has lost a lot of its popularity so you're left with very few shows that pull in great ratings these days.
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