TV shows you can't stand.

[Rageaholic]

We had a thread for shows that you love. How about shows you just can't stand? I normally don't watch shows I don't like, but with some shows, you don't really need to watch much of it to know you hate it.

-In Plain Sight: I wanted to like this show. I really did. It had an interesting premise (witness protection) and it looked like it had some enjoyably smartass characters. Unfortunately, the few episodes I've seen involved her annoying sister and mother or some other type of melodrama. I know I shouldn't expect an all out action thriller, but considering it's a show about cops and witness protection, surely they can at least catch the bad guy on screen or resolve the situation that got them in protection. (most of the episodes I've seen left that stuff unresolved and didn't even focus on the bad guys). Now, I should probably give it another chance as I could have just seen the crappy episodes, but when you watch 3 or 4 episodes and only 1 was satisfying, it may not be the show for you.

-Ghost Whisperer: The only reason this show was popular is because Jennifer Love Hewitt has tits. Well sorry, but that can't make up for a horrible script and bad acting. I saw 5 minutes of this shitfest and that was more than enough for me.

-Glee: I think it's a love it or hate it show. I'm in the later category. Now the music performances are pretty good, especially for a High School music show, but I just can't watch this. It's bad enough that it mixes two things I hate (musicals and High School drama), but I get this pretentious, anvilicious (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Anvilicious) vibe from it. I can't judge since I only saw bits and pieces of it, but that's how the show comes across to me.

So feel free to vent about shows you don't like here. Just leave reality TV out of it since everyone seems to hate it and it really belongs in it's own thread.

[powerboy]

-Ghost Whisperer: The only reason this show was popular is because Jennifer Love Hewitt has tits. Well sorry, but that can't make up for a horrible script and bad acting. I saw 5 minutes of this shitfest and that was more than enough for me.



I love the show for three reasons. Her tits and my wife is just like her:D

I really cannot think of any shows off hand that I hate. I just really don't watch that much television.

[Andara Bledin]

Three's Company and every other sit com like it. I despise shows that operate on the premise of someone mis-hearing something then spreading rumors or freaking out about what they mis-heard for the entire show. And, yes, I never liked I Love Lucy for much the same reason.

I just hate watching people jumping to idiotic conclusions or concocting imbecilic schemes. The stupid, it burns. >_<

^-.-^

[HYHYBT]

Retroactive hate: any show ruined by its ending. In particular, do NOT pretend there is some giant conspiracy or similar just-behind-the-scene goings-on unless you have in fact thought out exactly what that really is and will reveal it by series end. Though that's not the only way.

[AdminAssistant]

There's very little that I hate...well, I don't watch TV shows I hate, so it's hard to comment on them. I've noticed that I basically never watch live, scripted TV shows anymore. :shrug: Fiance really wants me to watch Dexter, but I watched the first episode and just couldn't get into it, y'know? Glee will be finished within the next two seasons.

[tropicsgoddess]

Nancy Grace...she gets WAY too emotional and she's biased.

Chowder and Flapjack....seriously...:wtf:. Cartoons named after food, look weird, stupid have no plot and make me feel like it'll lower my IQ by 100 points just by watching 5 minutes of it.

Most of Reality TV...I've had my fill of it to be honest. I've watched one too many seasons of Rock of Love, Flavor of Love, Charm School, and some seasons of Survivor and The Bachelor (only with my mom when I was living under the roof of my parental units) and The Simple Life. :ashamed:

Admin Assistant, if you watch a few more episodes of Dexter, it'll sink in and you'll LOVE IT! I can't even wait for the 2nd episode of the new season to come out! I love the suspense and the twists and turns in the plot! Besides that Michael C. Hall is an awesome actor and so damn HAWT!!!!

[AdminAssistant]

He's not hot. (*shock* *gasp* *horror*) No, I don't find him attractive. While the premise of a serial killer targeting serial killers is interesting...eh. I'll stick with Archer. :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3-zaTr6OUo

[christopher]

I really dislike most reality shows. They just seem to be almost exactly the same. Same idiots behaving like asses to get good ratings.

