# The Mediocre Television Topic Thread



## BAYLOR (Oct 11, 2020)

Also known as the meh Television  category,.Tv shows that are not good enough to ascend to heights of excellence or good ness for that matter  and not bad enough to be consigned to the abyssal category of bad television . This covers  all the various genres of television and all eras of television. Which shows do you think being in the unremarkable Mediocre Meh Category ? This also overlaps with orated category d shows.


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## Rodders (Oct 11, 2020)

Most T.V. Falls into mediocrity, I’m afraid. My girlfriend loves watching soap operas and I struggle with them. I Always felt there was an element of voyeurism with them.


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## Narkalui (Oct 11, 2020)

Burn Notice. Watchable but nothing special.


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## Rodders (Oct 11, 2020)

I feel the same about Police procedural. NCIS, SVU etc. There are just so many of then.

I do enjoy Law and Order, though.


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## Matchu (Oct 11, 2020)

Rodders said:


> I feel the same about Police procedural. NCIS, SVU etc. There are just so many of then.
> 
> I do enjoy Law and Order, though.



Sorry for the stupid question, but are they fiction, or the following cops on duty, type of shows?


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## BAYLOR (Oct 11, 2020)

Matchu said:


> Sorry for the stupid question, but are they fiction, or the following cops on duty, type of shows?



They are descendants of the granddad of  all procedural cop shows *Dragnet*.


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## CupofJoe (Oct 11, 2020)

Rodders said:


> I feel the same about Police procedural. NCIS, SVU etc. There are just so many of then.
> 
> I do enjoy Law and Order, though.


When I grow old I want to be Lennie Briscoe...


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## Vince W (Oct 18, 2020)

I have no time for policing shows, lawyering shows or doctoring shows for the most part. They all tend to cover the same topics endlessly and are a frightful bore. The same now goes for any superhero programme. I find most of them unwatchable.


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## BAYLOR (Oct 18, 2020)

*The FBI *which and  from 1965 to 74 . Very bland and forgettable tv show.


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## Rodders (Oct 19, 2020)

Beige comedies. The Big Bang Theory is a prime example. 

Okay, I'll admit that it is entertaining, but in no way was that show good enough for 12 series.


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## BAYLOR (Oct 19, 2020)

Rodders said:


> Beige comedies. The Big Bang Theory is a prime example.
> 
> Okay, I'll admit that it is entertaining, but in no way was that show good enough for 12 series.



Ive watched episodes of that and over the years . Meh.


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## CupofJoe (Oct 19, 2020)

I kind of like a mediocre show. Especially if it has been running for a few years and all the characters are well drawn. During lockdown, I've been watching a lot of the long running American TV series from the Law & Order stable. There are episodes that standout, but there are relatively few bad ones. Most are good enough to hold your attention for 45 minutes. I know it is a different production system [team writing vs single author etc], but it always amazes me that an American TV show can have 20+ shows in a season, year after year. And usually [with some notable exceptions, I freely admit] they are better written and faster paced.  In the UK, 8 episode is considered a long run and there are shows that have made 6 episodes feel too long. And with shows like Dr Who there are large gaps between series and a lot of variation in quality [for my tastes at least].
Let's all cheer *the good enough TV!*


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## BAYLOR (Oct 19, 2020)

Id have say the original Charmed tv series .  It had some decent moments but ,  fell into a predictable pattern of story telling. It was a pretty bland fantasy melodrama.


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## Elckerlyc (Oct 19, 2020)

BAYLOR said:


> *The FBI *which and  from 1965 to 74 . Very bland and forgettable tv show.


I can recall a certain scene from that series and also the very last episode I ever watched....
It is night. The FBI has closed off the street and quietly surround their target, a family home. The whole area swarms with agents, nobody notices them.
Inside the house is (among others) a small boy, vast asleep in his room. He has to be evacuated, because... (don't remember for sure. Bad people downstairs.)
An agent (presumably an able man and also a father with kids at home, so he knows what he is doing) somehow climbs up the wall, pushes open a window and enters the boy's room. 
He bends over the sleeping boy. puts a hand over the boy mouth (to prevent him from screaming) and shakes him awake.
"Don't be afraid. _FBI!"_


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## BAYLOR (Oct 31, 2020)

Elckerlyc said:


> I can recall a certain scene from that series and also the very last episode I ever watched....
> It is night. The FBI has closed off the street and quietly surround their target, a family home. The whole area swarms with agents, nobody notices them.
> Inside the house is (among others) a small boy, vast asleep in his room. He has to be evacuated, because... (don't remember for sure. Bad people downstairs.)
> An agent (presumably an able man and also a father with kids at home, so he knows what he is doing) somehow climbs up the wall, pushes open a window and enters the boy's room.
> ...



It presented a  Knight in shinning armor image  of the FBI which , was not surprising given that J.  Edgar Hover was the technical adviser to the show.


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## BAYLOR (Nov 1, 2020)

*Adam 12*   another  Jack Webb Police drama  about two LA  street cops  Reed and Malloy . It was a hit on tV  and ran from 1968 to 1975  Overall, it was cops as Jack Webb envisioned and imagined them . The show had police  as technical advisers but even so,  the reality of cops in LA and in the rest of the US  was far different than what that show portrayed.


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## paeng (Nov 5, 2020)

Most current TV shows, including those in the sci-fi and horror genres, are banal even with special effects, etc. Few do well thanks to good writing.


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## BAYLOR (Dec 13, 2020)

*Trapper John M. D . *1979 to 1986.  A very mediocre  medical drama.


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