One of the side effects of unemployment is having a ludicris amount of time to do nothing. In the parlance of our times, having many a day-off to j-off. What I really mean is that there's a lot of time to watch TV. I find it astounding how terrible the shows on TV have gotten. TV networks seem to be going out of their way to place new shows that show any promise in timeslots that will doom them to failure (Sarah Conner Chronicles, Dollhouse on Fox to name a few) in favor of more shitty shows like the bachelor and reairings of American Idol. What? Oh, I guess that's like the 4th season, not the 1st. I couldn't tell.
The catalyst for this post was scrolling through the TV guide and trying to find something to watch. The best sounding thing on? "15 Shocking Acts of Violence" on E. Really? That is the best they could come up with? It is then followed up "15 Unforgettable Tragedies." That's some good stuff right there.
Let's talk about original programming for a second. How many iterations of Law & Order are there? How many versions of CSI? I find it hard to believe that there is really a shortage of ideas for television shows out there. NBC is moving Leno to 10pm on weekdays, this takes even more time that they have to fill up with decent programming. Everything on TV now is either some reality TV trash, or a Law and Order or CSI ripoff (see Numb3rs and The Mentalist). I think Lost and Heroes may be the only shows outside of that. Cable TV's programming is either home make overs or home buying reality shows.
Joss Whedon has stated that he'll never work on TV again after Dollhouse, and work only on the web. Is that the future of quality programming? Given the current industry paradigm, I think that's the only alternative until it wakes up the big networks and they realize there is money to be made in quality shows. They just wouldn't know because it's been so long since they invested in that.
Yeah, Kerry, I feel the same way about mainstream movies a lot of the time. Luckily with movies, there is an independent industry there that really doesn't exist in the TV industry. Maybe HBO is the equivalent???
ReplyDeleteThat is an excellent point. Unfortunately, the shows that are supposed to be good on HBO and Showtime are lost to us po' folk. I've heard the Tudors is supposed to be great.
ReplyDeleteAmen brother. Thank god for DVD.
ReplyDeleteSpike is currently running "1000 Ways to Die."
ReplyDeleteAwesome.
Saturdays on the cape just make me want to scream when I look at my entertainment options...
ReplyDelete