Is everything always getting worse, or does it just always feel that way to everyone?

In My Humble Opinion
41

But you have much more choice in TV today. In the 70s, AIUI, there were the three network channels and public TV for most viewers. Now, nearly 85% of Americans have cable, and have many more choices than that. You can watch the History Channel or Food Network or Cartoon Network instead of network TV if you want. If you don’t like a particular trend in television (such as reality TV), you don’t have to give up watching television at certain times to avoid it.

(And you no doubt are aware that a cartoon show featuring Alvin and the Chipmunks started airing just a few months after Taxi went off the air?)

The same is true of books, unless you lived in an area with really good bookstores. I remember when my reading was restricted to what I could find in the local library and the mall bookstores. It’s so much better now that I can go beyond “what most people around here want to read” (where I lived, this tended to be heavy on romance novels and light on the popular science I wanted to read) by going to amazon.com or a similar site.

Also coffee. If you lived somewhere that didn’t have much of a coffee-shop culture, the choices (coffee that had been sitting on the burner all day, or instant) were pretty grim.

42

No, not really. Both the US and USSR command systems had numerous humans involved, who would apply ‘common sense’ tests to decide ‘is this real, or an accidental malfunction?’.

Over the years, there were numerous accidents or equipment malfunctions, on both sides,but none of them resulted in any actual harm to the population. The ‘human element’ in the command systems questioned this, and stopped it before any serious response.

Some examples:
[ul]
[li]Nov, 1979 – a US technician loaded a test tape onto the computer warning systems, and NORAD computers issued a warning of a massive incoming soviet missile attack. But officers at NORAD recognized that it just didn’t make sense, and located the mistake within a few minutes. (This incident was probably the source of part of the plot of the War Games movie.)[/li][li]Sept, 1983 – a Soviet satellite system was confused by static, and signaled that a US missile attack was underway. And continued to report additional missile launches. But a Lt. Colonel Stanislav Petrov evaluated this, and based on a “feeling in my gut”, decided that these were false alarms, and so notified launch commanders. (Later, he faced tough investigation as to how he made this decision and why he didn’t follow standing orders. But since his decision turned out to be right, the investigation was just allowed to die.)[/li][li]Aug, 1984 – a single Soviet technician in their Pacific fleet headquarters accidentally broadcast an attack signal to their fleet. The standing orders were that every captain should immediately launch their weapons in response to this. But the headquarters was flooded with questions and “are you sure?” responses from Soviet Captains, who knew there was no big crisis at that time.[/li][li]Jan, 1995 – a Norwegian space rocket was launched on a coarse that appeared to be heading over Russia. An alert was issued, and Russian President Boris Yeltsin was involved. But he recognized that there was no reason for a US attack, and any surprise attack would have used more than 1 missile, and declined to respond. (Turned out that the advance notice sent by Norway got mis-routed, and didn’t reach their nuclear command headquarters until days later.)[/li][/ul]

43

The thing people hate about those shows, usually, is how generic they are. Which is to say that they’re the same kind of sitcom that’s been airing for 50 years, and that on its own should prove they are not historically bad. I think you’ve forgotten a lot of what was on TV during your own childhood.

44

Yeah, but Alvin wasn’t freebasing poop back then. It was all about the music, man!

45

She said could have and that is true. September 26, 1983 was the day when the world was supposed to end. You listed it in your examples but it isn’t represented correctly. Colonel Stanislav Petrov was in charge of a Soviet command bunker when repeated ICBM launch detections from the U.S. came through in rapid succession. He was supposed to literally initiate retaliatory nuclear launches on the U.S. immediately thereby assuring the start of WWIII. He took a big chance and ordered a stand-down in the nuclear command center along with a prohibition against informing any military superiors on the outside about the reported inbound missiles.

He alone prevented WWIII but that was not a safeguard built into the system. Colonel Stanislav Petrov just did it and saved the world that night. Even after the favorable result, the Soviet military was not happy with him for disobeying orders and he was forced to retire right away. Actions like his aren’t something that could be counted on consistently and everyone got lucky because of his defiance of orders. Colonel Stanislav Petrov has won several prizes for his actions that night but they were completely contrary to the system. The U.S. still has a policy of Mutually Assured Destruction and a military officer that follows the President around every single second with the nuclear launch plans. The system is still fragile but it was much more fragile during the Cold War.

