Television isn't worth watching anymore.

Oracle

Just wondering does anyone else find television is mainly crap? Besides the odd film and documentary I find TV to be just one endless stream of dull, repetitive junk. The TV schedules now comprise endless "entertainment"; soap, US drama, reality shows, lifestyle shows, chat and game shows.

But it's not just the endless "entertainment" (aka. mindless pap), that's the problem, even the more "serious" programming is completely dumbed down. For example, current affairs programmes discuss the issues of the day but only in a very trivial and superficial way, with virtually no analysis. Their only message appears to be "here's the issues you need to worry about today". If you do happen see the word "documentary" don't get too excited, it'll probably be about the Queen's visit, Lady Gaga or Baboons.

It doesn't seem to matter if you 1 channel or 100 channels, it's mainly all junk. Even the BBC, that used to be the last bastion of good television, eagerly jumped on the junk truck years ago. It's all very sad but there you have it.

McLoughlin

Nope quite the opposite with sky plus and series link I can make my own tv channel which what I want to watch when I want and cut out all the crap there are still plenty of good TV shows out there

phasers

All my American programmes are finished until the Fall, so until September I'll agree with you

amacachi

phasers wrote: »

All my American programmes are finished until the Fall, so until September I'll agree with you

"Until the Fall"? I am disappont.

KerranJast

You're watching the wrong TV. There's a plethora of top notch shows from US cable land (HBO, Showtime, AMC, FX etc). Get Sky Atlantic or get onto "the cousins".

phasers

amacachi wrote: »

"Until the Fall"? I am disappont.

Eh, it's actually officially called 'the Fall lineup', not that I'd expect you to know that :cool:

MagicMarker

I find I rarely watch ''regular'' tv, I just acquire whatever I want to watch from online and watch it when I want, ad free.

phasers wrote: »

All my American programmes are finished until the Fall, so until September I'll agree with you

There's plenty more starting over the summer, Breaking Bad, True Blood, Curb Your Enthusiasm etc...

amacachi

phasers wrote: »

Eh, it's actually officially called 'the Fall lineup', not that I'd expect you to know that :cool:

Well if you want to side with a country who can't even spell "colour" properly that's your decision. :pac:

Oracle

Thanks all for your replies ..... think I might've posted in the wrong forum.

I think those US TV dramas are terrible. Maybe it's that I just don't like TV anymore.

mike65

Oracle boards.ie tele forum is for 20 year olds/tweenies. You won't find too much discussion about The Shadow Line for example.

SVG

A lot of television is crap. It's probably always been the case except now there are a lot more channels.

Oracle wrote: »

If you do happen see the word "documentary" don't get too excited, it'll probably be about the Queen's visit, Lady Gaga or Baboons.

Or Nazis!

Oracle wrote: »

Even the BBC, that used to be the last bastion of good television, eagerly jumped on the junk truck years ago.

I do think BBC documentaries have dumbed down a bit in the past few years. They seem to rely too much on flashy graphics and "personalities" to anchor them. Horizon used to be great but I'm not really interested in the stuff they do now like Michael Portillo's investigation of the death penalty or Danny Wallace's search for a robot.

There's still some good stuff on BBC4 though.

Oracle wrote: »

It's all very sad but there you have it.

Try not to get so down about it- there are still books.;)

amacachi

SVG wrote: »

I do think BBC documentaries have dumbed down a bit in the past few years. They seem to rely too much on flashy graphics and "personalities" to anchor them. Horizon used to be great but I'm not really interested in the stuff they do now like Michael Portillo's investigation of the death penalty or Danny Wallace's search for a robot.

Agree on that, and that fcukin Brian Cox lad.

phasers

amacachi wrote: »

Agree on that, and that fcukin Brian Cox lad.

He has cool hair though, and he wears scarves!

MagicMarker

Brian Cox is brilliant, those ''Wonders of...'' series are awesome!

amacachi

MagicMarker wrote: »

Brian Cox is brilliant, those ''Wonders of...'' series are awesome!

Series is fine, but it annoys me when I hear of a series or as happened earlier caught an episode of Horizon and then find that he's bloody on it.