And don't get me started on those remodeling shows where celebrity chefs or famous designers show up to help idiots fix what they screwed up.

I too strongly dislike glee. The singing really is rather disturbing. Also, why are there so many cop shows?

[Andara Bledin]

Fiance really wants me to watch Dexter, but I watched the first episode and just couldn't get into it, y'know?
Dexter actually takes a few episodes to really get into. It's a bit heavy for just one episode to really catch. That said, I can certainly understand why it wouldn't appeal to everybody.

Ugh. "Reality" TV can go die. Most of it is scripted bullshit. The only stuff that has any redeeming value at all are the competition shows, and those are still heavily scripted. You think the voters really get to choose who gets to stay or not? It's all about who the producers think will get the most people to tune in, and that isn't necessarily the same thing as who happens to have the most talent. Thankfully, the people who pick up the talented competitors don't really care if they win; that's just a bonus.

^-.-^

[AdminAssistant]

In one of his books, I think it was Medium Raw, Anthony Bourdain claims that on Top Chef, what the judges say goes. He said he's seen producers going into fits because the judges kicked off a drama queen or someone else guaranteed to hike ratings, but too bad, so sad. :shrug: I'm sure that many are scripted, though.

[blas87]

I hate Jersey Shore, and all of the idiots on it. It's mean, but I wish they'd all just get alcohol poisoning and end up braindead, or get sent to prison. That's the only way we'll ever be free of them.

Some people say that they just enjoy how stupid everyone on the show is, and it's relaxing to watch other people in that kind of negative light, but as someone who has personally experienced being around people who do nothing more than drink heavily and enjoy fighting and starting fights, it's NOT cool or funny. And they are all retarded. Yes, I went there. RETARDED. They don't deserve any fame or attention for being brawly alcoholics with overdone hair, makeup, tans and super short skirts. And one particular little troll who needs to wear clothes more appropriate for her stumpy little body.

I mean, from what I gather, every episode is the same. Drink, fight. Drink, fight. Break stuff. Drink, fight. Break more stuff. Break up. Get back together. Drink. Fight. Break up. Break more stuff. Drink more. Fight more.


And Glee. I hate Glee.

[Rapscallion]

It's mean, but I wish they'd all just get alcohol poisoning and end up braindead,

I thought that had already happened?

Rapscallion

[Gravekeeper]

Ugh, Nancy Grace is a Ghoul Harpy. She's going to get herself sued.

Ditto for reality TV, with the exception of the handful of shows with an ounce of integrity like Top Chef. Especially any reality show produced by Fox. Whose sole purpose seems to be taking engaging UK shows and churning out overtly dramatic US versions that lost the entire point of the original. ( IE Kitchen Nightmares US. Aka "Restaurant? What restaurant? <INSERT FAMILY DRAMA> ).

Though its nice of Fox to use the exact same emotional cue sound effects across all of their reality TV series. So audiences know exactly how to feel about any given scene. =p

[Mytical]

I dislike a lot of reality tv (though not all..I like some of the dancing shows, bar rescue, and a handful of others). Also some of the so called cartoons like Regular Show, Flapjack, Adventure time..ok that list would be very long..

Well ok, I don't think I hate any shows. That implies a strong emotion, where I am just MEH about them.

[fireheart17]

Some of the shows you may be familiar with, some you may not.

One overall theme I hate though is how because a show does so well in one country, say, Australia, they feel the need to do it overseas. The Office seemed to work, but now EVERYONE's doing it. Kath and Kim, The IT Crowd...ugh, give me the originals of those any day. (ditto for The Iron Chef) Anyway, here's my list of hated shows:

-Big Brother, Australia's Next Top Model, America's Next Top Model: Repetitive, bitchy and to quote Chef Ramsay "Crap on top of crap on top of crap". Probably the only saving grace of the Australian Big Brother was Friday Night Live. (basically they put the contestants up against each other in a series of games with the winner receiving priveliages in some form i.e. the ability to change nominations, a mystery prize, a special room for themselves etc.) I have no words for the two ANTM's.

