Posted on 03/04/2013 8:22:32 AM PST by SeekAndFind
If you stopped watching network television awhile ago because it had gotten so bad, you made the correct decision. It has continued to get worse. A few years ago, network television became dominated by cheaply made reality TV shows and talent contests, sitcoms with hyperactive manic characters, and socially liberal themes. Television has always pushed the edge when it comes to socially progressive themes. But at what point does it go too far? Perhaps when there are no other options left during prime time network TV.
The top ten most popular TV shows last fall contained few choices for traditional conservatives, unless they enjoy watching football. The first, fourth and tenth most popular shows were Sunday Night Football, Sunday Night Pre-Kick and The OT (NFL wrap-up) respectively.
The second most popular TV show last fall was Modern Family, which features the lives of three families, including two gay men and their daughter. There is profanity and one episode implied that teenage sex was appropriate. The Big Bang Theory was the third most popular show last fall. The plot is based on the lives of some nerdy guys and a beautiful woman who tries to teach them social skills. It features frequent discussions about sex including masturbation, and is sprinkled with profanity.
The fourth and ninth most popular show was a pseudo-reality voice talent show, The Voice. It features various musical artists as judges, some who are quite trashy. The sixth most popular program, the medical show Grey's Anatomy, features a lesbian character, profanity and plenty of extramarital sex.
NCIS, which stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service, was the seventh most popular show. It is a drama about investigating crime, and at first glance would seem to be an educational show for those considering a profession in law enforcement. Unfortunately, it contains profanity, plenty of sexual hookups and frequent discussion of kinky sexual fetishes. The Family Guy is an animated show that ranked as eighth most popular. It contains plenty of profanity. One of the children has an ambiguous sexual orientation, and a family neighbor is a sex-crazed bachelor.
The Parents Television Council (PTV) gives The Family Guy, The Big Bang Theory, NCIS, and Gray's Anatomy their most serious rating of red, completely unsuitable for children. Modern Family is rated yellow, which may be inappropriate for children. These are just the current crop of popular TV shows; and likely not even the worst within the last 20 or so years. The profane words have become harsher in recent years, and the greatest increase in the use of them has been during the 8 p.m. Eastern “family hour” slot. PTV found that profanity on broadcast television increased 69 percent between 2005 and 2010.
Whether one has a problem with gay sexual orientation or not, why does sex and profanity need to be a theme in so many shows? TV shows with adult themes used to be accessible only on cable television or outside of primetime hours. Now, with the exception of sports shows, it is impossible to sit down with children and watch one of the top ten television shows on network TV without exposing them to sex and profanity. Many adults find the prevalence of sex and profanity offensive. Polls repeatedly show that more than half the population would like stricter controls over the profanity and sex in broadcast television. A significant segment of the population does not want to watch shows laden with gratuitous sex and profanity every evening. As a result, network viewership continues to drop every year. Last fall, ABC, Fox, CBS and NBC combined for a 9 percent drop in viewers in the coveted 18-to-49 age bracket.
The reason there is a disconnect between what people want to watch, and what gets shown, is because wealthy liberal Hollywood elites who produce the shows get to call the shots. The viewers never get an honest choice, because the money is all dumped into the elites' ideal shows, giving them a huge advantage through advertising, prime time slots, top actors and extra bells and whistles. Most television viewers have never heard of the relatively new show Flashpoint, for example, because it was only carried by limited stations in the late evening. Featuring the members of a highly skilled law enforcement team, it portrayed serious drama that touched upon politically incorrect subjects such as mothers kidnapping their children and Islamic terrorism.
There needs to be more shows during primetime like Flashpoint and V, the science fiction series, which was good, clean, scary alien fun. Or shows like Seinfeld, which poked fun at controversial or taboo subjects instead of taking a position on them. While the influx of musical talent competitions has brought with it some cleaner material, there is no trained acting, it is merely a step above cheaply produced reality shows. Viewers are finally tiring of American Idol.