Latchy

8.00 .Dispatches : Americas Secret Killers C-4 (repeated on thursday at 2.45 am )

9.00 . All Watched Over by Machines Of Loving Grace : BBC 2

11.20 .D-Day To Berlin : BBC 2 (part two tonight at 11.20 )

I do agree there is a lot of pap and trash on tv but last night I watched all three documentrys above ,back to back and it was three hrs of worthy tv viewing so you can find some quality programmes on local channels .

stoneill

The OP has a fair point.
Apart from the rare occasion when a well produced one off documentary is shown, most of the time the TV is chewing gum for the eyes.
I've generally stopped watching TV as such, I don't actively avoid watching, there is just nothing, absolutely nothing on that would even slightly interest me.

As Groucho Marx said:
I must say I find television very educational. The minute somebody turns it on, I go to the library and read a good book.

Oracle

Latchy wrote: »

8.00 .Dispatches : Americas Secret Killers C-4 (repeated on thursday at 2.45 am )

9.00 . All Watched Over by Machines Of Loving Grace : BBC 2

11.20 .D-Day To Berlin : BBC 2 (part two tonight at 11.20 )

I do agree there is a lot of pap and trash on tv but last night I watched all three documentrys above ,back to back and it was three hrs of worthy tv viewing so you can find some quality programmes on local channels .

Yes I'd agree, they're excellent quality documentaries. Although more the exception, than the rule. These are "diamonds in the rough" they're few and far between.

ScumLord

I felt that way a long time ago. The internet filters out most of the muck now.

Voodoo_rasher

aye. Too many cookery shows and vampire soap-operas in the evening.

ixoy

Rubbish. There's loads of excellent shows about - it's just that you have to seek them out and filter the schedules. If I sat down on any night and watched the output of RTE, BBC, etc just then I'd think it was junk but if I weaned them out from across the stations I'd find there's still some great shows out there.

Oracle wrote:

I think those US TV dramas are terrible.

You're definitely not watching the right shows then. If you really think all the highly respected US shows of the last decade are rubbish then just unplug your TV and hurl it through the window because you're not going to find much better than some of them.

smokedeels

"ninety percent of everything is [EMAIL="cr@p"]cr@p[/EMAIL]"

saa

Oracle wrote: »

Just wondering does anyone else find television is mainly crap? Besides the odd film and documentary I find TV to be just one endless stream of dull, repetitive junk. The TV schedules now comprise endless "entertainment"; soap, US drama, reality shows, lifestyle shows, chat and game shows.

But it's not just the endless "entertainment" (aka. mindless pap), that's the problem, even the more "serious" programming is completely dumbed down. For example, current affairs programmes discuss the issues of the day but only in a very trivial and superficial way, with virtually no analysis. Their only message appears to be "here's the issues you need to worry about today". If you do happen see the word "documentary" don't get too excited, it'll probably be about the Queen's visit, Lady Gaga or Baboons.

It doesn't seem to matter if you 1 channel or 100 channels, it's mainly all junk. Even the BBC, that used to be the last bastion of good television, eagerly jumped on the junk truck years ago. It's all very sad but there you have it.

I can't completely disagree with you, because of the trend in reality tv over the past ten years tv has become bland although I do enjoy come dine with me and 24 hours. But what are you expecting from tv? mainstream entertainment is obviously being geared towards a different audience, current affairs is biased and documentaries are not pure and truthful either actually they're probably more truthful if they are about a pop culture topic.

Mindkiller

What type of US TV dramas do you watch OP?. Deadwood? The Wire? Sopranos? Because they're all remarkable shows that beat any movie I've seen in the past few years. TV is where it's at atm.

calex71

smokedeels wrote: »

"ninety percent of everything is [EMAIL="cr@p"]cr@p[/EMAIL]"

89% since the late late show finished up for the summer

Hal Emmerich

OP needs to watch that "A Girls Guide To 21st Century Sex" that TV3 just aired........HOLY GOD....that vag-cam bit, Gonorrhea eye...if only they had a bit with why teens need to talk to their parents about Sexual issues and had a few families in the same room watch this so we could see the facial expressions..lol..this would have been 10/10 then.

