I read an article in Penthouse (no really)

[BlackAngel]

The title of  it is "Why TV Shows Suck", and basically, it's an inside look at why  quality shows never get the light of day and why "other" shows get to live an undeserved long happy life by former tv writer and executives.  I doubt if this article is on their website, being that you have to be a member to get in and all.  But it is a good read, so fellas, pick up a copy of the Holiday issue if you can, and ladies, tell you man to photo copy the pages so y'all don't have to look at the pictorials.
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Bulls**t, I still can't hear you, sound off like you got a pair.

[The Burgomaster]

TV shows suck for the same reason that movies like MANNEQUIN are popular.  Most people don't want to have to think when they watch TV and movies.

One of the most interesting television shows of all time is THE PRISONER, but it never made it beyond 1 season.  Yet, HAPPY DAYS (which was pretty good for a season or two) seemed to hang on forever . . . even until it evolved into JOANIE LOVES CHACHI.

[ulthar]

The Burgomaster wrote:

> TV shows suck for the same reason that movies like MANNEQUIN
> are popular.  Most people don't want to have to think when they
> watch TV and movies.
>

Yes, but there is a big difference between not having to think much when watching something and having shows that are so unbelievably stupid that they make one's head hurt.

The state of TV programming right now is such an abomination I cannot believe they get advertisers to sponsor it (I'm talking about the Big 4 main broadcast networks).

[Chris K.]

Speaking of bad TV shows, I just recently watched an episode of IT'S ALL REALATIVE on ABC and talk about garbage. My God, it was like a cheap knock-off of ALL IN THE FAMILY. If you ever get a chance to catch it one night, sit back and count all of the obvious ALL IN THE FAMILY-type characters.

And then I watched LIFE WITH BONNIE one night and boy, talk about a bore-fest. The fact that Bonnie Hunt is still allowed on TV and film is an insult to anybody who finds her unsatisfying.

Sorry, but give me GREEN ACRES any day of the week over this crap!

[Brother Ragnarok]

If you're looking for a beacon of hope in a wasteland of crap, and you haven't already figured this out since it's been on for three or four seasons, tune in to Scrubs on Thursday nights.  Damn fine show, and although NBC treats it like an old football, just booting it around to fill a hole whenever they need it, and taking it off the air at the drop of a pin to show back to back episodes of Friends, Scrubs is one of the best shows on TV.  Yeah, I know, it's not hard to do these days, but trust me, it rocks.

Brother R

[Grumpy Guy]

Huh.  You read Penthouse for the articles?  Huh.  Strange.

But in all seriousness, my biggest problem with TV is that they don't keep the good shows going, or they move them, stop advertizing, and pretend like they don't exist.

I loved Firefly.  Best SF show to come on the tube in ages.  A big step up in maturity from the creator's previous two shows (Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it's better spinoff, Angel).  Good stuff.  Gone, even before every filmed episode was shown.  Completely done wrong by Fox, who played this wonder with no attention payed to the ordering of the episodes.  Not a good thing to do to any Joss Whendon show - especially bad for this one.

The TV is a wasteland of crap.  You'd think that, with my ability to appreciate crap, I'd enjoy that, but it's not even entertaining crap.  I can't even make fun of Friends.  Sitcoms in general have fallen (admitidly not very far) into repetitive tedium.  Even the Simpsons is no where near the show it used to be.

Of course, in fairness, TV has pretty much always been full of crap.  Looking into TV history, has there ever been a time when there was more than one or two good shows on in any given year?  EVER?

The real question we should be asking is not why television has so much crap on it; instead, we should be asking two questions:

a.)  Why is it that the success of television programs in so random?  Why is it that both Friends and MASH lasted long.  One makes sense - the other, not so much.

and..

b.)  Why do we expect so much out of TV as a medium?  It's as if we expect it to deliver something that it's actually never delivered:  Consistant and good programming, every day of the week.

But, hey, that's just my opinion.  I could be wrong.

[ulthar]

My wife is a doctor and she enjoys Scrubs, mostly for its satire and silliness.

I admit that I like JAG - is OKAY (I don't claim it is high quality, but it is not, in my opinion, mind-numbingly stupid).  It is fun to make fun of (how many times do we have to be told JAG Headquarters is in Falls Church, VA, for the love of Pete), and the courtroom drama can be funny, too.  The show is campy in a way.

[JohnL]

>I loved Firefly. Best SF show to come on the tube in ages. A big step up in
>maturity from the creator's previous two shows (Joss Whedon, the creator of
>Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it's better spinoff, Angel). Good stuff. Gone, even
>before every filmed episode was shown. Completely done wrong by Fox, who
>played this wonder with no attention payed to the ordering of the episodes. Not a
>good thing to do to any Joss Whendon show - especially bad for this one.

I agree, except that I knew from the very first episode that it wasn't going to last. The thing that gets me is that Fox picked Firefly over another season of Dark Angel, which got decent if not great ratings. With the exception of the Star Trek franchise, there hasn't been a single space show that has survived in primetime. Even Babylon 5 had to fight for each season in syndication.