What's the point of TV?

Pigman II

It was the natural next stop for these threads.

I mean seriously whats the point? As I type this my tv hasn't been used for any broadcasted television program in something like a month. Everything is online or dvd these days I download all my shows off the net now.

I find the idea of actually being cajoled to sit down and watch a show at some pre-determined time quite quaint these days.

So has anyone else like me left the tv guide behind completelynand entered the next stage of devolution?

MrJoeSoap

Football!

KdjaCL

In same boat , tv was mainly for tv out and kids watch it, i used to watch tv only for football but now have projector so use that instead.

Watch Eureka and Mythbusters on normal tv now, tv has sucked for a long time and now with internet and digital delivery no real point in using your tv for broadcast stations.

Lol just realised i been watching Ryder cup all day, Exclude Sky Sports from **** broadcasting as they show sport perfectly.



kdjac

CerebralCortex

To isolate you socially, to give you a false sense of what happyness is and to stunt your intellectual growth. The internet is everything tv wishes it could be.

mike65

Is an opiate Amazingly most people do not watch everything on DVD or using illegal streaming!

Mike.

Elmo

To isolate you socially, to give you a false sense of what happyness is and to stunt your intellectual growth. The internet is everything tv wishes it could be.

The internet is the natural extension to social isolation where you don't need to speak to your next door neighbour because you can always discuss it online. (You don't even need to be able to speak the same lanuage as ur next door neighbour)

As Jack Dee pointed out it's unlikely that inventors of the internet imagined that it would be mainly used as a jack off tool. Porn rules the internet.

TV, Irish TV, TV3 is their to entertain I suppose. I don't think TV can get way with as much as the internet.

For me TV is for turning off. I mean the TV doesn't give a responce when it dissagrees with you but then it doesn't allow you to repond when you disagree with it.

Is an opiate Amazingly most people do not watch everything on DVD or using illegal streaming!

Not everyone want a computer or the internet. It doesn't matter what age you are you can be a technophob.

Pigman II

CerebralCortex wrote:

To isolate you socially,

I find it to be quite the opposite. The net is even more isolating than tv. Everyone is now watching their own thing. Tv at least had some sort communal aspect to it (even if all the people were watching the same thing alone).

However I do think that the force-feeding "TV mentality" we were trying to escape is slowly creeping into the net thru virals and the like.

LesRitaMitsouko

Pigman II wrote:

It was the natural next stop for these threads.

I mean seriously whats the point? As I type this my tv hasn't been used for any broadcasted television program in something like a month. Everything is online or dvd these days I download all my shows off the net now.

I find the idea of actually being cajoled to sit down and watch a show at some pre-determined time quite quaint these days.

So has anyone else like me left the tv guide behind completelynand entered the next stage of devolution?

Yep PM, I think you're on to sth there

byte

LesRitaMitsouko wrote:

Yep PM, I think you're on to sth there

Forgive my ignorance, but what does "sth" mean?

DMC

Pigman II wrote:

I find it to be quite the opposite. The net is even more isolating than tv. Everyone is now watching their own thing. Tv at least had some sort communal aspect to it (even if all the people were watching the same thing alone).

However I do think that the force-feeding "TV mentality" we were trying to escape is slowly creeping into the net thru virals and the like.

That is one of the benefits of broadcast TV, that the internet doesn't serve so well. The "water-cooler moment"*, the shared social experience that TV used to give us is certainly on the wane. Only really sporting events, as seen by the value that TV companies place on that product, are really the only remnants of what TV used to be 10 and 20 years ago.






* I detest that phrase, but it is useful here.

BopNiblets

You can always use a big ass TV to connect up to your PC!

DublinWriter

DMC wrote:

That is one of the benefits of broadcast TV, that the internet doesn't serve so well. The "water-cooler moment"*, the shared social experience that TV used to give us is certainly on the wane. Only really sporting events, as seen by the value that TV companies place on that product, are really the only remnants of what TV used to be 10 and 20 years ago.

...which worked when we only had 2 or 3 channels to talk about in the morning.

Personally, I'm not happy paying the TV-broadcasting arm of the Civil Service €147 a year to watch DVD's that I've legitimately bought, but that's another day's rantage.

I have my own personal thesis about Social Darwinism, and that programmes like "Love Thy Neighbour", "The Comedians" and "Blind Date" ended for a very explicit reason - people got educated, bored, and moved on.

Even the great Holy Grail of British comedy, Fawlty Towers, used the 'N' word on more than one occasion and was very happy to portray Irish and Spaniards as loveable, incompetant, buffoons.

