Television era is over...

[bladeohlsson]

This may seem like an obvious fact to many of you, but why do people still spend so much time watching television? It is so lame. There is seriously very little it has to offer in terms of entertainment anymore.

I used to hate hippies that said TV is evil, but I am starting to agree. Of course the medium of television is awesome, but the damn commercials are just to agrivating that it is not even worth watching it anymore. Yes, of course the commericals are necessary so the stations can generate income in order to produce quality programming, but unfortuately we are forced to make our end of the bargin by watching the annoying commercials, and the stations do NOT produce good programming.

Even the last tower of goodness PBS has become nothing more than an intellectual version of the Home Shopping Network. Everytime I turn on PBS now they are begging for money while peddling junk that no-one wants or needs. You may also argue that they are forced to do so because of the high costs of running a TV station. Well, this just prove my opinion to be fact. Television is dead.

Ever since I got DSL, I have not been interested in watching TV anymore. Seriously, what is on there that is so damn important? Last night I was house sitting for my parents and I turned on their cable TV, I was planning to watch a little of the news, then work on learning some c++ which is my new hobby. 4 hours later, I am still watching this contraption and not feeling entertained at all. It is reallu just a device to appease our boredom. I for one am going to not let this happen to me, I want to do more.

blade

[jmullaney]

Welcome, bladeohlsson

Originally posted by bladeohlsson
why do people still spend so much time watching television?
I still do this myself. Although I killed my cable and that helped. It does help against boredom.

the damn commercials are just to agrivating that it is not even worth watching it anymore.
No kidding. Ever thought that anything they have to try so hard to sell you must be crap?

Everytime I turn on PBS now they are begging for money
I'm waiting for them to get busted under the panhandling laws. ;)

Of course, TV does have the advantage that it is more communal that the old silcon box. But the video store and the movies take good care of that.

[dal_timgar]

been using a VCR to skip commercials ever since STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION came on. that's why i bought the VCR. got Babylon 5 on tape with the commercials edited out.

just heard on TV this morning $50,000,000,000 was spent on TV advertising last year. that cost had to be included in the products purchased. pay someone to brainwash you into giving them your money. what a SCAM!

Dal Timgar

[kunilou]

Well, this is Great Debates, not Great Let's All Agree With The OP, so. . .

Quit bitching, it's free.

Do you think TV would be better if it were tax-supported like in England? Where were you when Congress ripped funding for PBS to pieces?

Okay, let's try the private enterprise tack. Subscriptions and no commercials. HBO and Showtime have what, maybe two programs apiece worth watching -- and they run one new episode per month? The rest of the time, it's lousy movies.

Okay, I'll just surf the net. When was the last time you heard of a web site (other than porn) that was actually making money? And how many of you refuse to subscribe to any place that had been providing content for free?

[bladeohlsson]

I agree that PAY for TV is not worth it either. The point I am trying to make is that television has really begun to lose it's luster. I think it is dying hard.

I have been getting way more into online content, video games, programming, video production, etc...

I don't know if using taxes would be good in the USA, but England has produced some pretty awesome TV with taxes, for example Dr. Who! Japan also has NHK which is run with taxes, and it is a pretty awesome station too.

My debate is not "How can TV make money and still be good?" it is just "TV is dying"

blade

p.s jmullaney, thanks for the welcome. I really dig this page.

[mack]

Originally posted by bladeohlsson

Last night I was house sitting for my parents and I turned on their cable TV, I was planning to watch a little of the news, then work on learning some c++ which is my new hobby. 4 hours later, I am still watching this contraption and not feeling entertained at all.


Apparently whatever was on TV was more entertaining than learning C++. :p

[bladeohlsson]

The thing is it was not more interesting. You just sit there trying to find something to watch, flipping through the channels. You get sucked in by crap! It is better to just not turn it on in the first place.

blade

[jonas]

I don't think it is as bad as you say. For as long as I've been alive, there has always been a couple good shows and a whole bunch of crap. I'm sure it has always been this way (how many shows from the 50's or 60's do people still want to watch). I can only think of a couple shows that I acctually enjoy watching. Another thing is that this is just your opinion. There are lots of people who watch the same shows we might consider terrible. I don't know how Ally McBeal ever became so popular and there are plenty more which are just as awful but I don't know or can't remember the names. But there are always some good shows hidden in the crap. (In my opinion Drew Carey and That 70's Show and I saw Chasing Amy on cable the other night (a few movie channels are free for a couple months) and it was one of the greatest things I've ever watched.) Let's face it most people have bad taste (this is not only TV but movies, music, books, etc.)

