# TV Land sucks now **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 18, 2009, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-land-sucks-now/496829 "2009-05-18T06:06:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-land-sucks-now/496829/41 "2011-05-29T20:13:22Z")
> [@Genebug](#): > > Apparently tv land is broke because they can’t afford to purchase additional shows. Nah, TV Land is owned by MTV and is a division of Viacom, which also owns Paramount Pictures, so there’s plenty of money. Their change in direction owes itself to changing the focus of its demographics. Previously, they targeted the Baby Boomers. Now, as the Boomers age, they’re going after the Gen X demographic, the generation which was born to the Boomers. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-land-sucks-now/496829/42 "2011-05-29T20:27:25Z")
_I_ remember “I Married Joan”! It was on in the afternoons when I was very, very young and desperately ill, home from school for weeks. My grandmother and I used to watch it together. And I LOVED Adventures In Paradise…oops, wait, hold on a sec…(… leans over to put tennis ball back on leg of walker…)…This morning they were showing Lucy. LUCY! WTF? Why?? That’s ‘new’ on TVLand, and not in a good way. Some form of that show has been on forever, disappeared, and now its back? Please. I’d rather watch The Rifleman. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-land-sucks-now/496829/43 "2011-05-29T20:40:25Z")
Wiki says that the inaugural season of TV Land showed, among other shows, _St. Elsewhere_ and _Hill Street Blues_, so the notion that they are “supposed” to only show shows from the 50s and 60s is just wrong. But as long as we’re all wishing, I wish they would start showing _The Ed Sullivan Show_ again, which Wiki also says they showed in their first season. ETA: I hereby claim the record for the most uses of “show” in a sentence on the Dope. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-land-sucks-now/496829/44 "2011-05-29T20:50:43Z")
As long as they never show anything with Lucille Ball in it, I’m good with their lineup. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-land-sucks-now/496829/45 "2011-05-29T20:53:29Z")
FWIW _Zombie Thread_ Anyways, I started to watch TV in the early 70’s and remember watching _I Love Lucy_. And thinking how ancient it looked. Now in 2011, sitcoms like _Cheers_ and _The Cosby Show_ are just as old as _I Love Lucy_ was in the 1970’s. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-land-sucks-now/496829/46 "2011-05-29T20:56:12Z")
Don’t think of it as a zombie. Think of it as a rerun. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-land-sucks-now/496829/47 "2011-05-29T23:53:19Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Don’t think of it as a zombie. Think of it as a rerun. Not “rerun”, it’s “encore showing”. Just like there are no “used cars” but “previously owned” ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-land-sucks-now/496829/48 "2011-05-30T00:06:15Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Few kids these days watch programs from before they were born, and many are actively turned off by B&W. Fewer kids these days watch TV, period; [the median age of TV viewers is 50 now.](http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117988273) So… what happens when your entire market has aged out of your advertisers’ target demographic? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-land-sucks-now/496829/49 "2011-05-30T00:31:18Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > So… what happens when your entire market has aged out of your advertisers’ target demographic? Halo 7 - The Burger Wars™ ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-land-sucks-now/496829/50 "2011-05-30T18:51:10Z")
> [@descamisado](#): > > I agree with you all, but you gotta admit George Lopez should know he’s a luck son of a bitch. That show only reinforces the stereotype that George Lopez is funny. ---
**Author:** ![YaraMateo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/58f4c7/32.png) [@YaraMateo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaraMateo)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-land-sucks-now/496829/51 "2011-05-30T18:55:20Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Roseanne was an awesome sitcom. (As long as we can pretend the last season never ran!) I just watched about three or four episodes in a row the other night (on tv land I believe) and thought to myself that Laurie Metcalf is one taleneted actress. Does that sound weird? (She was the sister) > > Cosby, OTOH, sends a shiver down my spine. She is so talented. I never realized it until I realized (after many viewings) she was the weird neighbor from Uncle Buck, she is so pretty. :eek: I could watch Roseanne ALL day. Despite some of the clothes/hair cuts, this one of the few sitcoms that doesn’t come off as dated IMO. ---
**Author:** ![YaraMateo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/58f4c7/32.png) [@YaraMateo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaraMateo)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-land-sucks-now/496829/52 "2011-05-30T19:14:02Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > No it doesn’t, in fact, Roseanne owes a HUGE portion of her success to Metcalf. She really was able to tie all the loose ends of each character and make them connect in ways no one else could. Roseanne would be 90% less funny if they didn’t have Metcalf. She wasn’t the funniest but she was the second banana that held the show and deserves far more credit than she ever got. > > You can also see this on _the Norm Show_ where she was a regular too Actually, Roseanne owes her show to Metcalf and Goodman. They did a show (I forgot what season) where Roseanne was away. Metcalf and Goodman were featured. The producers wanted to nix Roseanne and have the show star Metcalf and Goodman. They both stuck up for her and informed her of the shady dealings. I can’t imagine other costars would turn that down. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-land-sucks-now/496829/53 "2011-05-30T19:43:55Z")
I don’t have cable, so I don’t know what channels like TVLand are carrying, but with the introduction of sub-channels for over-the-air digital TV, some new networks, like this and MeTV, are showing a lot of the older shows. In the Raleigh-Durham market, I’m used to seeing regular showings of Patty Duke, Mr. Ed, I Love Lucy, Highway Patrol, Addams Family, Munsters, Brady Bunch, Petticoat Junction, the Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and so forth. On the other hand, the main channels have cut way back on programs, and there are a surprising number of infomercials during the day. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-land-sucks-now/496829/54 "2011-05-31T19:01:10Z")
Initially, Nick at Nite featured programming that no one else wanted, so they could get it cheaply. And since it was supposed to keep the channel active when kids were asleep, it really didn’t matter what was on, until the Boomers found it and decided they liked it and made it popular enough for its own spinoff channel. One observation I’ve made is that nostalgia tends to be about 20 years ago, relative to the current generation of the parents of school-agers, tweens and teens (or people of that age group, if they don’t have kids). Right now, that’s 1980s to 90s, because Gen X is that current generation. I think it started in the 70s, when _Happy Days_, _Grease_ were popular. In the 1980s and 90s, that period was the 1960s (remember MTV’s promoting _The Monkees’_ 20th anniversary?) and 1970s. (Barry Manilow and the Bee Gees charted again in 1997, making me feel like I was in a time warp.) I think it’s because, as our kids get older, we’ve got more adult problems and we want to go back to a time when we were young and relatively responsibility-free. This is just an off-the-top observation; I haven’t done any hard research on it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-land-sucks-now/496829.md?page=2)