Posted on 06/30/2008 5:59:40 AM PDT by Leisler
Yet I must be a contradiction, because they always say that TV watchers don't read. Well, my wife goes through 40 books a year; I easily go through triple that because of my job.
These kinds of denunciations of television don't go far to appreciating its strengths, while admitting its weaknesses.
Don’t know, and it’s not my show. But it’s been on a while.
Just look at the TV show Two and a Half Men. The entire series seems to consist of how many different ways the actors can say penis and vagina, and how many different references to the sex act they can cram in to each episode. It isn’t one bit funny, and for the life of me I can’t see why the show would have any viewers over the age of 16.
I’m sure you get your 500 channels worth.
I can access far greater (both in depth and breadth) information about anything on the net. I can look at issues from multiple perspectives by carefully choosing sources. This is of course an active effort, requiring thinking on the part of the user. TV is passive, and you are trusting the directors, producers, narrators and so on to ignore their biases and present things as they are.
But you have a PhD, so you already know that...
Yeah, I’m just a dummy who has written 30 books. What do I know.
“Mayberry sucked...All in the Family was great.”
Incorrect. Mayberry was some of the best comedy writing ever put on TV. “The Pre-amble to the Constitution” bit is every bit as funny now as it was when first presented. It is on par with Abbot and Costello’s “Who’s on First”.
I saw the clip a few months ago and nearly fell out of my chair. People were gasping for air because they wee laughing so hard.
Honorable mention: Barney buys his parents a septic system for their fiftieth wedding anniversary. Fall down funny.
hear, hear!
We’ve never paid good $$$ for cable and thus have never had network TV available. Have never missed it. And our kids all read way above grade level...
They do love the Mayberry videos we’ve found. Next on my to buy list: original Get Smart DVD’s ....
WGN has a retro night on Sunday nights. I watched an episode of Newhart and the Honeymooners last night and I laughed out loud many times. My only disappointment was that this episode of Newhart did not have the Darrells in it.
I disagree. All in the Family was lame.
Maude was the one show I did not like when they started in with the abortion issue!
LOL. Anyone who has to preface a discussion with tossing out their credentials is either insecure or their argument is weak. I liked your usage of “megastructures” but was disappointed that you did not also include the ubiquitous ‘paradigm’.
TV is an intellectual hopper (the water-closet kind) that once delivered thoughtfully crafted discourse, and has devolved into little more than a video shouting match. Lower enthalpy and higher entropy are the nature of things, and TV displays this all to well.
It’s a question of quality vs. quantity. Surely a prolific author such as yourself would recognize that.
And anyone who has to insinuate that their version of entertainment is inherently more “intellectual” than someone else is, well, even more insecure or weak. Do what you want with your spare time. I’m looking forward to “Burn Notice” starting in two weeks, and “The Shield” in the fall.
Ummm, Megastructures is a TV show.
Your argument loses a lot when you don’t know the topic being discussed and mistakenly assign meanings.
Cheers,
knewshound
I disagree. All in the Family was lame.
lol. We would just to have separate TV’s.
That is true. I know you are right by just catching a quick minute of IMHO the worst show ever to be put on TV “Moment of Truth”. I even think that is worse than Jerry Springer and that was bad.
:-)
You got me there, not being an idiot-box devotee I had no idea there was a show of that name. Is this the one?
http://www.tv.com/national-geographic-channel-megastructures/show/42430/summary.html
I’m sure it has lots of fancy graphics and catch phrases for the attention-span challenged. If it’s in the vein of a ‘Modern Marvels’ they are fun to watch , but hardly convey the depth of knowledge to offer anything more than superficial cocktail conversation at the Engineer’s Club.
As for the topic at hand, it is the withering of the boob tube audience. Unless they are re-running Burke’s Connections or Day the Universe Changed (or something equivalent), it’s just so much Reader’s Digest summaries, neatly quartered to nest between commercial messages.
But maybe you are on to something, perhaps I should turn the darkened tube back on, I need a good lecture on global warming from a Weather Channel ‘climate expert’
Do whatever you like.
I never understand why someone who *says* they don’t watch TV would come on the thread about TV watching habits to proclaim that they don’t watch TV.
But I digress.
Knock yourself out.
Watch TV or don’t. I couldn’t care one way or the other.
FYI - Megastructures is a show about Engineering. Hosted by and written by an Engineer. It shows the challenges and obstacles faced by Engineers as they build structures, bridges and other very large scale projects.
Oh yeah, fancy graphics and catch phrases. Yep, sure, uh huh.
The kind that keep real Engineers like me interested.
But thanks for the condescension. I enjoy being talked down to Soooooo much.
I will go look at the flashy lights on my equipment now.
All us Engineers like flashy lights. Beeping noises too.
We are after all, easily entertained.
Cheers,
knewshound
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