I'm not sure if I am reading between the lines too much but it seems as if you are saying the internet will take the place of TV, which I think people used to say about movies when TV came out.

[bladeohlsson]

Television did not kill Movies, but by no means are we living in "The Movies" era? are we? Television will continued to be watched, but I think as a driving force in our society it will become less important (well at least hopefully)

The Internet as well has more crap than you can possibly imagine, but it is much more interactive, fun, and swell.

I think you are right about the fact that there has always been crap on TV, but I remember when I was a kid anything on Saturday morning cartoons was pretty much totally awesome. Maybe I am just gettin olde?

blade

[Freudian Slit]

Hey come on. I grew up watching TV and I turned out TV...:)

But there are good shows. The afore mentioned Simpsons, Futurama, Friends (alright corny but I like it!), millionaire, and whatnot. The former two are the best so far. TV has always been sorta dumb. Its just for fun. You're not supposed to learn. That's for books. :D

[Utopia]

I disagree, if I'm not learning something from my entertainment it is usually a waste of my time. Good movies and good fiction are the obvious exceptions.

I rarely watch TV, but if I do it is usually distributed among the Discovery Channel, the Learning Channel, Canadian Learning Television, or the news.

Reading is so much more entertaining. The internet is great.

However I rarely have much time for any for of entertainment because of my fairly expectations of performance in university. I would much rather pass my time with my girlfriend or others having a conversation. Being active also significantly reduces any time I might be wasting in front of the TV or computer. I'd rather go play a game of basketball, lift some weights or go for a run. All three are much more personally fulfilling than an hour or two of watching crap on TeeVee. I don't have time to waste on that.

[erislover]

TV rocks.
That is, there idea of TV is awesome, and there are television shows which support this.
THAT said, I watch TV three nights a week. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. The rest of my visual entertainment time (not including reading) is spent on video games and the blessed internet.
No way watching Dark Angel on the internet or playing a Simpsons game compares to the shows themselves (did I mention I only watch Fox on these nights?--oh, and Ally RULES) and I'd hate to lose this part of entertainment. Serial shows like weekly sitcoms or dramas have no easy port to any other medium. And don't even mention radio.

I don't even notice the commercials, really. Usually that's when I roll myself a smoke, go to the bathroom, grab some food, or read a snippit of whatever book I'm working on.

In closing, TV rocks.

[Freudian Slit]

Utopia- the learning doesn't hurt your brain?

Sometimes I watch something i know is really bad just for the hell of it, to unwind. I get more out of books than I do from TV/movies, I'm just more of a book person, I guess. I still enjoy all those forms of the media though.

I don't think there's any point to learning- the only reason I partake in any forms of the media is to entertain myself. Learning happens along the way...but i like stuff on a more emotional level. I definitely think about/analyze stuff if I really like it though.

[SpartanDC]

I love TV.

I don't watch it as much as I used to, but it's a fantastic medium. I think from most critical standpoints, shows like The Simpsons, ER, The Sopranos (makes HBO worth the money by itself), and, yes, even Friends. And Powerpuff Girls. There IS quality entertainment on television, some of it substantial, some of it escapist. Both have their place. Like ANY medium, 90 percent is total, utter crap.

As for those who complain about the commercials, the emerging popularity of TIVO and other TV recording systems is going to remake the industry from the inside out. The New York Times Magazine ran a fascinating article on the subject several months ago. Advertising as we know it will cease to exist. Thank God.

[Mr2001]

Without commercials, where would we learn about new products?

I'm picturing a man in a 50's business suit walking into Circuit City and saying "Hey there, chap. What's new since the last time I was here?"

