# TV trends I'm tired of **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 18, 2002, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trends-im-tired-of/104307 "2002-04-18T13:36:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![audit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trends-im-tired-of/104307/41 "2002-04-19T01:49:03Z")
The news ticker at the botttom I like because it lets me know what else is going on the world. But do we really need the large logo telling us what the main story is about. “WAR ON TERROR”, “CRISIS IN THE CHURCH” “MID EAST IN TURMOIL” IF we cant figure out what the interview is about from the actual discussion then we are doomed as a nation. ---
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trends-im-tired-of/104307/42 "2002-04-19T04:17:06Z")
Hmmm. I don’t know if this link will work or not, but if it doesn’t, you can search for it under the thread title “sitcom cliches.” There were some good trends mentioned in there. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=53285&highlight=sitcom+cliches](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=53285&highlight=sitcom+cliches) ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trends-im-tired-of/104307/43 "2002-04-19T04:25:12Z")
Sports shows which feature hosts who know jack s\*\*\* about sports. Jay Mohr, would you please stand up? _bang_ Tom Arnold, would you please stand up? _bang_ ---
**Author:** ![ricecake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@ricecake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricecake)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trends-im-tired-of/104307/44 "2002-04-19T16:58:30Z")
Dukes of Hazzard, that was the money show. Though it probably didn’t take much to entertain me when i was a kid. All I ask is to be entertained, is that so hard? I find myself watching more commercials than ever before heading up poor programming. Im going to go read a book… ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trends-im-tired-of/104307/45 "2002-04-19T17:16:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by amarinth \* > \*\* > Doctor/Lawyer/Cop shows partially work because the jobs as they are depicted on the screen allow the characters to meet and talk to new people every week. There’s a pattern to the show (someone is sick, they get healed or die. someone commits a crime, it is solved) but within the pattern there’s some variety (different crimes/disease of the week), so the conversations are different enough (they wouldn’t be for my job). The professions lend themselves to 22 episodes/year. Plus, everyone knows and understands on a general level what a cop/lawyer/doctor does. That simply is not true of every profession out there. And there’s some level of excitement possible. Blood squirting everywhere, gunfights, courtroom outbursts are simply more dramatic than a column failing to add up and Mr. Smith owing the IRS 234.53 instead of 134.53. \*\* Such shows also allow for more flexiblity in casting, and encourage a rotating cast like in Law & Order, ER, The Practice. While there’s often a core cast with an enthusiastic fan base, it’s entirely possible and plausible to replace and introduce characters at appropriate moments for both real world (contract disputes, career moves) and diegetic reasons. It’s like franchise TV, where actors can come in, do a season or two, and then go on to other projects. These shows also don’t have to depend so much on individual actors who “carry the show”; see Friends, Frasier, and to an extent, The X-Files. Adding new characters and eliminating old ones can make for a more vibrant product, and also leaves the door open for ratings-grabbing episodes when characters return or depart. ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trends-im-tired-of/104307/46 "2002-04-19T18:20:16Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Duke \* > **Sports shows which feature hosts who know jack s** _ about sports. > > Jay Mohr, would you please stand up? _bang_ > Tom Arnold, would you please stand up? _bang_ \*\* So, you’ve never heard Mohr as “Slam-Man” on **The Jim Rome Show**??? He knows plenty about sports, much more than the tub-o-goo Arnold. Speaking of sports TV, I am tired of the solumn pretentious music that always accompanies any golfing event. Also, I am a huge NFL football fan, but the ever-expanding pregame shows are getting out of hand. How many more puff pieces about placekickers are we going to have to endure before they realize they are running out of material…just show the games!!! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trends-im-tired-of/104307/47 "2002-04-19T20:51:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > \*\*BTW, comedies work in just about any job situation. \*\* [Supermarket employees](http://us.imdb.com/Details?0088493), for example. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Papermache Prince \* > \*\*Here’s one new trend I hate: > > Rerunning a show _in the same week._ Hey, you liked it on Tuesday, you’ll love it on Thursday! \*\* Hey, some of us forget or otherwise miss the Wednesday airing of **Enterprise**! ---
**Author:** ![Leifsmama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a698b9/32.png) [@Leifsmama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leifsmama)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trends-im-tired-of/104307/48 "2002-04-20T03:11:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Max Torque \* > \*\*You’ll be pleased to know, then, that [Ally McBeal has been cancelled](http://robots.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/TV/04/18/ally.mcbeal.ap/index.html). Can I get a ‘amen’. \*\* Halleluia!!! How about news shows that do a piece on one of their own people, or a family member. I’ve seen this twice in Denver. ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trends-im-tired-of/104307/49 "2002-04-20T03:16:56Z")
Oh, I just thought of another one. Is there some reason why the **Fresh Prince of Bel Air** is shown on 4 different channels at the _same freakin time every night!!!_ Isn’t there some kind of FCC regulation against that? (I wish!) ---
**Author:** ![Eternal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@Eternal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eternal)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trends-im-tired-of/104307/50 "2002-04-20T03:27:52Z")
You don’t have anything against the Fresh Prince do you? Because don’t let the mansion fool you, he’s from Philly, born and raised, and he’d still be there but he got in one little fight and his Mom got scared and she said “You’re moving with your aunt and uncle in Bel Air”. And yes, I have that whole song memorized. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trends-im-tired-of/104307/51 "2002-04-20T05:38:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Papermache Prince \* > \*\*Here’s one new trend I hate: > > Rerunning a show **in the same week.** Hey, you liked it on Tuesday, you’ll love it on Thursday! \*\* Or like one TBS (with A Blast from the Past), they play the same movie (in it’s "First TV showing) _back-to-back-toback_\*\* 2 nights in a row!!! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trends-im-tired-of/104307/52 "2002-04-20T16:41:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by HelloKitty \* > \*\*Oh, I just thought of another one. > > Is there some reason why the **Fresh Prince of Bel Air** is shown on 4 different channels at the _same freakin time every night!!!_ Isn’t there some kind of FCC regulation against that? (I wish!) \*\* Lemme know when you find out so I can sic the Feds on the excessive “Seinfeld” reruns. What’s worse is that TBS just picked it up. Of course, we can overlook “The Simpsons” being on 4 times a day. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trends-im-tired-of/104307.md?page=2)