Good morning, friends. Another hot one is in store for us today. It’s early morning here at the cottage, still somewhat cool, so the windows are open and fresh air is finding its way inside. When it gets hot enough, we’ll switch the AC back on. But until then…aaaah….it’s so nice to have the windows open! I get more than a little stir crazy when the AC is constantly on. It makes me feel trapped, somehow, as if I’m in a sterile environment from which there is no escape.
Somewhat dramatic, I know, but true, nonetheless.
May I complain just a bit about the state of television? Last night, Don and I watched Sunday’s episode of The Newsroom for the second time (it’s that good) and when it was over, we looked for something else that might be watch-worthy.
We have lots of cable channels available to us. What did we find? A sea of “reality” shows: swamp people, tow truck drivers, ‘real’ housewives, handfishers (what the heck?), gator catchers, hair stylists, the list goes on and on. And as each one appeared on the screen, we said out loud, “Who cares???”
None of these are truly ‘reality.’ They’re staged. Tell me how ‘real’ you would be with cameras following you everywhere? And more importantly, why would you want to have cameras following you everywhere? Why on earth would you want your private life on display for everyone to see? And again: Who cares?
Don and I sometimes goof around and lampoon the reality show style:
Me facing camera: Sometimes I like to eat while working on my laptop.
Shot of me eating a sandwich with laptop in the shot.
Me facing camera: “But when Don makes dinner, we eat it on trays in the den.”
Shot of Don cooking.
Don’s voice: Get ready honey, dinner’s ready.
Unattractive shot of me lifting Riley and carrying him down the stairs into the den.
My voice: I just have to go to the bathroom before we eat.
Shot of me disappearing into the bathroom. Door closes.
Shot of Scout scavenging for crumbs in the kitchen.
Shot of Don in kitchen with trays.
Sound of toilet flushing. Sound of water running.
Shot of me emerging from bathroom.
Don’s voice (somewhat impatient): Are you ready?
Shot of me plopping down in my chair.
My voice: Yes.
Shot of Don carrying tray into den with Scout constantly getting in his way.
Don’s voice: Move, Scout!
My voice: Scout, come here!
Shot of Scout entering the ‘tunnel’ under my legs.
Shot of Don handing me a tray.
My voice: Looks good, honey!
Shot of Don sitting down with his tray. Grabs television remote. He turns the evening news on.
Don facing camera: “We love to settle in to our cozy den and watch the evening news together.”
End of scene.
Or we ‘stage’ a fight, heightened and exaggerated, of course, for the camera. Something that Jeff Daniels’ character on The Newsroom calls ‘human cockfighting.’
Upon viewing either of these scenes, you would say, “Who cares?” And you would be right.
In our channel search, we couldn’t find anything new that was scripted and compelling. (This was on Monday night.) Lots of Law and Order reruns. Lots of reality crap.
I remember when Hill Street Blues first premiered. It was so well-written, so well-acted, so compelling and surprising and smart that I couldn’t wait for the next episode. I felt the same way about ER and NYPD Blue and a host of other quality shows. There are still excellent series being aired today, some on the networks, many on cable, but they are almost buried in a sea of voyeuristic, cheaply-made, so-called reality shows.
It’s the dumbing down of television.
Sad but true. Thank goodness for the few quality shows that are still out there. They give me hope that, someday, things might turn around.
Fingers crossed.
Thanks for the giggle. What ever happened to comedy shows? Or is that what they think they are giving us?
“The Closer” (on TNT) is a good Monday night show, but the series is wrapping up right now and watching it from this point in would likely not be nearly as interesting!
Other than “Big Bang,” I find current sitcoms appalling. I use the heck out of netflix and hulu.
Even more telling is that my teen has no interest in what’s on tv these days — he prefers older series like Family Matters, Fresh Prince, Full House, etc. (One of the many benefits of homeschooling — he can watch what he finds entertaining without being made fun of by “peers”!)
Glenda
Claudia when I find a good well written show on TV, it gets cancelled! Sigh…the Newsroom sounds good but I don’t get HBO. I’ll just watch my DVD’s of Gilmore Girls.
I agree, who cares? If someone does care, why?
Television has become not only boring but sometimes offensive. There is so little that is worth the time, to watch, that I find myself reading much more, and listening to the radio to the exclusion of TV.
nancyr
I completely agree Claudia. What kind of a person watches and believes those programs. There must be a lot because they are popular and just keep multiplying like a bad infection. Thank goodness for dvd players and TCM.
