# CNN's new non-show **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 4, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-new-non-show/654834 "2013-04-04T16:34:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-new-non-show/654834/21 "2013-04-05T17:48:17Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > I may regret asking, but what does atheism have to do with this? Because there’s no God. I’m assuming that’s what he meant. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-new-non-show/654834/22 "2013-04-05T18:06:14Z")
Apparently atheists are in charge on NBC’s programming now. Is this a recent development? ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-new-non-show/654834/23 "2013-04-05T18:30:07Z")
Reasons to watch television news: 1. Drinking game. 2. Visiting elderly relative. 3. Trapped in a waiting or break room. 4. Internet down. 5. Lost a bet. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2013, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-new-non-show/654834/24 "2013-04-06T04:59:15Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Which is why it’s completely not racist even though they make him use his own bathroom and drinking fountain. I believe he just shits in his pants. Not sure about the drinking fountain. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2013, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-new-non-show/654834/25 "2013-04-06T05:01:39Z")
What exactly do they do to the kitten? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2013, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-new-non-show/654834/26 "2013-04-06T09:21:02Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > I have spent the better part of 40 years trying to suss the popularity of morning shows, whether national or local, TV or radio. Who exactly wants to start their day with the babblings of a bunch of overcaffeinated bubbling gigglers or tweaked braying jackasses?. I think most of the audience just uses it as white noise while they finish waking up, getting the coffee going, etc. If it was actually interesting, you’d pay attention to it and it would slow down the process of getting out the door. So they make them just engaging enough to distract from the drugery of a morning routine, while not interesting enough that you’d want to actually focus on the show. They’re inane by design. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-new-non-show/654834/27 "2013-04-06T14:40:43Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I think most of the audience just uses it as white noise while they finish waking up, getting the coffee going, etc. If it was actually interesting, you’d pay attention to it and it would slow down the process of getting out the door. So they make them just engaging enough to distract from the drugery of a morning routine, while not interesting enough that you’d want to actually focus on the show. They’re inane by design. Yeah, I know all this. I guess what boggles me is the sheer number of people who have to have noise and babble in their lives - are either conditioned to it or really can’t function unless their environment is non-quiet. I’m in the minority that prizes quiet; I have trouble even turning on music unless I want to listen to it. ETA: which doesn’t really explain the appalling jackassery of many morning radio shows… ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2013, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-new-non-show/654834/28 "2013-04-06T15:29:44Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > Because there’s no God. > > I’m assuming that’s what he meant. No doubt, but he is wrong. Morning television and drive time radio are evidence that there is a God (and that he hates us and wants us to suffer). ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2013, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-new-non-show/654834/29 "2013-04-06T15:39:03Z")
> [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](#): > > I just saw that there’s a new reality show about teaching celebrities how to do Olympic diving. People are apparently still failing upwards in the TV industry. Ha, yes, I saw this and couldn’t believe what I was looking at. I was flipping through channels then saw a bunch of D-List celebrities lounging about in towels, which made me stick around and watch for a few minutes out of curiosity. The worst part about this dreadful show was after something like 10 minutes of curiosity eating away at my time, no actual diving occurred! They just sat around talking about diving and diving strategy. This was seriously the worst thing I’d ever seen on television, and I used to watch “Fox and Friends” every morning. (Yes, I am one of those people who watches things that they hate so that they can criticize them.) ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-new-non-show/654834/30 "2013-04-08T05:18:21Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > This was seriously the worst thing I’d ever seen on television, and I used to watch “Fox and Friends” every morning. (Yes, I am one of those people who watches things that they hate so that they can criticize them.) Apparently the US decided it’d be a good idea [after it aired in the Netherlands](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splash!_(TV_series)#International_versions). We can’t even come up with terrible ideas on our own! ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-new-non-show/654834/31 "2013-04-08T05:32:17Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > At least they aren’t mining Bering sea gold or repossessing cars or running idiots out of a pawn shop. What you describe has to be a step up. Hey, at least the people on (some of) those shows are productive members of society. Some of those shows are even entertaining, for about one episode. In contrast, I once caught most of an episode of Entertainment Tonight, and it was less compelling than the commercials that aired during the breaks. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-new-non-show/654834/32 "2013-04-08T10:49:33Z")