Until network TV starts reflecting a broader diversity of content, people are going to continue migrating to Facebook and Netflix instead, where they can choose their content. Add in the constant commercials on network TV, and it's a no-brainer for viewers to make the move away from network TV. If wealthy TV producers want to remain wealthy, they had better start creating shows for those of us who don't enjoy gratuitous sex and profanity in our living rooms every evening.
We also enjoy The Middle, White Collar, Blue Bloods and Castle which don't push the envelope on sex.
She seems like she's not even reading her lines, because she's not smart enough to read. Agreed on all points.
She must have been a casting couch hire.
I agree up to a point... Big Bang Theory IS one of the best shows on TV right now, but "ever?" However, there are certain episodes that have me rolling on the floor, laughing.
Unfortunately, over time the guys have been "civilized" by Penny, which would be expected. But still, I have memories of people like that from college (and myself if I'm to be completely honest.)
Sort of a TV version of "Real Genius."
Mark
To quote Clarkson.. “Top Gear US is rubbish”
All the US show is doing is ripping off the UK ideas and rednecking them.
I note also that Rush works about 35 minutes an hour, and the rest is commercials (I've included the times he starts off with "news announcements" about ID theft as commercials, since that's what they are). I need me one a them gigs - get twenty mil or so a year for working 3 hours times 35 minutes, plus a couple of hours a day of prep time that his staffers probably do most of.
I keep thinking that if the economy was really that horrible that advertising budgets would drop off, but apparently I'm wrong.
I have to disagree with these people, but NCIS and NCIS:LA are good shows. Along with Hawaii 5-O, the Simpsons, Family Guy and CIS, we watch them as a family. We discuss the shows with our kids, but the days of 'Leave It To Beaver' as the traditional shows is gone.
I watch The Big Bang Theory, I stopped watching NCIS, and I never watch any of the others.
One of these days I'm going to break out a stopwatch for "Fox & Friends." They'll announce a guest coming up before a commercial break, they'll come back and ask the guest 3 questions, and then go back to commercial breaks. I understand that the business of any TV or radio show is to sell advertising time, but still... That show MUST have 40 minutes of commercials every hour!
Mark
No.. But I think I have seen the teasers.. I was watching Savage America.. Randy savage going around digging for artifacts and splitting the money with the land owner.
Same type of thing right?
I really liked Fish Tank Kings, and tanked to a point (they are not really doing their industry and favors with over stocked tanks and fast setups)... I wana see the Reef show on the weather channel to. keep meaning to ad that to the DVR.
There are more and more nights I look at the wife with the remote in my hand and ask “why do we pay for this junk again??” at some point I will pull the plug.
Cable companies could do many of us a favor by offering channels alacarte or a family friendly package.
This is when TV went to “PHTT”:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_purge
watch the first episode...they're all related in some way.....you'll get caught up in the characters.....
Aren’t they connected in some way? I know there is a TG Germany and Australia, TG BBC has had them on their show in the past.
yes...JUSTIFIED....fantastic dialogue and action and characters....
NO television watching here. Occasional movies - as in maybe once a month. We don’t miss it.
Am I the only one here who’ll admit to watching “South Park?”
Sometimes they “swing and miss,” often they’ll see a line in the sand, go right up to that line, take 2 steps back, and take a running leap across that line.
But quite often, they’ll hit on something really hillarious, and far too often, it seems like Parker & Stone are prophets...
Mark
Kind of but not really. He’s a professor out of Minnesota and researches artifacts like mounds in Indiana and Ohio, the Dare stone tablets and such to make guesses regarding their origin and authenticity. There’s definitely a sensational aspect to his approach but if you take his info and research no net you can find some interesting things. An English grave marker in the Arizona desert from 1600 and Mayans in Georgia are examples of shows.
Oh wow Downton Abbey, my family is totally addicted to that show lol. We’re up to Season 3 now.
HGTV has far too many same sex couples wanting to redecorate their bedrooms for me. I’m reduced to mainly the foodnetwork and even have to turn it off when they get too far left. Even Paula Deen is off my list since she had on Moochelle twice for campaign purposes.
I’ll check it out. Yes Lost I was into then it started getting really weird and I “lost” interest lol
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