46

I used to feel this way, (not the suicidal part, but still) until I realized that I can see now the full spectrum of ‘stuff’ the world has to offer, and that a great majority of it was crap then, is crap now, and will continue to be crap in the future. Star Wars sucked out loud when compared to the LOTR series for content and effects (IMO of course).

In 10 years, something will come along that will dwarf LOTR in both content and visual impact.

The key IMO to prevent this feeling from washing over you is to realize the two forms the aforementioned ‘stuff’ comes in; trendy and classic.

Some things will never change, some things change all the time, not always for the better.

As to your Taxi example; Sure, shows like MAS*H, Happy Days and Maude were good ones, but they were still often stunningly horrible in production value and very highly censored as to the content because the people in power (i.e. sponsors) were still the old people in charge, and if they didn’t like it, it wasn’t aired. Today we have options in broadcast, satellite and cable that simply weren’t there 30 years ago, and producers of content bold enough (within the reason of the sponsors) to take the bull by the horns, not to mention the internet.

Now the other side of that coin is reality TV. That, IMO, is the worst bloody thing ever invented, and when I become king, I will have Mark Burnett strung up by his toenails and beaten every day at 7pm. Followed by Chuck Lorre at 8 and Seth McFarlane at 900 (they don’t do reality TV, but they shall both pay), after the kiddies are in bed.

Crap has always been crap, whether on the radio, TV, the movies or plays, crap remains crap.

Don’t involve yourself in crap, and you might not feel this way.

Seriously though, don’t EVEN get me started on music.

47

Jesus, a whole page of replies and no one’s bothered to mention that Alvin doesn’t eat his own crap in the trailer for Alvin and the Chipmunks?

Alvin eats Theodore’s crap in the trailer for Alvin and the Chipmunks. And he doesn’t eat it, he flips it into his mouth (because he lied to Dave and said it was a raisin and Dave challenged him to prove it) and as soon as Dave turned away, he spit it out, kicked it away and hissed to Theodore that he (Theodore) owed him (Alvin) big time.

Not high-brow, sure. But when was that movie with the chocolate bar floating in the pool made? Poop is funny to some folks.

48

1980, VCO3’s birth year :slight_smile:

49

I love this line. I don’t know if you made it up, but rest assured, I am going to propagate it.

The only way the entire world, or even just your society would be “getting worse culturally” is if “culture” somehow peaked in your lifetime. Which if you think about it, is impossible: culture by definition changes. You sound like a guy who relishes being on some kind of cutting edge, but you can’t stay there for long, because it’s always moving. What is beautiful in art today is overwrought, florid and overdone tomorrow; what is minimalist and elegant today is bare, stark and ugly tomorrow; what is bright and cheerful today is garish and lurid tomorrow. The only things that are truly “timeless” are always a little bit “boring”.

What it really means is that YOU’VE peaked in your lifetime, culturally or otherwise, and are bitter about it. Sorry to have to tell you, but dude, you’re officially old when you start railing about the youths and morals of today. :slight_smile:

Not that I’m excusing Alvin and the Chipmunks for being anything more than craptacular. What I’m saying is that you’re focusing on the obviously crappy as emblematic of our times, which is as silly as writing off the entire 1970s musically because of The Captain and Tenille’s song Muskrat Love being a hit.

“I used to be ‘with it’… But then they changed what it was! Now what I’m with isn’t it, and what is it seems scary and weird. And it’ll happen to you!” (Abe Simpson)

50

If your trigger for deciding that pop culture was declining was “Family Guy,” you must never have watched TV before the first episode of “Family Guy” aired. By the standards of network television, it’s Masterpeice Theatre.

Jesus, look at the shows that came before it. “Love Boat.” “Car 54, Where Are You?” “The Ropers.” “Gilligan’s Island,” for the love of Christ.

I watched an episode of “The Flintstones” the other day and was appalled at how incredibly, mind-bogglingly atrocious it was. It made the worst episode of “Family Guy” look like a Pixar magnum opus. The only reason anyone could possibly think that “The Flintstones” isn’t a cheap peice of shit that was nothing more than “The Honeymooners” ripped off clean and put in cheap-ass animation is nostalgia.

I find it simply staggering that VCO3 or anyone else would think TV used to be better than it is now. I’m not that old - 36 - and even I know TV used to be far, far worse than it is now.