Adamantium

OP, Watch Charlie Brooker's "How Tv ruined your life".....funny, kind of profound and slightly depressing.......It seriously made me cut back on everything TV related even news,current affairs.....things you'd assumed were informative but are really biased pieces of opinion and analysis rather than just facts

I'll make my own mind up thank you very much!:rolleyes:

Heres a link regarding current affairs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q74PNnL4E8

This is brilliant,accurate..really eye opening and its done everywhere

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHun58mz3vI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBwepkVurCI

ClareVisitor

There certainly doesn't seem to be much on at the moment. Too many reality TV shows and soap operas clogging up the schedules.

EggsAckley

British TV Drama is certainly going through a pretty decent phase at the moment. Off the top of my head the the last six months or so there has been from the BBC Garrows Law 2 which was pretty decent and the mini reboot of Upstairs Downstairs which I really enjoyed, Exile which was fantastic and Shadow Line which is brilliant but I missed most of it due to holidays and the rather silly but enjoyable Luther is due back soon too. C4s The Promise which was great viewing and I'm currently enjoying ITVs Injustice. I didn't watch Any Human Heart but that certainly didn't appear to lack ambition and I'm sure there's a few other major ones I've forgotten.
Most TV is crap, its always been so - you just need to accept this and adjust your filter

Richard Dower

^ TRASHlene from BB!!

mikemac

The UK Apprentice is on every Wednesday night

Reality TV forum gets to shower them with much deserved abuse every week.
On tonight if you're interested OP

briany

OK while there are still plenty of great shows on TV (in a sea of utter dreck and repeats padded with giant ad breaks), I just have to share something....

I was flicking through the channels one night to see what was good and I stopped at BBC One and what was on but something called "Teen Craniofacial Surgery " (I'm not 100 percent on the title) and for me that was just an "I'm done!" moment. :pac:

From now on, TV is only really on to see what's good that I can then stream later or as background noise........

fryup

Most satellite/cable channels are just glorified Video machines churning out repeat after repeat after repeat they're only exist for the advertising revenue.

Example-Frasier Now i like Frasier but do they have to show it every f*cking night!! why can't they put a bit of variety into their schedule and show the likes of Taxi or Cheers from time to time.

NIMAN

I am cancelling Sky today and simply going with Freesat/Saorview, for the very reason the OP said.

I rarely watch TV these days, and 95% of stuff I do is on FTA, so paying for TV in the future is a no-no for me.

briany

Most satellite/cable channels are just glorified Video machines churning out repeat after repeat after repeat they're only exist for the advertising revenue.

Example-Frasier Now i like Frasier but do they have to show it every f*cking night!! why can't they put a bit of variety into their schedule and show the likes of Taxi or Cheers from time to time.

I just looked at an old TV listing from 2001 for Paramount Comedy. In a 24 hour period, they showed roughly 25 different shows. Now I'm not saying all these shows were good but contrast that with today where you have across BOTH comedy Central channels a grand total of 16 shows and they're getting more mileage out of them in the schedules by showing double bills once earlier in the day and then the same double bill later in the day so it's like these weird symmetrical schedules that they have now. It's a joke. At least back in the day, PC would come out with something cool, something you may not have known about otherwise like TPB or The Micallef P(r)ogram(me) (:P).

Still, at least they show all day marathons of Two and a Half Men, eh?:o

MaceFace

I just finished watching The Pacific.
Tonight I have Game of Thrones and also Treme Season 2.

BSG tomorrow night as well as Arrested Development, Apprentice Wednesday.
Criminal Minds Friday.

True Blood starts back soon.
Same with Curb Your Enthusiasm and Entourage.

Waiting to start The Killing.
Family Guy has finished its season.
Modern Family is still just about worth watching.
The Walking Dead is another worth a second glance.

So, unless you watch 20 hours of TV a week, there is plenty to keep you going and while some of the above are old shows, there is plenty on today that you are going to regret missing and will catch in reruns.

Honestly, I think Game Of Thrones and Treme will be seen as two of the greatest shows ever made.

Acacia

It's the endless copies of Jersey Shore and to a lesser extent ,The Hills , that are beginning to grate on me. Isn't one show about fake-tanned dumbasses full of their own self-importance enough? Jesus wept.