Network TV's Case of the Missing Men (Or, "The Day TV Died")

fox ^ | 11-21-03

[steppenwolffe]

Young man, turn on your television. Please. The networks are begging you.

Due to an exodus of 18- to 34-year-old male viewers, the four networks' new TV shows are getting booted off the air faster than "Survivor" contestants this season.

[chiller]

I'd like to see more gay oriented sit-coms, left leaning news programs and shows that make people eat really strange things...

I'm with you. Great ideas all...wonder why no one every tried any of these?????

[Pikamax]

last night I watched Vic Romano and Kenny Blankenship!

[Frank_Discussion]

Make that two freepers for Enterprise.

[phugg]

MXC is the best thing Spike Lee ever made.

[Johnny Gage]

Cable TV + digital video recorder = watch what you want anytime and skip the commercials.

Amen to that!

My Dish DVR is set to record:
1) CSI / CSI Miami
2) Thirdwatch
3) Law & Order / L & O Criminal Intent
4) ER


The only live TV we watch is anything on Food Network, History Channel, or Speed Channel

We watch them at our leisure, usually later in the evening after kids are in bed.... ultra-fast forward thru the commercials.

[CalvaryJohn]

1. NYPD Blue
2. 24
3. Star Trek Enterprise (UPN)
4. Third Watch
5. CSI & CSI Miami. David Caruso should never have left NYPD Blue. Now, after ten years, he's finally back where he started in a decent role.

[MainFrame65]

Network TV can't "out-raunch" the skin channels on cable, and they need to quit trying because they are driving people that intend to avoid such crap away. Language is rougher, more skin is shown, more sex, more excess violence, and ever more depravity. With all of that going in to every show, what is being left out? Decent plots, story lines, character development, attractive characters that can elicit a personal interest, etc, etc.

My particular favorite show is CSI, but it has drifted over the raunch line several times this year. The lapses are short, but clearly deliberate, and I resent it.

The same complaint applies to movies. I used to see 40 or 50 every year, but have almost quit. I did see "Master and Commander", and anticipate LOTR "Return of the King" later, but I have been disappointed often enough that my habits have changed.

And I am tired of hearing these Hollywood hypocrites pontificate on topics beyond their comprehension. When I see them on screen, I am more mindful of their political brainlessness than of the character they represent. As a result, their tradecraft holds little interest for me any more. When and if they shut up and act, my interest might revive.

[Republicus2001]

two words - gay programming

[Not_Who_U_Think]

I agree with you about 'Coupling'. Sarah Alexander is such a babe; and the British, for some reason, have always done sexually-themed shows better than us. The American version is dirty jokes and potty humor, as in "Porky's" or "American Pie".

[RebelBanker]

BINGO!

[colorado tanker]

I quit watching network TV when I curled up with my then toddler to watch NBC's "comedies" and found Seinfeld doing a show on masturbation. It was Nick at Night after that.

[Question_Assumptions]

Though I'm slightly outside of this age range, I might watch more network series television series if they kept shows in one timeslot and ran more than 4 - 6 new episodes in a row before switching to repeats and specials. I'll watch a show like Enterprise or Smallville and we'll get a run of new episodes and then it seems to meander through some repeats in now particular episodes if they show it at all. At some point, they eventually decide to show a few more. After a while, I stop turning on the show or leaving time for it because its just repeats and miss when the new shows start up. They should shoot the idiot who decided to only show new episodes during sweeps periods. Life is too short for me to keep track of when new episodes are being shown or not shown so I just give up. Similarly, I watch shows like Futurama on the Cartoon Network even though I almost never caught it on Fox because I could never tell when it was going to be on.

Show 24-26 episodes (allow for a special or two, if necessary). Repeat them in sequence so that new viewers can start watching. Start next season in same time slot one year after the previous sesason. Repeat the next season in sequence. Rinse and repeat. How hard can that be?

Another great idea is to put too many shows in one genre or two successful shows up against each other so that none of them can survive. Yeah, all the science fiction geeks are home on Friday so let's put a science fiction show on every channel to grab that audience. Problem? Divide that audience by 3 or more and you don't have enough of an audience to keep a show alive.

Final anecdotal point. A friend who is also slightly above the 18-34 age demographic and his wife were a real Neilson family. He spends many of his evenings playing Counter Strike instead of watching television. The networks must hate him.

[Enterprise]

Hand clapping LOL! That about sums up my feelings about TV. Made for retarded adults and young girls.

[Enterprise]

Enterprise forever!!

[BadAndy]

TV is full of what could be called "Chicks with Dics". Ever notice how many 5' 100# women on TV are shown beating up 6' 200# guys? Notice how all the MD's and scientists and cops on TV are now women? All of the TV heros are women and there are no more "buddy shows" that don't have a woman as part of the team.

[BoilermakerCAengineerguy]

I'm right in the middle of the target demographic: 28 yr-old male. I'm married, with a 2 year-old -- between work, dinner, church activities, playing with my daughter, working on our finances, working around the house, other husband-wife activities, and trying to get more than 5 hours of sleep, I simply don't have the time to watch much TV.

Two exceptions:
1) Jeopardy (I've convinced my 2 year-old that Jeopardy is fun to watch; she knows Alex Trebek's name, and gets excited when she hears the show theme!)
2) Smallville (Wed. night, 8 PM, on the WB). My wife and I got hooked 2 years ago during Season 1 -- ironically, the only episode I've ever missed is the very first one!

[nothingnew]

I'm just some schmuck living in flyover country....that doesn't watch network tv!!

I'm one of those too, and proud of it. No TV since 1996. Watch DVD's and VCR, but no "TV".

FMCDH

[Squawk 8888]

This male:

1. CFL football (season ended last week).
2. Coupling (the real one, not the Hollywood forgery)
3. Enterprise (escapist)
4. EastEnders (okay, so it's a soap but the writing's decent)

Funniest shows ever made, in no particular order:

1. Fawlty Towers
2. Coupling (BBC)
3. Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (BBC comedy-drama miniseries)
4. Red Dwarf
5. The Job (too funny for ABC, knew it couldn't last)
6. Frasier (before it degenerated into a soap/morality play)
7. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[cyclotic]

Y'know, it's kind of weird, I am 100% against the GAYTV concept that's going on. Mostly makes me want to vomit. However, NYPD Blue has always had the gay secretary and I can usually accept that character. Yea, he's a flamer, but they don't shove it down our throats. He's just one of the team and they don't usually kill us witht he agenda.

Having Sipowicz call him "Gay John" makes it OK too.

The rest of the shows are way too "in my face"

[Chewbacca]

Network Shows I watch:

Monk, Peacemakers, Stargate SG-1, Tremors, Futurama, Samuri Jack, Enterprise, Jake 2.0, Malcom In the Middle, Junkyard Wars, CMT music videos, Mail Call, Tactical/Practical

Shows I used to watch until they were discontinued or were axed by the networks:

X-Files (I never watched the last season or much after the movie was release.)
Farscape
Babylon 5
Firefly (the networks never let this develop a following)
Star Trek Voyager (interesting but sometimes to leftist and PC)

Overseas shows my brother tapes for me that I like to watch:

McCloud's Daughters (Aussie soap opera with 4 cute chicks)


Shows I can't wait to watch when they come out:

Battlestar Galactica