Here are the top TV shows from the 1980-1981 season, the season that started the year VBCO3 was born. I’m not sure precisely what the list is based on but it seems like a reasonable list, knowing what I know about the history of U.S. primetime TV:

  1. Dallas. Mediocre prime time soap opera, no better and in many ways worse than any contemporary prime time soap.
  2. 60 Minutes. Still on.
  3. The Dukes of Hazzard. Mindless, idiotic crap.
  4. The Love Boat. Mindless crap.
  5. Private Benjamin. Short-lived, ill-thought-out spinoff from a movie.
  6. MASH. A classic series.
  7. House Calls. Short-lived, forgettable, formulaic sitcom.
  8. The Jeffersons. Occasionally humorous spinoff.
  9. The Two Of Us. Short-lived sitcom.
  10. Little House on the Prairie. Family-friendly drama; underrated, IMHO.
  11. Alice. Stupid sitcom.
  12. Real People. Utterly vapid reality series.
  13. One Day At A Time. Mindless sitcom.
  14. The Greatest American Hero. Not a very good series, but I give it points for trying something different, and a funny concept.
  15. Three’s Company. Stupid sitcom.
  16. Magnum, P.I. Classic detective series.
  17. Too Close for Comfort. Mindless sitcom.
  18. ABC Sunday Movie - well, there’s no way to rate this.
  19. Diff’rent Strokes. Idiotic sitcom.
  20. Archie Bunker’s Place. Poor attempt to keep “All in the Family” alive.

So of 19 rateable shows, we have:

3 great shows (MASH, 60 minutes, Magnum PI)
3 okay-to-good shows (Dallas, The Jeffersons, Little House on the Prairie)
2 ill-advised but noble efforts (G.A. Hero, Archie Bunker)
and 11 complete pieces of shit.

Now let’s look at the top 19 shows for the week of December 3 to 9, counting only regular series:

  1. CSI - Classic, if now dated, crime series
  2. Grey’s Anatomy - Allegedly good medical soap, though I hate it.
  3. 60 Minutes - hey!
  4. Survivor: China - Crack-smoking-stupid reality show
  5. Extreme MAkeover: Home Edition - Mawkish reality show, was fun for the first three/four episodes
  6. Without a Trace - Reasonably good cop procedural
  7. Amazing Race - Reality show I don’t like but better than most.
  8. Two and a Half Men - Uneven comedy; no worse than “The Jeffersons”
  9. Law and Order: SVU - Intense, tiresome cop procedural
  10. Cold Case - Also a decent cop procedural
  11. Deal or No Deal - Stupid game show
  12. NCIS - Bad cop/military procedural
  13. Heroes - Genuinely original first-rate, unique show. Markedly better than 1980’s superhero show.
  14. House - Very good medical procedural.
  15. Private Practice - Shitty spinoff.
  16. CSI: NY - OK spinoff.
    I added three more that did not make the list (it was too short to give me 19 shows) that had polled higher throughout the season:
    17a. Family Guy - Crude but sometimes very funny animated sitcom
    17b. The Simpsons - Classic series, having a bit of a rejuvenating season
    17c. Dancing With The Stars - Admittedly popular but, IMHO, dumb reality show.

Of course the most poular show in the USA is “American Idol” but since that’s only on in the second half of the season it doesn’t show up here. That’s also why “Lost” isn’t on the list; it hasn’t been on yet.

So out of 19 shows in 2007, I get:

3 classics: The Simpsons, 60 Minutes, CSI.
1 that may be a classic but it’s early to tell: Heroes
4 good-to-greats: Family Guy, House, Amazing Race, Law and Order SVU
3 just okay: Without a Trace, Cold Case, CSI: NY.
and 8 peices of shit. Note that I’m taking “Family Guy” as a good show but citing both “Grey’s Anatomy” shows as shit.

And the thing is that in 2007, you don’t have to watch the networks. In 1980, the three networks were your only options. In 2007 you can watch any number of shows on cable networks that are of incredibly high quality.

I just don’t understand how anyone could think TV is getting worse. It’s far, far better than it used to be. 30 years ago there was nothing on TV like “Weeds,” " The Sopranos," “Lost,” “Pushing Daisies,” or “The Simpsons.”

51

I kinda wanted to hate you for being too nice to this show, but then you went and did this:

And I can’t hate anyone who understands the wonderfulness that is Magnum, PI.

My all-time favorite show. I heart it.

52

Because if VCO3 charged rent, it would be evil and capitalistic. :stuck_out_tongue:

But it’s our current crap.

53

Band name!

54

Three’s Company or Scrubs , that is the question.