I’m a hypocrite. I totally cosign on this rant and lately I’ve been fed up with all the wordy babbling that seems to be everywhere nowadays. And yet every morning I half-listening to morning radio shows. When the morning shows go off, I’ll tune into NPR and listen to more yakity yak. (Thankfully, I don’t have the same penchant for TV talk shows.) I think it’s driven by a feeling that I’ll miss out on something important if I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-new-non-show/654834/33 "2013-04-08T13:30:30Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > REbroadcast. New show at 8pm. Rebroadcast at 10pm. They moved back the rerun to 11pm and put the new show at 10. My version of reality is funnier. ---
**Author:** ![Doughbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Doughbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doughbag)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-new-non-show/654834/34 "2013-04-08T16:14:10Z")
Cheap shit, is cheap to produce – that’s why! And a shitload of people don’t mind watching shit, that’s why we see more and more shit on TV. Cheap shit, is cheap ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-new-non-show/654834/35 "2013-04-08T16:25:02Z")
> [@Doughbag](#): > > Cheap shit, is cheap to produce – that’s why! > > And a shitload of people don’t mind watching shit, that’s why we see more and more shit on TV. > Cheap shit, is cheap But cheap is only half the equation. A $1000-an-episode show that draws no viewers won’t last or replicate. Someone - a large number of someones - enough someones to make each of these shows, or channels full of them, profitable - is watching. It’s a binary curve, cost on one side and profit on the other. It’s the intersection that’s been sinking. With a billion channels, no one can expect a 20 share any more, so the competition is for 3 and 4 share, which means low cost, high-eyeball… shit. ---
**Author:** ![Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Long_Time_First_Time)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-new-non-show/654834/36 "2013-04-08T18:26:40Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Just when you thought CNN had reached an all-time low, now they’ve got a new show (I can’t even recall the name of it) that is composed of a group of people (I can’t even recall their names) just sitting around gabbing about various topics (I can’t even recall which topics). It’s like eavesdropping into someone’s living room. I actually had to check to see what channel I was watching. I thought somehow I was watching FOX. These weren’t even news “celebrities” like Wolf Blitzer or Anderson Cooper. It seemed like they were just guys (and gals) who were pulled in off the street, and who just sat around shootin’ the breeze, since they had nothing better to do with their lives. Well, I do. Best description I’ve read of it : World’s Saddest Cocktail Party ---
**Author:** ![Doughbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Doughbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doughbag)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-new-non-show/654834/37 "2013-04-10T09:50:29Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > But cheap is only half the equation. A $1000-an-episode show that draws no viewers won’t last or replicate. Someone - a large number of someones - enough someones to make each of these shows, or channels full of them, profitable - is watching. > > It’s a binary curve, cost on one side and profit on the other. It’s the intersection that’s been sinking. With a billion channels, no one can expect a 20 share any more, so the competition is for 3 and 4 share, which means low cost, high-eyeball… shit. Glad you agree then. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-new-non-show/654834/38 "2013-04-10T20:12:25Z")
I get up and scan through the last hour of the Today Show on my Tivo. Occasionally something catches my interest, but generally not. Usually I just watch the news briefs, I can see about 8/10 of the picture behind the giant orange banner at the bottom. They don’t even have a news desk any more, they just go from their “Take 3” nonsense to reading the news while sitting on the same bench. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-new-non-show/654834/39 "2013-04-11T18:06:40Z")
And if you watch long enough, everybody eventually becomes blonde. I’m waiting for Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper to get a little yellow in their hair, just to blend in with all the others. Remember when brunettes were the generic, and blondes and redheads were “special”? Oh, and they’re still talking about Dennis Rodman. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-new-non-show/654834.md?page=1)