A Growing Indifference to Television

[BAYLOR]

I last had a TV in 2003. I do not miss it at all. Very occasionally a friend will report seeing something that sounds exceptional and then I wish there were some way of buying streaming access to that one thing. I particularly love powerful plays and period dramas, being a veteran of their golden age: roughtly 1960 - 1980. Most modern period dramas are hopeless as the dialogue, body language, etiquette & eye contact all reek of the 21st cetury.* But the old ones are mostly superb, e.g. The Six Wives of Henry VIII (Keith Michell), Elizabeth R (Glenda Jackson), I, Claudius (Derek Jacobi). I would so love re-runs of any of the long-running and challenging series Play for Today, The Wednesday Play, Armchair Theatre.

* An exception is Wolf Hall, which I thought was beautifully crafted and performed.

Up until roughly 2010 is when television began to lose me.

 

[Vince W]

I just ditched my ties to regular television. I have a couple of streaming services left but they may follow soon. I have a tbr pile that could last me for a hundred years as it is.

 

[Elckerlyc]

I don't think much has changed, really. Except ourselves. We age, the past decades we have seen lots of series or programs flying by on the screen and have become jaded, in various degrees. Also, our tastes and interests change. Or evolve, if you like.
We think there's not much watchable, let alone watch-worthy these day. There wasn't all that much great to watch in the olde days, but our bars were definitely lower.
I still watch TV; the News and associated programs. And sometimes live broadcasts which you don't get to see anywhere else.

 

[Rodders]

I have to confess that I find the idea of losing the TV quite appealing.

Too much content, now a-days, I think. There's a lot of stuff on my to watch list, but i generally don't have any urge to watch them. It was the same with DVD's remember? 100s on the shelf, yet nothing to watch.

 

[Raincloud Man]

I watch television but , I find myself watching less of it and watching more dvd of older tv shows. Do you find yourself not following favorite tv shows anymore and do you find the latest tv offerings to be less than appealing ?


Thoughts ?

I haven't watched TV in over two decades, my reading list is long enough as is and I still need time to play video games after work.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

I still enjoy TV - particularly in the autumn when most of my favourites have new episodes.

But then I love the shows where you have clever people doing clever things that they are really talented at. I also enjoy a fun quiz show.

 

[BAYLOR]

The writer strike has certainly delayed a number of series,

 

[BAYLOR]

Streaming, too many cancellations.

 

[thunderbyrd]

my wife and i are delighted that there's a new season of "Fargo" now and there's a new season of "True Detective" coming in January. ever since "the Sopranos" there has always been something that we are really into: Rome, the Wire, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, the Americans, and others. tv has been better than movies for us for a long time.

 

[paeng]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1764064432299425830

 

[Elvraie]

And this is why I watch YouTube. Why would anybody ever watch TV when you have this pure genius?

I put the TV behind the dresser and put SF books instead. Got fed up with the the ads. I only watch it in France at my parent's when I go there. I found some of the Detective shows I watched while there, in French and on YouTube premium. No need for TV.

 

[BAYLOR]

I put the TV behind the dresser and put SF books instead. Got fed up with the the ads. I only watch it in France at my parent's when I go there. I found some of the Detective shows I watched while there, in French and on YouTube premium. No need for TV.

Reading books does have the benefit of no commercial interruptions.

 

[Randy M.]

Reading books does have the benefit of no commercial interruptions.

Depends on how old the paperback is.

I think I still have a couple with advertising inserts about mid-way.

 

[BAYLOR]

Depends on how old the paperback is.

I think I still have a couple with advertising inserts about mid-way.

Yes, ive owned few old soft cover books with cigarette ads .

 

[paranoid marvin]

Because tv didn't used to have the CGI and special effects available today, it had to rely and intelligent dialogue and gripping stories to captivate its audience.

I feel sorry for today's younger generation of viewers, as they (in the main) don't realise just how good tv programmes could be.

 

[paeng]

I found out only much later that CGI was used in various shows more than a decade ago, and even for scenes that didn't require special effects:

Meanwhile, for examples of shows where they had to cut a lot of costs by relying heavily on dialogue, check out Sandbaggers.