I don’t think anyone’s mentioned the prevalence of good Scandinavian shows currently. I agree that U.S. television probably peaked about 10 years ago, though still has some excellent shows (Mad Men, for example, although it is past its prime) but from Sweden and Denmark, you’ve got Borgen, The Killing, The Bridge, and Wallander, the latter of which which has been showing for longer. All highly critically acclaimed.
First of all, TV ≠ films, so whether pre-1980 films had that content or not is not relevant to TV.
Second, “thematically”? What does that mean? I am generally not discussing themes, I am discussing direct, displayed-on-the-TV-screen *content. * The kind of stuff that warnings used to refer to as “graphic images” or “graphic scenes of violence”, etc. (And for me, that does include verbal descriptions of gruesome events, but much of the time it is shown on screen anyway.)
Third, I take you at your word you wouldn’t have been ashen and agape. Many people just don’t care about this stuff. I get that.
Fourth, you don’t have to assure me that the vast population is not a shrinking violet like I am–I know that all too well. It’s obvious just by the popularity of what is playing. Just because I voice my opinion doesn’t mean I think many agree with me. I am in a probably rather small minority, especially for people under, say, 70. Whatever, I’m mentally fragile, so sue me.
Fifth, I don’t discount stories simply because they contain murder–not at all! I am a fan of the Poirot series, and almost every one of those contains a murder. What I am put off by is the gruesomeness and depravity of the depictions on TV.
Thanks for the tip. And your date inversion may be quite right. The 50s were a halcyon time for some in the U.S.
I haven’t seen enough Breaking Bad to know whether or not that’s true. But I do think that there is stuff on *network *TV now (for 10 years or so) that would cause 1950s heads to explode.
I agree also they suck.
I’m with you, but, wait 5 more years and then take a look around at the tv landscape. I’m down to about 4 or 5 shows scattered around the 4 PBS flavors we have locally and Jeopardy now and then.
CURMUDGEON POWER!
now get off my lawn:D
Welcome to the SDMB!
From The FAQ - Guidelines and Etiquette on the SDMBOn resurrecting old threads
Please be cautious about resurrecting old threads (that is, posting to a thread where the prior post was many months or years ago.) These are called “zombie” threads, and we are uncomfortable about them for a number of reasons, including(but not limited to) that such threads:
Might open old wounds. If there were hard feelings and high emotions long ago, and they've been quieted down, why stir them up again?
Revisit issues long dead (e.g., some rant by a poster who has since been banned or left)
Can be unfair. The people who posted long ago may not be around to respond to your comments, or may have forgot that they even posted there.
** Can cause confusion (e.g., some public/newsworthy event that happened long ago but seeing an old thread title might imply it was new or recurring – a thread from Sept 2001 titled, “NYC attacked!” for instance.)
Really old threads don’t show the names of posters. They got dropped when we migrated to VB, we didn’t know why then and we still don’t, but it’s pretty much irrelevant now.
**
So, rather than post to an old thread, you might want to start a new thread with a link to the prior discussion, and some comments in your opening post explaining what that old thread was about.
I’m an older gent myself and was getting progressively “curmudgeonly” when post after post failed to mentioned Mr. Robot or Moonbeam City. These shows didn’t even exist in 2013. :smack:
Now, you know those folks in 2013 couldn’t handle the shows we have in 2015.