I find myself watching the Flatt and Scruggs Show (sponsored by Martha White flour) and The Jack Benny program more and more. Perry Mason is still as good as it was when I watched it in the 50s and 60s with the added bonus that I’ve forgotten most of the who-done-its.
There are some worthwhile movies and TV shows each year, but
they are few and far between.
Almost all action movies now have the kidnapped kid or family member plot. Every comedy makes fun of white men or replays Luci gags. Every crime show rehashes familiar plot lines while trying to be a soap opera. Even when a show has a new and interesting premise, the writers seem to believe that each episode must have a more fantastic plot line than the last. They quickly move the plot lines to pure stupidity and ruin the show.
There hasn’t been much fresh and new stuff since Get Smart (perhaps since Shakespeare).
The real improvement, however, is the DVR. My current streaming service, YoutubeTV, provides DVR for as many programs as I want, as often as I want, and saves everything for 9 months. The skip forward button on the remote means I never, ever have to watch a commercial. Even when watching a football game, I just start watching it 30 minutes late and I can skip every commercial. I can watch every second of a standard 60 minute show in 42 minutes. When Formula I gets boring, I can simply say, “Skip 10 minutes,” and Max Verstappan still leads by 5 seconds by Lewis Hamilton.
Oh well. Only three more NFL games until September.
Show me Flat an Scruggs with Joan Baez. This is on YT.