Mankind has always been tribal and cliquish as a culture. With the ascent of the Net we now have alternate means of expression and shared social experience beyond the pedestrianism of mere mass media.

Elmo

Even the great Holy Grail of British comedy, Fawlty Towers, used the 'N' word on more than one occasion and was very happy to portray Irish and Spaniards as loveable, incompetant, buffoons.

When did anyone is fawlty towers use the N word?

The differance between fawlty and the rest is that fawlty was funny.

DublinWriter

Elmo wrote:

When did anyone is fawlty towers use the N word?

The Major used it when he was talking to Basil in one particular episode, explaining the difference between "****" and "wops".

Pigman II

.... not to forget the frequent calling of Manuel 'a dago'.

DublinWriter

...and don't forget the general portrayal of the think navvie Irish when Basil hires O'Relly's Builders do fit the extra door on the cheap.

The Pythons were quite fond of the N-word too. Don't forget the blacked up 'Uncle Tom' bartender character at the beginning of the 'Four Yorkshiremen' sketch'

The BBC were considering removing the phrase 'paki-shops' used by the original Grandad character from the DVD release of Only Fools and Horses.

And don't get me started on Spike Milligan!

I'm not actually Mr.PC, I just think that we live in more enlighted times these days.

Elmo

The Major used it when he was talking to Basil in one particular episode, explaining the difference between "****" and "wops".

An old English Gent that has gone of his head, who harps back to the era of the Empire.

...and don't forget the general portrayal of the think navvie Irish when Basil hires O'Relly's Builders do fit the extra door on the cheap.

That and the german episode where the funniest in all honesty.

I'm not actually Mr.PC, I just think that we live in more enlighted times these days.

What about the simpsons potarial of the Irish?

.... not to forget the frequent calling of Manuel 'a dago'.

The US version had such a hard time with manuel since they cast him as a mexican but their was no lanuage barrier and hence a totally diluted version of the character. And a **** series.


No one can say a bad word againist Fawlty Towers. I mean we could go futher and suggest that Basil is the sterotypical English manager and his wife a sterotypical woman. And polly the intellectual looking down on everyone.

DublinWriter

Elmo wrote:

What about the simpsons potarial of the Irish?

In fairness, the Simpsons stick it to everyone, especially the Italians, you do remember Marge saying to Fat Tony "Why didn't you want to do something more Italian, like sell pizzas or be an organ grinder?" and the other episode where Groundskeeper Willie's grease stash floods the school-gym, the kids have a grease-fight and the bully-character goes "Here comes another grease-ball!" just before he throws some grease and after pizza-guy Gusieppi comes into shot.

Fox got into a little bit of hot water with the American Association of Italian-Americans and also with the Australians don't forget!

As I said, it's ok if the main characters are portrayed to be just as stupid.

Necronomicon

I'm the opposite to the OP, I'm finding more and more programs these days, I think it's a great time for tv. Lost, Prison Break, 24, CSI, Law & Order: CT and SVU, The 4400, Supernatural to name a few off the top of my head that I always try to tune into. I also caught "Criminal Minds" for the first time last night on RTE and thought it was quite good.

Also, with Sky + it's so handy, no more VHS.

Jilm

DublinWriter wrote:

The Pythons were quite fond of the N-word too. Don't forget the blacked up 'Uncle Tom' bartender character at the beginning of the 'Four Yorkshiremen' sketch'

There was a character in one of the sketches from the original python shows called Mrs. Nígger-Baiter ...definitely couldn't get way with that today.

Elmo

Fox got into a little bit of hot water with the American Association of Italian-Americans and also with the Australians don't forget!

What the Australian's don't like The Simpsons?

What's the point in TV if you don't like the simpsons

DMC

Jilm wrote:

There was a character in one of the sketches from the original python shows called Mrs. Nígger-Baiter ...definitely couldn't get way with that today.

It was risqué even then.

Jilm

DMC wrote:

It was risqué even then.

No doubt.

There weren't allowed use the word masturbation in another sketch, which would practically be a non-issue now of course...

Jilm

Elmo wrote:

What the Australian's don't like The Simpsons?

They complained about the depiction of aussies in the episode where the simpsons visit australia. I thought the depiction of americans abroad in the episode was quite funny, the digs at the aussies were pretty obvious ones ...not really surprising as it's an american show.

Elmo

They complained about the depiction of aussies in the episode where the simpsons visit australia. I thought the depiction of americans abroad in the episode was quite funny, the digs at the aussies were pretty obvious ones ...not really surprising as it's an american show.

And Monty pyton's Bruce sketch isn't!!!