Fleeing TV

Townhall.com ^ | December 7, 2013 | Bill O'Reilly

[Kaslin]

Marketing surveys now show that when Americans come home from work, more folks turn on their computers than their television sets. That is a first.

The reason is twofold: First, you can create your own world on your PC, and second, TV is awful. Flat-out awful. For years, television has been losing viewers because the product, generally speaking, has collapsed.

Reality TV has destroyed the tube. Cheap, mindless shows featuring people who should be deported rule the airwaves. Don't believe me? Well, TV Guide recently listed reality TV's most startling moments. The choices are indeed startling.

Among them is Marie Osmond fainting on "Dancing with the Stars." That was unforgettable, was it not? All 10 of her siblings attempted to resuscitate her.

Laurie has a breast-baring meltdown on a program called "She's Got the Look." I don't know who Laurie is, but I believe she may be overexposed. Or something.

Rebecca gets dentures on "Breaking Amish." I am not fabricating this. I didn't even know that the Amish broke anything. Hopefully, Rebecca can clean the dentures without electricity. At least she's in better shape than Laurie.

An Elvis impersonator is overwhelmed by memorabilia on the show "Hoarders." I missed that. I'm sorry.

Tom DeLay dances to "Wild Thing" on "Dancing with the Stars." That was why Marie Osmond fainted.

"The Osbournes" examining the aftermath of Ozzy's ATV accident. Does it get any better than that? Does it?

Kim Kardashian weds Kris Humphries on "Kim's Fairytale Wedding." This was the nadir. An untalented but ambitious woman marrying a young basketball player and then divorcing him about 20 minutes later. And the guy got hurt. So why are people watching that? Disturbing question.

Monica Lewinsky hosts "Mr. Personality." This was an actual TV show. Insert your joke here.

On a show called "The Surreal Life," the guy who played Mini Me in an Austin Powers movie rides a scooter naked. Why didn't Kim Kardashian think of that?

The "Queer Eye" guys go nude. Did they have scooters, as well? I honestly don't know.

Michelle Obama appears on "The Biggest Loser." This is a weight loss program, not the Republican Convention.

And finally, chef Gordon Ramsay "fat-shames" a "Hell's Kitchen" contestant. All I can say is that Jackie Gleason would have taken Ramsay out.

So it is beyond dispute that television is in deep trouble. These reality shows make "Gilligan's Island" look like "Macbeth." They are like unspeakable zombies destroying the entire structure of the television industry.

Thank God PBS is still on the air. But even here there is some worry. Elmo has been seen hanging with the Kardashians. It's just a matter of time until someone gets engaged.

[TurkeyLurkey]

Spouse and I are both book-readers anyway—we have never had cable tv and never will have-—but we both do spend a lot of time on the computer, partly for work and partly for news communication, and an occasional old movie. I do miss the “25 year old Britcom reruns” on Sunday evenings though. Foyle’s War was one we liked.

The only thing I know about “Bill” is what I read here on FR. The only thing I know about Fox News is what I read here on FR. Now, that’s probably pretty rare!

[sima_yi]

... I learned how to repair my Washer and Dryer using YouTube video's.

I call it University of YouTube. I learned how to use a cutting torch, a bead blaster, and how to do the major servicing on my tractor, among other things.

[I want the USA back]

Network TV programming caters to the lowest of the low. It attempts to break down every worthwhile cultural norm. It tries to destroy moral and ethical values. It cheapens and demeans anything that is good. A mind-numbed public laps it up, lowering themselves farther and farther from civilized human beings.

The producers are opportunistic money-grubbing slobs, willing to destroy a country for money.

[EricT.]

We canceled our cable TV but kept our cable internet, which saved us 40 or so bucks every month. We get local channels and a plethora of Spanish language “cleavage” channels, which actually have better quality programming than most channels on cable TV (even though we don’t speak Spanish). However, we mostly just watch classic American and British shows on Netflix or shows on YouTube through our old Wii.

I spent last night watching episodes of “Tank Overhaul” on YouTube. Pretty cool stuff.

[jocon307]

“....It was not bad...”

The Sound of Music could never be bad, the music is just too great. But poor Carrie Underwood (whom we love) couldn’t act her way out of paper bag.

[conservativehoosier]

Thank goodness for free, OTA (over-the-air) reception of AntennaTV and MeTV from various location broadcast stations. It is once again refreshing to watch shows like The Donna Reed Show, Leave It To Beaver, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Bewitched, I Dream Of Jeannie, The Twilight Zone, Thriller, Green Acres, Perry Mason, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, etc. I watch these two channels more than any other stations.

http://antennatv.tv/
http://metvnetwork.com/

[CatherineofAragon]

We have Directv, and we have no plans to get rid of it. The History Channel is all about aliens and pawn shops now, Animal Planet gave up on animals and replaced them with hillbillies rolling around in the swamp, but there is still “The Walking Dead”

However, Bill, we DID flee YOUR show because you, and it, are “just awful.”

[Catmom]

If you can hook up your big screen tv to the internet, why should you keep cable?

[EricT.]

Learned how to do a trigger job on my rifle from YouTube. It turned out really good.

[dsrtsage]

With very few exceptions, TV absolutely sucks. Though there have been a few gems over the years. More often, what happens though is a new very well done (compelling story line, interesting and well written characters) show comes out on an off network, with no advertising, in a horrific and randomly changing time slot, and then it is killed in its first season. Typically, I find them after the fact, get totally into it, watch all of season 1, they end with the ultimate cliffhanger, I hit the webs to find out when season 2 starts and learned that the show is canceled, at which point I break everything in a 10ft radius. Its Firefly over and over again.

[TurkeyLurkey]

“How Millennial are you?”

My goodness, my score was 3!

[usconservative]

I call it University of YouTube. I learned how to use a cutting torch, a bead blaster, and how to do the major servicing on my tractor, among other things.

So I wanted to learn how to break down my AR-15 and clean it, and found this really great video on YouTube. Had this really hot chick in it ..... still don't know how to break my AR-15 down and clean it though.

[usconservative]

This was the video - how to break down and clean your AR-15

[Kartographer]

It's not just TV it's pretty much applies to forms of what passes for entertainment now days. The best example that I can think of is the original 1957 movie '3:10 to Yuma' with Glenn Ford and Van Heflin and the 2007 remake with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. The first one of the best alround westerns made, a real morality play as the best westerns are. The 2007 on the other hand is a homoerotic S&M bloodfest with not one redeeming character. That's what the entertainment world whats for us to be as self-centered and amoral as most of them are.

[lodi90]

We got a roku and love it. More free B movies than you could ever watch and a hub for most anything you would want to pay for. Internet TV is the future.

[wally_bert]

Youtube has far more useful (maybe not the greatest production quality) educational and how to stuff than most cable shows.

I wish some people knew a little about editing and camera work. That being said, if I can get something useful out of it, I can let technical stuff slide.

[wally_bert]

Me-TV is the best channel. My home DVD collection kind of mirrors their daytime lineup.

[TomGuy]

The trouble is that the formula is so overused that movies and television have become just parodies of other productions.

Many of the detective type TV programs are so formulaic that I can watch a few minutes and pronounce 'he/she did it or was involved in the crime.'

By the end of the episode, after 3 or 4 other characters were accused and interrogated, in the final twist, the one(s) I selected early turn out to be the culprit(s) in 80-90% of the dramas.

Additionally, Hollow-wood has so few new ideas that they have to try to remake classic TV shows and movies. More times than not, those remakes turn out to be EPIC FAILs. A few do find success, however.

[Dan(9698)]

Put a camera on the side of your house and use it for a window.

[clockwise]

I got a 1.