-CSI and its spinoffs: It looks way too damn artificial, it's nowhere near realistic and to me, it screams "cheap Law and Order". On that note, while I prefer NCIS for at least ATTEMPTING to break the mold of a cop show, it's still a crime drama.

-Home And Away (aussie soap): It really seems to be morphing into an Australian version of something like The OC or similar. On top of that, every week there seems to be a flood, someone gets mugged/robbed/beaten/raped etc., someone falls pregnant etc.

-Degrassi: I think after around the 7th or so season, it's just starting to fall apart. It's gone from a show dealing with real-life issues, to something that's just getting a bit stale. (Although kudos for showing an FTM transgender teenager-this is like the more recent seasons)

-RBT, Motorway Patrol, highway patrol: All pretty much the same thing. And what is fascinating about 30 or so minutes of pulling over drunk people? (on that note, we're also getting COPS over here, which tbh, isn't really THAT fascinating)

-The Footy Show: I could understand this if it was done on the night AND on the channel where AFL was actually being played. Instead, it is on Channel 9, at 9:30 and is filled with nothing but crap.

[Nyoibo]

Leave Glee Alone! :p

I can't stand the majority of reality TV, although Master Chef is a guilty pleasure. :)

[Jack T. Chance]

I have a very long list of shows I can't stand, but there's a special place of loathing in my heart for the vast majority of the so-called "reality" shows, including, but definitely not limited to, the following... American Idolatry
Dancing With the (D-List) Stars
America's (Un)Funniest (Totally Staged, Who Do You Think You're Fooling?) Home Videos
The Jerry Springer Show
Cheaters (Wanna develop a really cynical, pessimistic attitude really fast? Watch a marathon of Cheaters! :rolleyes: )
Jersey Shore, AKA Douchebags "R" Us! :p
America's Got Talent (Shame its talent is making you want to hurl a brick through your TV screen! :rolleyes: )On the actual fictional side, some dishonorable mentions go to... Glee... If you're a male and you watch this show, you automatically get this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v148/JackTChance/ManCardRevoked.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v148/JackTChance/Smilies/HitchhikerSmilie.gif
The British comedy "classic" Keeping Up Appearances... the character Hyacinth Bucket is one of the most annoying women ever imagined. She needs a punch in the nose! :devil:
Soap Operas! Thankfully, they're slowly going extinct, one by one. :devil:I'll add more as I think of them.

[Mytical]

I collect unicorn figurines and enjoy talking about interior design. My 'man card' was revoked long long ago, so that is not a worry for me if I liked Glee. I don't, but am just meh about it, don't hate it.

[tropicsgoddess]

Soap Operas! Thankfully, they're slowly going extinct, one by one. :devil:

Yes, Thank GAWD! :highfive: The acting and plots no matter which soap opera it is are all utter crap. Those romance novels from the drug store or a yard sale is more entertaining than that!

[senor boogie woogie]

I dislike what I refer to as "Talent Shows" Like America's Got Talent, The Celebrity Dance show, stuff like that.

Cooking shows, especially with Gordon Ramsey. The jerkoff even has a show where he goes into restaurants and tells the owners what they are doinfg wrong, (what irks me was "too many doggy bags", the advice was to serve less and charge more. Jerkoff.)

There are certain actors I dislike and avoid. I have never seen a second of "Two and a Half Men", because I can't stand Charlie Sheen. I got so sick of looking at this MF'er on the news when he left that show.

Usually, I can watch something for 5 minutes and decide to like it or not. Uusally I can read what a show is about and I will be interested in it or not.

My parents and especially my father HATED The Carol Burnett Show. This was back in the caveman days before cable when there were only three or four channels to watch. He also hated any kind of sports and would get pissed off and moan and groan like a child whenever football preempted 60 Minutes on Sunday afternoon.

Somebody mentioned Three's Company. I never liked that show either. I watched a couple of episodes recently and besides looking at Joyce Dewitt's cute ass, and The Ropers, that show sucked ass. Larry Dallas? You can't get more 70's than that name.