I dig scrubs, but its irony and snark are a little too… unsubtle? In your face, and spelled out? It’s clever and good for this time, but if you want to lower my bloodpressure and give me warm and comfortable feelings, without leaving me in an existential puzzle, I’d probably rather watch Don Knotts, John Ritter, and Suzanne Sommers.

55

I remember rolling my eyes as someone described the “hilarious” scene in one of the American Pie sequels where they did the same gag (that of eating shit to prove it was chocolate). Not only is it painfully dumb, but it is now being repeated in other genres.

I have avoided American Pie movies because of the low-brow target they seem to aim for. I shudder when I think of how successful that series of films continues to be. I also shudder when certain friends recommend movies that I have been actively avoiding. When I do watch one of their recommended films, I find them difficult to sit through. What am I doing to make them think I would like these movies?

My solution is to work on my own animated film (don’t hold your breath, it will take years). I can make something that I think will be a good movie that will steer clear of cheap laughs and obnoxious pop culture references. I often get the feeling that movie scripts go through a committee of old people who decide what the kids are saying/doing/listening to, and then are “enhanced” with all of the current trends. “Excellent suggestion, Martha, but ‘what-everrr’ is soooo 90’s, let’s have the main character work in the phrase ‘fo shizzle.’ That’s so trendy right now and has always killed in test audiences. Can we work in a fart?”

56

I’d say yes and yes. The nice thing about the era we’re living in now, though, is that it’s easier than ever to escape the clutches of mainstream entertainment and pop culture. I suggest you do so. (You might want to switch to decaf while you’re at it. I’m serious.)

The thing is, the more you watch the stupid crap mainstream pop culture is made of, the worse you feel about the world. My dad watches Cops every day, and every day he gets more depressed about today’s youth. Every time I watch reality TV I wonder if I’m the weirdo for feeling totally put off by it. (I had a little rant about Tila Tequila’s show a couple weeks ago, to this basic theme.) OTOH, if I completely ignore all the stupid crap out there and focus on the stuff I like–and thanks to the Internet Age, I’m finding new stuff that I like all the time–I feel much better. It’s like the guy who went to the doctor complaining of arm pain:

Guy: My arm hurts when I move it like this.
Doctor: Then don’t move it like that.

Oh, whatever. Today’s games have NOTHING on Flashback. NOTHING, I tell you.

Thanks for reminding me, BTW. I gotta go download it…

FTR, “literally” has meant “figuratively” for almost as long as it’s meant what you think it means. Centuries, that is.

57

This is actually what I had in mind when I said that. I think we got lucky and dodged a bullet on that one.

58

Not to mention: best theme song ever.

You do realize we’re living in a true golden age of TV? There has never, IMHO, been television or film storytelling as good as what’s been happening on premium cable in the last decade. When you watch Deadwood or The Sopranos, you realize that TV can be a novel while film is a short story. It’s really very exciting.

Seriously, you can’t even make much fun of bad sitcoms now because even the worst, most annoying of them are so competently done. Yeah, it’s design by committee, but remember how awful shows like, let’s see, Small Wonder were? (I went as the robot from that show for one Halloween in elementary school.)

Come to think of it, do you remember how shitty storebought Halloween costumes used to be? That vinyl suit with a vaugely-related print on it and a shitty mask? They’ve come a long way in cheap lazy costuming, son!

59

Here’s how it is. Short term, you remember the bad things. You don’t realize how good the good things are. Long term, you forget the bad things and remember how good the good things were.

But also, obviously we’re in an information age. People know a lot. Maybe too much, sometimes I wonder if we really need to follow all these gristly news stories in detail when honestly they don’t affect your life that much. Ignorance is bliss?

Society is becoming more permissive, no denying that. The things on TV now would have given the censors heart attacks 30 years ago. Profanity has made its way into everyday language. Girls have words on their ass, and go out in pajamas. Is that a good thing or a bad thing, and where will it end? Will we ever start getting more polite and conservative?

I think as the world gets more complicated and safe, people will seek ways to stand out and get thrills.

60

I feel exactly the opposite of the OP. Forget about pop culture; everything’s been getting better and better for me for the past 15 years.

My career’s been advancing steadily. Back then I was a poor grad student. I now do very well, so I can afford to save for the future and at the same time buy small luxuries, travel internationally, etc.

I spent my twenties as a pathetic nerd who couldn’t get a date if his life depended on it. I’m now happily married to a wonderful woman. (We had our one-year anniversary a few months ago.)

Life is great!

Ed