Is TV better than it used to be?

[diebitter]

I think it's definitely much, much better in terms of quantity of quality. There used to be one show at any one time that really rocked. At one time it was Twin Pkeas, then it was Star Trek NextGen, then it was X-Files.... but now there seems to be a good solid dozen or so in the public consciousness right now that are good solid entertainment.

And that's just drama.

For example, I just completed Firefly a little while ago and I'm DVDing right now Alias Season 4 ()okay not the graetest, but still pretty good), Battlestar Galactica S2, South Park and Murder One Season One (okay that's from the 90s), but I still haven't got around to watching these, and I have them queued on a shelf waiting:

Lost; Carnivake; Rome; 24; Sopranos; Deadwood; Band of Brothers; American Gothic; Angels in America.


And that doesn't include shows I haven't got yet, but want to see, such as: Oz, The Wire, and a few others.


I'd argue TV is way better these days, compared to say, pre 2000.

what people think?

[Wynton]

I think there is just more of it, frankly. I think you can find a handful of quality shows for every year going back, at least, to the early 1970s. My guess is that the percentage of quality shows per overall available programming may not be significantly different.

[mrbaseball]

TV is way better now. The production values are way higher than they used to be. Competition demands it. There is a lot of competition for leisure time entertainment now both from all the additional channels available now as well as DVDs, the internet, video games etc.

I have a pretty nice home theater setup (60" high def dlp w/surround) and the for new shows, almost all are spectacular on it. As hi def becomes more prevalent the production qualities will have to keep pace or be buried by the competition.

Then again the networks do less quality for sake of trying to save money with a bunch of crappy reality shows and game shows which I wouldn't watch if paid. But the decent weekly dramas and comedies all look great. If the writing can stay fresh it's better than ever.

A couple of shows that got the axe early this season (Smith, Kidnapped, The Nine etc.) where specatular looking shows with a lot of star power that never grabbed that early audience. I'm sure they cost much more than the networks were willing to gamble when they could be replaced by some crappy Wife Swap, Nanny show or Deal or No Deal at a fraction of the cost. I just hope the networks (and HBOs and Showtimes) continue to try and produce high quality drama.

[Sniper]

[ QUOTE ]
Smith, Kidnapped, The Nine

[/ QUOTE ]

fwiw, I enjoyed watching all 3 of those...

[MrMon]

If you get the chance to see an old show from the '70s or even '80s that you thought was really good, do so. They were generally pretty horrid. There are classics from that era as well, but there's some really, really bad shows out there, especially dramas. I doubt there's one hospital show pre-St. Elsewhere that stands up anymore. Most of the police or law shows are pretty bad as well.

[Sniper]

[ QUOTE ]
I doubt there's one hospital show pre-St. Elsewhere that stands up anymore.

[/ QUOTE ]

What about General Hospital... soaps still going strong...

[MrMon]

General Hospital has about as much to do with medicine as early Dom films have to do with gynecology. The only thing they have in common is location.

[Dominic]

[ QUOTE ]
General Hospital has about as much to do with medicine as early Dom films have to do with gynecology. The only thing they have in common is location.

[/ QUOTE ]

I did make one titled, ""Dr. Cooze." Does that count?

[Rick Nebiolo]

I think so even though I don't have cable and hardly have time for TV (but I'm starting to catch up with the recent great TV series via Netflix so keep the recommendations coming).

Anyway, I wrote more or less the following in the nearby "The Wire" thread:

"A lot of things in culture and lifestyle are very good these days but many people around my age (I'm 52) often don't think so. IMO it's the nostalgia trap; that is comparing the average of today with the best of something from years ago. It's simply not a fair comparison.

For something not too old and available on Netflix I'd recommend "Homicide: Life on the Street". Like "The Wire" it's also based in Baltimore. You should also be able to find at least one old thread discussing this show on TLDR or even OOT.

~ Rick

[MyTurn2Raise]

better....200 channels competing for my viewership
dvr to skip commercials

I dig education, sports, and reality shows---all are in full bloom these days.