[MaggieTheCat]

I really can't stand The Office. I know, I know, it's supposed to be ridiculous and over the top. I guess it's just not my kind of humor. I haven't seen any of it in several years, but I remember it just being too crude and disgusting for my taste.

I also don't really like Law & Order: CSI, despite the fact that I LOVE SVU and liked the original L&O pretty well. Again, I've only see a few episodes of CSI...maybe I'd like it better if I started from the beginning and got to know the characters better.

Does anyone watch Food Network? There's a show called Cupcake Wars that had a lot of potential, but I think flopped monumentally (although I think new episodes are still being produced.) It's supposed to be sort of like Chopped (which I like) but only with cupcakes. Basically 4 contestants are given certain ingredients/themes/other criteria to work with and need to produce a cupcake or number of cupcakes for a big event. I liked the premise of it a lot because I love to bake and thought it'd be interesting to see what some of the contestants did with the ingredients given...but most of the contestants end up being these prissy, whiny drama queens. The judges are annoying (especially whoever is guest judging, since they typically have NO baking knowledge whatsoever and will just say "I thought this was great!" even if there was some very obvious flaw.) And don't even get me started about the host. I've wanted to reach through my TV and strangle him on a number of occasions. -_- I still watch the show occasionally at 3 am when I can't sleep and am bored.

[Gravekeeper]

Cooking shows, especially with Gordon Ramsey. The jerkoff even has a show where he goes into restaurants and tells the owners what they are doinfg wrong, (what irks me was "too many doggy bags", the advice was to serve less and charge more. Jerkoff.)


Uh....they ask him to come to their restaurant to help them and "serve less, charge more" is perfectly legitimate advice when your portion control is out of whack. A restaurant is a business afterall, not a charity. I don't know if we're thinking the same episode, but the restaurant was literally giving away a second entree with every lunch entree and wondering why they were losing hella money. It was the equivilent of a store selling TV's for 50% with a second free TV if you bought one. Then wondering why you can't make any money.

Dude knows how to A) Cook and B) Run a fucking restaurant. If he has business advice for your restaurant, you farkin' listen. >.>

The US versions of his shows are edited by Fox for maximum drama. Try watching one of the UK ones. Where they're allowed to show him as a human being and actually show the cooking/business side of running a restaurant.




There are certain actors I dislike and avoid. I have never seen a second of "Two and a Half Men", because I can't stand Charlie Sheen.

No argument here.




My parents and especially my father HATED The Carol Burnett Show.


How does one hate Carol Brunett? >.> That's like hating Mr Rogers.

[AdminAssistant]

I also don't really like Law & Order: CSI.

:confused: Do you mean Law & Order: Criminal Intent? Or CSI: Crime Scene Investigation? Two different franchises.

There's a show called Cupcake Wars that had a lot of potential, but I think flopped monumentally (although I think new episodes are still being produced.)

Heh, when I saw Duff Goldman (Ace of Cakes) speak, he spent a decent amount of time ripping on cupcakes and cupcake shows.

[bara]

Reality shows with the exception of Holmes on Homes. I like that show cause he actually helps people.

Wanna be horror shows. Remakes of shows that originally aired over seas. The original was probably good, the remakes normally suck.

Spongbob.. I hate that show.

Most news show, especially the adds of them 'You could die within the next two hours, tonght at eleven' I mean cmon.. its NOON. How can I take you serisously, if Im still alive the report is bogus, if Im dead it too late for me to watch it.
99.9% of commercials.

[Andara Bledin]

How does one hate Carol Brunett? >.> That's like hating Mr Rogers.
I love Carol Burnett. Never liked Mister Rogers, even when I was a kid.

^-.-^

[Racket_Man]

Reality shows with the exception of Holmes on Homes. I like that show cause he actually helps people.

.

now that is a reality show I really like. here in the US all of the Holmes on Homes and Holmes Inspection have been shown on HGTV. I have learned a LOT from just those 2.

I dislike most anything (most but not all) on network (ABC NBC CBS FOX, etc) TV. it just seems to me they just repeat upon repeat upon repeat of shows (SitComs, Crime Drama Cowboy, Cop) that I watched 40 or 30 years ago. the only real difference today is the proliferation of scripted reality shows we have on repeat these days.

