RANT- I cannot watch television anymore

Discussion in 'Political Discussions' started by NorCal, Jun 2, 2021.

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  1. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    The media helps that happen. After all, we hear constantly about issues with black imprisonment, but they never take the time during these newscasts and articles to do a segment on the black imprisonment rate having dropped by just over a whopping 1/3rd since 2006. So that lack of balance and only ever mentioning the bad is what makes people legitimately feel that way.
     
  2. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    For sure, although by "dosage" I meant that watching a little TV can be fine, even edifying, whereas sitting around watching nonsense all day would have adverse consequences.
     
  3. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

  4. Vonnegut

    Vonnegut Well-Known Member

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    No idea if this is true...
     
  5. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member

    I don't know either but I do appreciate the laugh. Thank you.
     
    Vonnegut likes this.
  6. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    I like the quote "The reason you don't see Lamborghini ads on TV is because the people who can afford them don't spend their time watching it."

    With that being said, I am a slave to constant background stimulation. If I'm reading or studying then it will be something instrumental. If I'm doing some other task it might be a cartoon or The Office or something. I rarely have silence in my day, and because I cut the cord long ago I don't have to deal with watching things I don't care for.

    At the same time, I would strongly push back against this idea that victimization, especially of minorities is overhyped. If anything, it's only now newsworthy but abuse of force by police and other crimes against them have been happening at higher-than-expected rates for what I'm sure is America's entire existence.
     
    Rachel83az likes this.
  7. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Good television does happen. Sometimes it's very good television indeed such as (for me) any of the Ken Burns series. I also usually watch 60 minutes and a game or two of the World's Series. My wife is a (very) long suffering Broncos fan so we usually watch them lose during the NFL season. That last is more of a character building exercise though.

    What's easy to forget about television, though, is the sheer volume of content that the industry requires. It's breathtaking. Mountains of new material just to get through a single season. Inevitably television adopts standard formulas following standard plotlines and standardized characters. There isn't enough creativity in the world to avoid it. New things in television DO happen, to be sure, but it's rare. There's always a risk, too, of doing something too new. Television production is expensive. If the advertisers don't buy your time or, in the case of PBS, the sponsors don't sponsor, you're out an awful lot of time and money.

    An example of a risky show that hit it big is "All in the Family". Shows that followed the usual Hollywood formula and should have succeeded include the excellent "Bret Maverick" which survived exactly one season. The original "Star Trek" had Gene Roddenberry and his backers sweating blood at first yet look at the whole franchise now. It's a cornerstone of American popular culture.

    The truly wonderful Children's Television Workshop was for a time (and maybe still is) the very center of television creativity. People FOUGHT to get on shows like "Sesame Street" (!)

    But it all takes unimaginable amounts of hard, hard work, boatloads of money, and imagination that can function against a deadline.

    Hm. Reading over this post, I'm afraid I've tipped my hand a bit. I sampled working in the industry for a few years in the '80s and I could have stayed, maybe even ended up in Hollywood or New York (behind the camera, not in front). The work was there and the industry still fascinates me. But instead, I went to law school. A mistake? Maybe but does it matter now? Probably not.
     
  8. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Thinking about "All in the Family"...that show was designed to be produced on the cheap. The EXTREME cheap. A small, fixed cast, a single stage set, no special effects. Just one step removed from radio drama. Yet it set the television world on fire.
     
  9. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Writing may often be the cheapest part of the TV show or movie, but it's definitely the most important.
     
  10. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    I work with a fellow who spent many years doing network TV production. I asked why he left such an exciting and well-paid job. He said he figured to be dead of a heart attach by 55 if he didn't get out. :eek:
     
    Maniac Craniac and SteveFoerster like this.

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