TV Then And Now; What happened?

[jtr1962]

While there is a lot of midless drivel on TV today I fail to see what's so superior about mindless drivel 20, 30 or 40 years ago.

Yep. IMO TV started going downhill roughly around the time I was born, but I was fortunate enough to catch reruns of a lot of 1950s/early 1960s stuff in my childhood. The mid 1960s was a mixed bag, but it was pretty telling the way TV was ultimately headed when a second Star Trek pilot was made because the first one was considered too "cerebral". By the early 70s I'd say TV was well on its way to becoming a wasteland with tons of mindless sitcoms and variety shows (I personally detest both formats, particularly the inane laugh tracks). I recall pretty much not watching TV at all by the time I was in high school. My pet peeve at the time was shows I liked rarely made it past half a dozen episodes, while the garbage appealing to the masses lasted for years, even decades. In short, TV went from talking up to its audience to talking down to it, catering to the least common denominator.

If you ask me, I think cable and even you-tube improved the situation. Sure, there are tons of mindless nonsense today. The upside is thanks to the splitting of audiences, many shows which might appeal to a niche audience are now viable on cable channels, whereas they weren't when you only had 3 or 4 networks. Reality shows and remakes are the two most overused formats these days. Either writers can't come up with original programming, or networks are just too reluctant to take a chance with something different.

All things considered, I think it balances out, but there' not question in my mind when it came to flat out writing there was Rod Sterling, and then there's everybody else.

Funny you mentioned Rod Serling because the Twilight Zone remains one of my favorite series. Add him to the list of people who died much too young. I wonder if TV in the 1970s might have taken a different course had he lived longer.

 

[Monocrom]

While there is a lot of midless drivel on TV today I fail to see what's so superior about mindless drivel 20, 30 or 40 years ago. MASH is perhaps my biggest complaint, and while I thought it was cool as a teen I can barely stand watching any episodes today unless that stupid laugh track is turned off on the DVDs. Actually, it's because I've learned Alan Alda isn't really funny. Korean vets in my family found the show insulting. MASH was at it's best when Frank Burns was gone and they were being somewhat serious.

Shows like M*A*S*H and All in the family dealt with subject matters that you will never, and I mean NEVER see covered on TV shows of today. The funny bits were there just to break things up. You can't hit the audience over the head with controversial subject matter during the entire length of the show.

Besides Archie Bunker sitting in his favorite chair, the show dealt with such subjects as racism, terrorism, infidelity, guns, the '60s movement, rape, medical illness, death, what we would today call Home Invasion (ironically), interracial dating, the war, child abuse, homosexuality, draft dodgers, and family values. And those are just the subjects I can think of off the top of my head. Among other subject matters, you will never see those covered in a truly intelligent and thought-provoking way on TV today.

 

[jtr1962]

Besides Archie Bunker sitting in his favorite chair, the show dealt with such subjects as racism, terrorism, infidelity, guns, the '60s movement, rape, medical illness, death, what we would today call Home Invasion (ironically), interracial dating, the war, child abuse, homosexuality, draft dodgers, and family values. And those are just the subjects I can think of off the top of my head. Among other subject matters, you will never see those covered in a truly intelligent and thought-provoking way on TV today.

That much is certainly true. My brother and I often mention that if All In The Family were made today, it wouldn't get past the censors. That said, All In the Family was the exceptional show of its decade, probably about the only series from that time period really worth watching. It didn't hurt also that Archie Bunker reminded me of my late father in more ways than one. I think if the two were put in a room together, they would have gotten along splendidly.

 

[StarHalo]

Besides Archie Bunker sitting in his favorite chair,

Don't forget Chapelle's Show..

 

[Monocrom]

Don't forget Chapelle's Show..

Dave decided that $52,000,000 wasn't worth two seasons, even after having completed the first one he was under contract for. It was good while it lasted, but he decided to quit. A number of reasons floating around as to why. Main one seems to be that the show was indeed being dumbed-down slowly, and that he didn't want that.