I will admit up front that I have never watched Survivor, Big Brother or any of the "Talent" type shows like AMerican Idol or Dancing with the Stars. Toddlers and Tiarras just creeps me out. Jon and Kate + 8 was stupid. Heck even American Pickers gets boring and stupid at times. the Pawn shop shows are bad copies of each other. even some of the more real reality shows like Storm Chasers and Border Wars get boring after a while because stuff just repeats itself over andover again

[Rageaholic]

I never got the Office either. It can be funny, but a lot of the humor is hit or miss. With that said, Steve Carell is hillarious. And I never tire of this clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31g0YE61PLQ)

[blas87]

I could not get into Ice Road Truckers or Deadliest Catch the way a lot of my coworkers did.

[protege]

Reality shows with the exception of Holmes on Homes. I like that show cause he actually helps people.

Yep, he knows what he's doing...and he helps people out. No problem here. As for Carol Burnett...I had no problem with her, until she went after the creators of Family Guy...for making fun of a character she portrayed about 30 years prior. Seriously?

[AdminAssistant]

As for Carol Burnett...I had no problem with her, until she went after the creators of Family Guy...for making fun of a character she portrayed about 30 years prior. Seriously?

You would think that as a performer she would know that satire is covered in the First Amendment....

[insertNameHere]

I really can not stand most "reality" shows because you can tell they are horribly scripted. I mean they can be amusing at times but really how many times could you watch someone do a repo if nothing was going wrong. Or even look at history channel with Pawn stars, do you really think Chum is as stupid as they make him look he is playing a character for the producers and that is why he spends $100 on a snoop dogg doll that isn't worth that much because it makes for some conflict or a plot point. And I'm sure they have some kind of deal where if you make X # of bad deals we will front you some cash so you not actually losing money but at least for the show it looks like you are. Considering each episode of friends cost tens of millions of dollars what is $10K for some drama that fills same attention span.

I do like Restaurant Impossible it has some good points, I really think that some of the business people exaggerate how important it is they succeed by request of the cameras.

I agree most of the CSI spin offs suck because I'm sorry the first one was great, but rebranding it to a new location with new cast is just a little tacky. For some reason I find Original NCIS better than CSI even when it was essentially a copy, then they made NCIS: LA.... for what reason other than money I do not know. Then if you follow the current trend in crime dramas it seems they going with profiling of criminal shows ie, mentalist, criminal minds, and few other previews I saw.

As someone mentioned in another thread about movies, they will keep doing same story over and over since they know people will watch for a bit because it is familiar.

Lately, I am pleased with USA and FX, outside of how I met you mother, they have the best scripted shows running as of late.

[Gravekeeper]

Honestly, I think Chum really is that stupid. There is nothing going on in there when you look in his eyes. >.>

[telecom_goddess]

How does one hate Carol Brunett? >.> That's like hating Mr Rogers.

that's funny....I loved Carol Burnett but hated Mr Rogers with a passion growing up :D

I hate dumbass comedies but like intelligent ones. I have no time for most of the reality tv out there.

[insertNameHere]

I forget which survivor/big brother star but it was one of the first couple seasons where he admitted that him and another teammate devised a plan to fight over one of the girls and be the asshole because HE KNEW, it would get him plenty of screen time compared to the others. So in that case the producers didn't even need to give a script this guy was already aware of the model and what would get him the spotlight.

[Canarr]

I seriously dislike Two and a half men. Charlie Sheen aside, I don't like the premise of the show that the asshole always gets what he wants, and the decent guy is always the butt of the joke. IMO, that's not a good message to deliver.

We have "Germany's Next Topmodel" here, moderated by Heidi Klum. Atrocious.

Lost is a show I never bought the hype about. I hate plots where they build up a monumental suspense, pile on one implausible storyline after the other, until it's a huge clusterfuck that nobody can really unravel into a satisfactory ending. I never believed the producers would be able to pull it off, so I refused to watch the show.

