The Mediocre Television Topic Thread

[BAYLOR]

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.

 

[Rodders]

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.

 

[Narkalui]

Burn Notice. Watchable but nothing special.

 

[Rodders]

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

I do enjoy Law and Order, though.

 

[Matchu]

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?

 

[BAYLOR]

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.

 

[CupofJoe]

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...

 

[Vince W]

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.

 

[BAYLOR]

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

 

[Rodders]

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.

 

[BAYLOR]

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.

 

[CupofJoe]

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!

 

[BAYLOR]

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.

 

[Elckerlyc]

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!"

 

[BAYLOR]

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!"

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.

 

[BAYLOR]

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.

 

[paeng]

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.

 

[BAYLOR]

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