Have you ever watched “Damages” with Glenn Close? The new season has started and it is a really well written, gritty show. You can rent the series on dvd it is well worth watching.
Have a great day, stay cool,
Sue
You two monkeys crack me up! Wish I could watch it on You Tube. I don’t think I’ve had the TV on more than a few minutes since I got home Friday.
Brenda
Television is soooo bad..Has been for the past few years..It’s always on but I rarely know what is being broadcast..I call it “the vast wasteland”…I should read :)
Yes..Summer, to me, is so much more confining than winter..I walk Mollie first thing and only go out the rest of the day to get the mail and for her to pee..Can’t wait for winter..
Oh, I so agree with you. I miss shows like Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue, Thirtysomething, etc. Now we have a handful of quality shows, like Criminal Minds and a few others. I think reality programs are cheap to produce, so everyone does it. Too bad, too bad. More tv does not mean better tv.
You are sooooo right! I watch a lot of reruns of old shows. The new stuff is unbelievably moronic and tasteless. I find myself turning off the tv altogether. Great post Claudia!
Blessings, Joanne
I saw a few minutes of that new show Political Animals the other night and was taken aback by it. I thought oh my goodness, this is awful. My neck felt like it was getting whip lash switching back and forth between issues so quickly. And we don’t get HBO either, I refuse to add anything else to my cable prices! I’m sure the program is terrific with Jeff in it!
I’m still laughing at your reality show! I agree on TV-there’s nothing on anymore. We’ve been turning it off after the news almost every night!
I’ve seen clips of this show and it looks excellent. I don’t get HBO but I’m checking to see if I can just add that channel. J
I’ve been watching “The Newsroom” and am enjoying it for the most part. In the summer it is hard to find decent viewing sometimes. That’s when I catch up on shows I didn’t have time to watch or didn’t know whether I would like them or not. I sometimes do not understand the choices of the tv execs when choosing shows, but when they get it right, like “Parenthood”, “Southland”, “Homefront”, “Nurse Jackie”, “Modern Family”, “Big Bang” (natch)”Mad Men”, “The Good Wife”, and many I probably can’t remember at the moment – they really shine and faith is restored in the tv industry. I’m a reality show watcher, so I must be in the minority amongst your readers. They are not believeable by any stretch, but sometimes they are like a bag of potato chips and I can’t help myself! Ann
You made me laugh out loud… :-) It’s really the truth, isn’t it? I caught an episode of the Kardashian’s while channel surfing recently…..how can people be so nasal, self involved and weird? It did make me laugh though…
Huggies to you!
xo
Spencer
we loathe the dumbing down of television… and don’t watch much anymore. Now and then there is a clever series or a documentary or a movie well done..and worth the time to watch. But it’s not a daily occurence.
“Reality TV” is cheap. All that matters anymore is the bottom line.
ROFL!! I don’t watch much tv, but I do like “The Closer.” How do we have so many channels and there is never anything good to watch? I feel the same way about movies these days – rarely do they make anything that is a really good movie anymore.
It seems every time I turn the tv on it’s reality shows!! The kardashians are something else!! I love the old movies.
Kathy
I agree, Claudia. A few of my old time favorites are Northern Exposure, Picket Fences, and Family. How I’d love for shows like that to make an appearance again! The last one I kind of got interested in was The Brotherhood of Poland, but that one sure didn’t last long. Clearly I don’t enjoy the same types of shows that the masses do… Donna
We rent from Netflix, one at a time, unlimited, for just $7.99 a month – movies and British TV series mainly – and watch Masterpiece Theatre and Nature on PBS. Nightly news (mainly Bob not me) now and then, but no actual American made ‘shows’ as they are mostly terrible.
I could easily live without a TV nowadays – even HGTV and Food Channel are off my radar now – the programs are really all the same and totally boring!
When I do take a minute and scroll through channels I’m appalled at what comes up – we do have cable, why I don’t know, because we hardly ever watch anything anymore!
A wonderful book, a beautiful magazine, or an interesting blog – all much more enjoyable in so many ways compared to the ‘telly’.
Hugs – Mary
The TV has become stupid here aswell. viva internet!
Greetings
Adelina.
LOL too funny!!.. I am right there with you on television.. There really isn’t much of any substance out there.. I stopped watching most TV months ago and with the garbage thats on now I don’t really even miss it..
Robyn :)