[Rageaholic]

Oh I forget about Two and a Half Men. Charlie Sheen seems like as much as a jerk in real life as he is in the show. Ironically, I love Big Bang Theory by the same creators.

Wierd huh?

[senor boogie woogie]

I love Carol Burnett. Never liked Mister Rogers, even when I was a kid.

^-.-^

My father was more or less a hard working, sober man. But he had his bouts of small insanity. He (and my mother) loved TV like heroin. That's what people did circa 1975, work all day, then plop on one's ass and watch the Boob Tube.

This was back in the early-mid 1970's when there was only four channels on television, ABC, NBC, CBS and PBS. His complaint was that the skits were not funny, really stupid and lasted forever. I sort of agree. Tim Conway was the only really funny one (Tim could just stand there and be funny). Harvey Korman was mincing and annoying, and all those Mama Family skits which were about a screaming redneck family was grating.

We liked Bob Newhart, Mary Tyler Moore, All in the Family, lots of other shows of that era. But he just hated Carol Burnett with a burning passion. My parents also disliked Lucille Ball in anything, with Lucy being one of the top stars of her era.

I knew a guy who told me that his father hated MASH because it insulted the military. It's just one's opinions and taste. Personally, most of the shows I like are not the top shows, and there have been many shows that have been cancelled after the first season (like FOX's Good Guys last year). There are lots of shows like Two and a Half Men that have been on for years that I have never seen. It's just tatse.

[El Pollo Guerrera]

There's a lot of shows on the Food Network that I can't stand, like "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" or "Heat Seekers". Shows where the only thing happening is watching people eat food. It's pointless food-porn.

There's a metric crap-ton of reality shows I won't watch, like the celebrity shows. I really don't care about their lives and how they deal with... buying socks or whatever. I have enough problems buying socks, I don't need to hear about Gene Simmons problems.

[IDrinkaRum]

I like "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" because when he goes to places in Virginia, Mr. Rum and I know of new restaurants to try. :

Never heard of "Heat Seekers". But the one where the people are talking about the greatest whatever they've eaten ... I don't like that one. But then again, I'm probably weird. :D

I'm beginning to hate "Bones", and now that she's pregnant with Booth's baby, I think the show has jumped the shark.

Hubs loves the show Glee, and I admit I'll watch it when the episodes of those who were in the Reality show about how they can win a part on Glee. There was a contestant on the show who used to be part of "Celtic Thunder" and he won the competition, so I'm really excited about him being on there.

I can watch Two and a Half Men or not. That one doesn't bother me. I don't like "How I Met Your Mother" even though it has Neil Patrick Harris on it. And "Rules of Engagement" just gets on my nerves.

Another "comedy" I hate is "Whitney". When are they going to cancel it?

[tropicsgoddess]

Another "comedy" I hate is "Whitney". When are they going to cancel it?


I haven't seen it but I will say this: As much as I love Cedric the Entertainer, he's a great comedian but a crappy game show host. That "It's Worth WHAT?!!" show is stupid. I can't stand it when he asks the contestants "Are you sure?" "Are you sure, sure?" until the contestant confirms their answer and then goes "It's worth WHAAAAT?" to reveal how much the items in question are worth to see if the contestant's answer matches up to it. So freakin' cheesy. :rolleyes:

[LadyBarbossa]

I hate most crime/cop/detective/forensics shows, with the exception of Law & Order: SVU. Even then, if it's on, I'll watch it, but I don't make it a point to.

NCIS is especially grating, almost all of the characters are grating on the nerves and do nothing but serve half-assed and mean spirited snark at each other. Ziva is incredibly annoying.

Bones makes me want to throw a brick through the screen, the lead is awful.

[KabeRinnaul]

NCIS is especially grating, almost all of the characters are grating on the nerves and do nothing but serve half-assed and mean spirited snark at each other. Ziva is incredibly annoying.

The snark is half the reason I watch. Ziva's one of my favorite characters.

But as for shows I dislike...