One day he's in the mood to see a movie, so he walks down to the theater and asks what's playing and what the films are all about. After the movie, he walks to McDonald's and asks if there are any discounts for buying a sandwich, fries, and drink together. Now he's tired of walking, so he finds the closest car dealership and has no idea what features, financing, or services to look for.

I like knowing what's available before I need it.

[friedo]

People thought radio was going to destroy newspapers and books.

It didn't.

People thought television was going to destroy radio.

It didn't.

People think Da Net will destroy television.

It won't.

Media change. Newspapers and radio stations had to adapt to survive in a changing market (how many radio serials have you heard recently?) but they don't go away.

[Edward The Head]

Originally posted by kunilou
Quit bitching, it's free.

Okay, let's try the private enterprise tack. Subscriptions and no commercials.

It's not free, I have to have cable in order to watch and I PAY for that, and every few months it seems they raise the prices. when I first got cable 4 years ago I paid like 20 a month, now it's over 30 and I have no new channels or anything. I'd pay to not have commercials etc, I don't buy stuff that they advertize anyway.

[jonas]

I agree with mr2001,
I don't think that commercials make us want products we don't need (me at least), if I see a comercial for somthing which I think I need, I'll go out and buy it. The one example I can think of it the Mach3 razor. I saw the commercial and it looked good, I bought it and I still love it. Occasionally I see something which I don't really need but want, based on the commercial (that vacuum sealer thing which I still want but I don't have a credit card and am too lazy to send a check). But if I get suckered into buying junk, that would be my fault.
Also, it does pay for the programs we watch, good or bad.
This is a bit off the subject, but, it always bothers me when people complain about advertising (even in the subway, people write anti-advertising slogans on the posters). It is harmless and creates jobs, so what is the problem.

[bladeohlsson]

Look at our lard ass culture that thinks that Mc Donalds is a way of life. Our entire culture is being turned into a giant Mall full of brands everyone knows. Id this good? I don't think so. Pre-packaged wacky food is not packaged in the shape of rug rats because it is good for you or even tastes good. It is to make people (who I may add are dumb and easily influenced by others) buy and consume.

MR2001, why do we need to know about products? Do I really care what is on Sale at Mc Donalds? Mc Donalds might be good to buy once in a blue moon, but come on it is by no means better than a home cooked meal. Your little story about the man walking into Circuit City to ask what is new and available I don't get either. This is a much better way to familiarize yourself with products than just trusting what you hear on the tube. Do you actually buy your cars based on what you hear in an ad? Don't you check up in consumer reports or other such info bases?

Our society has become a big contrived cliche of crap! The most famous "artists" in the world are doing burger king enorsements. How lame! YOU ARE ALL FUCKING LEMMINGS!!!

blade

[jonas]

What famous artist is doing a Burger King commercial?

[bladeohlsson]

I think they are called the backdoor boys or N'Suck or something..

(please note I put "artists" in quotes)

[erislover]

Yeah, and fight for the proletariat! Down with the bourgeois!
You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake!

Uhhh. :D

We are not lambs to the slaughter here due to advertising alone. Well, we could take a Brave New World look at the affair and conclude we are bred into commercialism (whatever the hell that means) but I doubt it.

Arguments like this always run the way of the subconscious. Yeah, right next to the spirit, right? Under the hood, left of the battery? ;)

What you're seeing is the need for money coupled with the level of humiliation one is willing to accept to have said money.
"A person is a thing of value if and only if he or she is willing to submit to whatever degradation and abuse is required to maintain that position. anything less betrays a lack of commitment." ~~ Steve Albini. Favorite quote of mine, always puts "obligation" and "desire" into a nice perspective for me.
What do you think, is it all one big clown show? I can almost here "Enter the Gladiator" now! (yes, that's the song they play for the clowns...)

Aside, I don't know that our "lard ass culture" sees McD's as a way of life. I see just as many Bally's Fitness commercials as I do food ads. Or do you merely contest to famous people liking food?