 

[RBR]

.....

 

[Norm]

Watch an episode of the Nelsons on youtube and see just how corny TV used to be.

Loved Outer Limits and the twilight Zone.

How many know there where only 12 episodes of Faulty Towers?
Norm

 

[Monocrom]

Another problem that I've noticed with those shows today that have the potential to be really good, is this notion that the audience doesn't want "Good guys." So, sometimes we don't get any. One show that was very underrated was "Doll House." And after the end of the very first episode, I knew it would get canceled.

Too intelligent, and the entire supporting cast was made up of characters who were horribly bankrupt as far as morals! Didn't matter how entertaining it was or how good it could have been made. When everyone on the show is either a bad guy or slightly good, the audience isn't going to stick around. And they didn't. At one point, a spoiler was revealed that the Doll House would get attacked. Fearing that the audience would think that would be wonderful news, they turned the attacker (Alpha) into an insane, sick, twisted, monster.

Not sure where this notion came from that audiences don't want a traditional good guy, but not putting one in is a great way to get a show canceled. Who wants to watch a show filled with only bad guys and victims? That gets old real quick.

 

[Monocrom]

How many know there were only 12 episodes of Faulty Towers?
Norm

I do!

The quote in my Sigline was taken directly from an interview with Mr. Cleese in which the reporter asked him why in the world he did an episode of Faulty Towers in which his character poked fun at Nazism. Part of his response was what is contained in my Sigline.

Who could forget when Cleese's character who suffered a hit to the head says that they started the discussion about the war, and the German young man asks "How did we start it?" Then Cleese responds with "By invading Poland."

 

[JacobJones]

I'm a teenager myself and I agree that modern television is crap. I'm a big fan of all the old comedies: Steptoe and son, The good life, Some mothers do ave em, Fawlty towers, Porridge, Rising damp, Open all hours, Only fools and horses, Red dwarf, One foot in the grave, Love thy neighbour, and many more I can't remember off the top of my head. I really don't know where British humour has gone, I think that our comedy writers are trying to emulate American comedy and therefore loose the British viewers. And I expect this political correctness sh*t doesn't help, a lot of the good old comedies use racial humour, if they did that nowdays the programme would probably never make it onto the tv, some people just can't take a joke. I believe funny comedy has gone for good, stock up on DVD boxsets quick before they get banned for being offensive

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

I only watch two shows currently, "House" and "Fringe." The writing keeps me attracted to the shows, but above all else, it is the intense character development that keeps me coming back. Greg House and Walter Bishop are such thorough, three-dimensional characters that you really feel their sorrow. For other entertainment, I wait until movies are reviewed, and then choose the best to view.

Of course, flashlights are an excellent hobby.

 

[Lucem Ferre]

I wonder how much of this is generational & waxing nostalgic back towards 'better days'. To be honest I think the best shows on TV these days are much better than what we sat through in the days of 'yore.

While pure comedies probably aren't the strength of what is currently available...shows like Community, 30 Rock, Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family, The Office (admittedly past it's prime) all hold their own against their predecessors.

As far as 'topics we'll never see on TV' South Park, Family Guy & The Simpsons deliver that in spades. Even crude comedies like Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Eastbound & Down are very intelligent at their core.

Moving away from the comedies and there just isn't any comparison....Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, Burn Notice, Justified, Fringe, Mad Men, Chuck, Supernatural are heads & shoulders above what I had available to watch growing up in the 70's & 80's (don't get me wrong I still love Space: 1999 & Mr. Merlin but the objectively they don't compare).

And all of that is without taking into account the amazing shows pay cable channels have been putting out....Rome, Carnivale, Deadwood, Dead Like Me, Six Feet Under, Spartacus, Big Love, The Wire, Sopranos, The Big C etc etc

Admittedly there is a LOT more crap these days but that's an inevitable product of dozens of additional channels requiring far more programming to fill all the slots. Let's not forget that the 70's had it's share of Candid Cameras, Newlywed & Dating Games. Anyone remember Battle of the Network Stars?