The Simpsons - It has more than run it's course.
Family Guy - It's The Simpsons, if everyone suffered from severe mental retardation.
The Cleveland Show - It's Family Guy, if they were black.
American Dad - It's Family Guy, if... no, it's just Family Guy.
Spongebob - I don't get the adult appeal, and can't imagine it's good for a child's development.
Chowder - what is this I don't even
Jersey Shore - And pretty much all of reality TV. Jersey Shore just stands out as by far the worst. It's really just a showcase of all the worst parts of our culture.
Whitney - I never saw this, but just the commercials for it made me cringe.

I also don't like TLC's switch from an educational channel to "Cakes! Babies! Weddings! Cakes! Babies! Weddings!"

Or that the History Channel went from real history to "Ancient Astronauts". The stupid idea that "history is being made all the time so we can show whatever we want" is even worse.

I also miss MTV actually having music.

And I make it a general rule to not watch any show that uses a laugh track.

How many complaints am I allowed before I'm required to include "Get off my lawn!" at the end of the post?

[AdminAssistant]

I also don't like TLC's switch from an educational channel to "Cakes! Babies! Weddings! Cakes! Babies! Weddings!"

Or that the History Channel went from real history to "Ancient Astronauts". The stupid idea that "history is being made all the time so we can show whatever we want" is even worse.

On TLC, you forgot "Polygamists, breeders, and little people!" I really despise the loophole regarding children on unscripted shows...there are no limits to how much they can be on camera. How healthy can it be to grow up with cameras in your face all the time?

I rarely watch the Discovery Channel or the History Channel anymore. Well, the only thing I used to watch on Discovery was Mythbusters, and it's just become stupid. "Blow Up All The Things!" is not science, and it's not even entertaining after a while. Combine that with two completely useless team members (Clutz and Token Hot Chick) and you have nothing.

History Channel is more of a developed thing...the more I learn about historiography, the pickier I am, basically. I have especially learned to despise the teaching of sweeping generalizations and mythology as fact, both of which are just rampant on any History Channel program. Pawn Stars was actually kind of interesting before they started zooming in solely on Grumpy Old Guy and Doofus.

[Gravekeeper]

I rarely watch the Discovery Channel or the History Channel anymore. Well, the only thing I used to watch on Discovery was Mythbusters, and it's just become stupid. "Blow Up All The Things!" is not science, and it's not even entertaining after a while. Combine that with two completely useless team members (Clutz and Token Hot Chick) and you have nothing.

Clutz? You mean Tory? He doesn't come across as swift but the dude's a special effect's engineer with 8 years at Industrial Light & Magic. He's actually been with the show from the start, he just built shit off camera for them. He also often builds things *on* camera now. So he knows what he's doing, plus he's gullible and easy to use as a human guinea pig. So it's a win/win. -.-

Kari I won't deny was intially hired in part for eye candy, but she actually puts in her fair share of work and builds too. Also knows what she's talking about. She was replaced for a while by Jessi Combs, while Kari was on maternity leave. I don't know if thats the one you mean. But even Jessi was a mechanic and chassic fabrication expert, but she sucked in front of the camera.

Also, they really don't blow stuff up that often. Its just those are the episodes people make the biggest deals about and thus get the most reruns me thinks.



History Channel is more of a developed thing...the more I learn about historiography, the pickier I am, basically.

Pawn Stars is kind of funny if there's nothing else on. They have the occasional documentary series are good too. But other than that, it seems like its constantly World War 2 shit. The other misc shows inbetween are pretty stale, or have hosts that are painful to watch.

[fireheart17]

Regarding the Mythbusters, their rule has ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS been "Replicate the myth, then replicate the results" i.e. if the myth can't be done, then they'll try and work out what needs to be done to get the result. Yes that involves blowing stuff up on occasion.

The one you may be thinking of where they DID blow up a lot of stuff is Brainiac: Science Abuse.

As for The Simpsons, I'll say in that vein, South Park. The show has been on for too damn long. Yes I can get that they are being satirical on certain issues. However there's only so much controversy one can pack in. I also think it has lost the "shock" value to some degree (exhibit A: one of the more recent episodes was the HumancentiPad (sic?) and the shock factor seemed to be Kyle being the centre of a human centipede....-.-the rest of the story just sucked)

[AdminAssistant]

No, I'm thinking of Mythbusters. I'm just over it. :shrug:

[Iseeyouthere]

Good News World.

