Never thought I would say this

[Tzu]

I won't come out and bash reality TV, because some of it is interesting and pretty good. But I'm 47 and not 17, so time has me thinking different nowadays. I can't imagine watching "Naked and afraid" with my parents at 15 looking at a man and women survive 3 weeks with no clothes on. Especially if the girl is attractive in the show. The Kardashians are a joke and I tune in occasionally only to see how much farther the family has fallen apart. If that represents Los Angeles, I'll take Buffalo anytime.

I was a teen in the 1980's, so the A-Team, Dukes of Hazzard, Knight Rider were good shows then. Watching them now they seem kind of silly, but at least they had clothes on. I like Pawn Stars, car shows and the History Channel documentaries, but the occasional stupid reality show is okay to break the mold.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: supton
Flipped thro netflix, saw nothing I wanted to watch. Went back my novel.


I did the same here, as I am reading a book, "Nazis In Newark", and I just cannot put it down!! (It even mentions some of my relatives/ancestors, on the ANTI-Bund/ANP side of course, in it's pages/pics.)

That being said, some of the FX shows (Sons Of Anarchy, Justified, The Bridge, Fargo, The Strain, etc.) seem to hook me in, despite my loathing of Fox network in general.

 

[02SE]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
I suppose it's a generational difference. I simply have far better things to do than to sit around and mindlessly watching any television shows.



I don't know that it's necessarily generational. I am like you, I have far better things to do with my time, then to sit and watch the endless stream of "reality" shows. My online time is measured in a matter of minutes a day. Usually I check Email, and maybe glance at and reply on one or two forums. 10 minutes, tops.

My older (mid 50's) Sister however, can't seem to get through the day without watching a lot of those "reality" shows, and then discussing them with her 'friends' on Facebook for hours on end.

 

[andrewg]

Originally Posted By: GumbyJarvis
Its not just television either. Magazines, stores, advertisements, etc all have to incorporate sexual innuendos. Nothings innocent anymore. Childrens movies have sexual innuendos in them.

Everything is so messed up. Between the whole sexual [censored] and the ideas that "Annorexic looking bones popping out" look with women (Men too) are going to be the fall of this country...

I just want to get out of a store, I don't care about the new tabloids on "Whos cheatin who and whos diet is in!"

What ever happened to hard working men who were built tough and woke up eating eggs and bacon and came home for dinner to fried chicken and beer yet worked so hard they were muscular and all man?
Now we have toothpick men with dreads who don't work, smoke weed, trying to impress women on their skateboard and live off of tax dollars?

LoL...good post Gumby!

 

[strat81]

It seems today that all you see is violence in movies and s&x on TV.

Where are those good old fashioned values on which we used to rely?

 

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted By: strat81
It seems today that all you see is violence in movies and s&x on TV.

Where are those good old fashioned values on which we used to rely?

Thank you, Mr. Griffin. Now sit back on the couch with Lois.

(Irrelevant side comment: I've always thought Lois was rather hot, for a cartoon babe.)

Yes, a lot of today's TV annoys or bores me. Linda keeps checking out the "Say Yes to the Dress" show on TLC (which I refer to as The Loser Channel), and "24," which is humorless and dull to someone who grew up with "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," "I Spy," and "It Takes a Thief."

On the other hand, "Breaking Bad" is really well done; I loved and still love "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel"; and Joss Whedon's new series, "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," is a modern day U.N.C.L.E. with Buffy/Angel style humor kept to the right places.

Apparently the best stuff, the shows worth discussing and appreciating, are all on cable. And that'$ pricey.

 

[jcwit]

Blue Bloods is a fairly good show. And it's on network TV.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: GumbyJarvis

Besides the point, I was born in 1992, and didn't have my own television in my room until Junior year high school, 2008-2009. didn't have satellite until my senior year high school 2009-2010.

What ever happened to hard work, family morals, and the American Dream?


To answer your question, I don't think much has happened that wasn't already happening. Things are just more out in the open.

Teen pregnancy is nothing new. If anything, it was more common in the past due to lack of education. I was born in 1987. When I was in high school, teen pregnancies were practically unheard of, which wasn't the case earlier on. I remember one girl getting pregnant when I was in high school, and my high school had thousands of students. My sister is 9 years older than me, and some of her peers were getting pregnant in middle school! That was in the early 1990s.

As far as family values, my grandparents on my mom's side of the family were raging, mean, crazy alcoholics. That was in the 1950s-60s. They didn't have a beer with their fried chicken, they had maybe a few beers and some liquor, and then they would fight.

I do agree vices are more prevalent in popular entertainment now, but it's really nothing new that wasn't going on before. It's just out in the open more. That's probably not a good thing with the way some of it is glorified, but I don't think more teens are getting pregnant, or more people have addictions when considered as a proportion of the population. A lot of the family values presented in earlier TV shows were just a facade.

As far as kids and access TV, I was never allowed a TV in my room when I lived at home up to age 18, but a lot of my friends had their own TVs with cable. That's not all that new. I agree the amount of media exposure and access is greater today, but our generation didn't really go without. I was among the first of my friends that had my own computer with internet, so we knew about rotten.com and all the other nasty sites back in middle school in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

That said, I find the Kardashian clan's antics a bit repulsive, along with glorification of teen pregnancy, etc. So I choose to not watch those shows. In fact, I haven't had cable since 2012. It's just not worth the expense for me. I watch reruns of Law & Order, PBS documentaries, and Hotel [censored] on over the air TV. That pretty much satisfies my appetitie for TV. I did go on a Walking Dead binge while house sitting for my cousin though.