[kunilou]

Originally posted by Edward The Head
[/B]

It's not free, I have to have cable in order to watch and I PAY for that, and every few months it seems they raise the prices.[/B][/QUOTE]

What you're paying for is improved reception. If you check the history of cable, you'll see that's what it was first touted as.

You can (in theory) put a Radio Shack antenna on a 200-foot mast on your roof and you'll pick up a bunch of TV stations without having to pay the cable company.

[Utopia]

I see just as many Bally's Fitness commercials as I do food ads.

Around this time of year that may be case with fitness clubs taking advantage of those that want to get "back in shape" but are unable to make the necessary lifestyle changes to do so because they are so certain that "McDonalds is a way of life." For the most part I see much more ads for high calorie, high fat, high sodium "food." Wasn't McDonald's slogan "Everyday" for a while? Fairly conducive to the couch potato lifestyle, eh? Then once a year for two weeks after new years the gym gets really busy with everyone thinking they can get fit fast with some miracle exercise machine or diet along with a bit of low intensity exercise. It works so rarely that it's almost humourous.

[Edward The Head]

Originally posted by kunilou
What you're paying for is improved reception.
You can (in theory) put a Radio Shack antenna on a 200-foot mast on your roof and you'll pick up a bunch of TV stations without having to pay the cable company.

[/B]

No I can't, got community rules that say no antennas, I can get a dish but that costs too. Also cable isn't all that great, I have a number of channels that come out like crap, usually TLC, MTV, CSPAN and a couple of others. I was always informed that the reason for cable was so that we would have no ads.

[Pyrrhonist]

I’m kind of surprised that nobody has mentioned that watching TV is an optional pass time. The idiot box is equipped with an off switch. I turned mine off six years ago, haven’t turned it back on yet, and I doubt I ever will by my own volition. I would have trashed it long ago, but Mrs. Pyrrhonist enjoys movies on the VCR (though I don’t watch with her anymore.)

Going back to the OP, I have to agree with the bladeohlsson’s assessment that “There is seriously very little it has to offer in terms of entertainment anymore,” but disagree about its moribundity. I think it’s alive and kicking, adored by millions and millions in this country alone. Many public places (automotive garages and shopping malls et al) have a TV on as de facto standard as though the people of this country couldn’t survive more than a few hours without it. I don’t believe the internet or other forms of entertainment will not significantly reduce the TV time in the average household.

Just the other night I was obliged to eat dinner at the in-law's with the TV blaring “The Wheel of Fortune” in the back ground. I get queasy around TVs nowadays much in the same way as non-smokers get sick at second-hand smoke; I think people build up a tolerance from childhood to the stupidity, the noise, and flickering images. People watch it mindlessly as though it were a drug. Karl Marx once wrote: “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.” I think replacing “TV” (and “Movies”) for religion in that quote would give an accurate description of the modern world. I choose not to pollute my mind the tripe on TV, but that is my choice and many would disagree with my wholesale condemnation. Productive, meaningful lives can be lived without the idiot box, but it has become so engrained into modern society that few people realize, as I said before, that is an option.

[Mr2001]

bladeohlsson:
MR2001, why do we need to know about products?

Because we need to buy things to stay alive and maintain a reasonable quality of life, and we need to know which things to buy.

Your little story about the man walking into Circuit City to ask what is new and available I don't get either. This is a much better way to familiarize yourself with products than just trusting what you hear on the tube.

I didn't suggest trusting every word of a TV commercial. But without advertising, how would you even know what's around? By walking into every store in town and asking what's new?

You can only research something if you know what to research.

Do you actually buy your cars based on what you hear in an ad? Don't you check up in consumer reports or other such info bases?

Obviously I don't walk onto the lot and say "I hear wider is better. Sell me the widest car you have. Money is no object!" But advertisements certainly help me know what's available, which features are interesting.

[Bear_Nenno]

I have digital cable so I get like two hundred something channels. I cannot understand why, but Superman 2 has been on at least 10 times a week for the past YEAR! Why the hell is this? What about all the other Superman movies... What about all the other NONSuperman movies out there. I laugh everytime I see it on now. I don't know whether it's funny that they keep playing it, or if it is sad that I am paying for this...