 

[Monocrom]

With the Dramadies of old, you simply don't see that level of across-the-board intelligence mixed with comedy anymore.

Thanks to Political Correctness running rampant, and the belief from TV producers that Americans respond to mindless entertainment more than any other programming . . . Well, once again, there will never be the type of television such as All In The Family or M*A*S*H. At least, not in terms of challenging the audiences' intellect or beliefs in an honest way.

 

[StarHalo]

there will never be the type of television such as All In The Family or M*A*S*H.

Agreed but with the caveat that those shows were profound for their time and place; what exactly would a modern show be like that would have the same effect? I'm not really seeing anything beyond Chapelle's Show or Generation Kill..

 

[Monocrom]

Agreed but with the caveat that those shows were profound for their time and place; what exactly would a modern show be like that would have the same effect? I'm not really seeing anything beyond Chapelle's Show or Generation Kill..

Can't think of a modern-day version of All In The Family. A new show based around a family where not everyone gets along would have to be created. Although in his Day & Age of programming, they'd try to track down a real family and produce another reality TV show. Keeping Up With The Kardashians just doesn't cut it.

For M*A*S*H, I'm thinking more episodes focusing on the supporting cast of The Unit. And something more realistic than one of the moms being hired at a school, getting hit on by a sleazy teenager, then getting her daughter who likes the sleazy teenager to plant a gun on him so that he gets arrested. Hey! Problem solved. The show overall is good. But could be so much better. Such as the time when a couple of members of the team were trapped in a mine field and also had to lead a group of civilians through it. We have a modern-day M*A*S*H. Problem is David Mamet sometimes get too caught up in putting drama into the show, just for the sake of having it in there.

 

[LukeA]

...Well, once again, there will never be the type of television such as All In The Family or M*A*S*H. At least, not in terms of challenging the audiences' intellect or beliefs in an honest way.

With the Exception of MASH, all of the shows from the 70's and 80's that challenged the viewer in any way (All In The Family, Good Times, Sanford and Son, The Jeffersons, Maude, Diff'rent Strokes) were created by one man. So it's less of a case of "woe is our society at large today" and more "I wish Norman Lear was still working."

 

[Sub_Umbra]

Funny and smart?

That's tough with a stupid audience. It makes TV a tough room for quality of any kind.

Remember that reality shows proliferate because they sell soap. They strike a chord with the Prols.

There have been a few smart/funny shows in the last 10-12 years but they failed quickly. Some that never found a decent slot were: Action (13 episodes), The Tick (live action series -- only 9 episodes aired) and Raines (7 aired episodes).

 

[Monocrom]

With the Exception of MASH, all of the shows from the 70's and 80's that challenged the viewer in any way (All In The Family, Good Times, Sanford and Son, The Jeffersons, Maude, Diff'rent Strokes) were created by one man. So it's less of a case of "woe is our society at large today" and more "I wish Norman Lear was still working."

A younger version of Norman Lear today wouldn't be able to get a job in a TV studio mopping the floors.

Brilliant man. Far too smart for TV executives today.

 

[StarHalo]

"I wish Norman Lear was still working."

Right, but therein lies the rub; let's say Norman Lear is planning a new show, and is specifically aiming to make it just as clever and funny and controversial as those shows were - what would that show be like? Those shows were cutting edge in their day because they tread into topics that other shows hadn't gone into before, but at the start of the 21st century, what subject hasn't television exhausted to the point that it's no longer even controversial?

 

[LukeA]

...what subject hasn't television exhausted to the point that it's no longer even controversial?

A family with U.S. citizen children and illegal alien parents or a gay couple/family living not on the west coast or in the northeast are two subjects that haven't had network sitcoms done about them that popped into my head in short order.