They killed Good News Week. WHY!

-cries in a corner-

[DrFaroohk]

I wouldn't say any of the simpsons/guy/dad/show cartoons are ripoffs of one another except on the surface. It's like saying Gladiator and Spartacus are the same movie. Both about gladiators. That's about where it ends. Same with the cartoons. They're all cartoons aimed at adults. That's about where the similarities really end.

Some of the ones I hate are the ones that just don't "get it" as far as the humor goes. It's such a fine line to walk, I'll admit, but there's a difference between a funny show like family guy with it's timing and references and whatnot...and then other shows like Robot Chicken, that might as well be Seth Greene just saying "Shit. Pigfucker. Dirty Vagina. FART!"

Reminds me of a lot of Canadian and British humor. Some of its funny, but like the monty python stuff, some of it is just "THIS IS FUNNY. LAUGH AT IT." Yeah I get it, you're holding your newspaper upside down muahahahahahahahahaha!

[Panacea]

I can't think of anything on TLC I watch anymore.

History Channel is getting old, too with shows like "Ancient Aliens" that treat UFO nut theories like real history, or all the Nostradamus/prophecy shows that act as if these ideas are actually proven (they're not).

More and more I am finding less and less to watch. I spent the past few days at my Mom's. There's no TV in the house anymore (we took it to the assisted living place she's in now), so I had to use Hulu to watch TV. Got caught up on Terra Nova (some interesting ideas, but lots and lots of plot holes) and realized . . . this isn't such a bad way to watch TV.

I'm seriously thinking about getting rid of my DirectTV as the price keeps going up and up. Why pay that much when most of what I "watch" ends up being background noise anyway because I'm too busy on the computer?

[DrFaroohk]

History Channel is getting old, too with shows like "Ancient Aliens" that treat UFO nut theories like real history, or all the Nostradamus/prophecy shows that act as if these ideas are actually proven (they're not).

I get a kick out of those shows when they're like "We have solved the mystery of the JFK assassination!" Oh cool, so you watch it...only to find out that it was DEFINITELY someone who A) had a gun and B) didn't like JFK. OMG you solved it!

[Dreamstalker]

Regarding the Mythbusters, their rule has ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS been "Replicate the myth, then replicate the results" i.e. if the myth can't be done, then they'll try and work out what needs to be done to get the result.

For some reason, that's why mom hates the show now (why do you hate it all of a sudden after 6 seasons?)...I keep trying to explain that the result has to be replicated to show how ridiculous the myth is. Better they do it safely than some idiot in his backyard.

[Gravekeeper]

To be fair, you really need to be a child of the 80s to fully appreciate Robot Chicken. -.-

[Andara Bledin]

I'm a child of the '80s. Robot Chicken tends to have a hard time keeping to this side of the line of funny|stupid. Also, I imagine it tends to appeal more to those who also find the Three Stooges funny as opposed those who don't.

^-.-^

[AdminAssistant]

I absolutely love Robot Chicken. Some of the sketches are pretty stupid, but then you get Voltron Dance-Off to make up for it.

[HYHYBT]

I get a kick out of those shows when they're like "We have solved the mystery of the JFK assassination!" Oh cool, so you watch it...only to find out that it was DEFINITELY someone who A) had a gun and B) didn't like JFK. OMG you solved it!:jawdrop: And here all this time I thought he had his throat slit by his best friend...

[Gravekeeper]

I absolutely love Robot Chicken. Some of the sketches are pretty stupid, but then you get Voltron Dance-Off to make up for it.

Yes, it has its share of stupid sketches, but some are utterly brilliant. Like Luke running into the one armed Wompa at a gas station.

[LadyBarbossa]

I like the Robot Chicken Star Wars. The rest is just one big "What the fuuuuuck? These people are demented!" After a few Jagerbombs it was downright hysterical, but even then after a few eps I started to feel disturbed. :lol:

[blas87]

I'm a 90s child but I love Robot Chicken. Unfortunately, I get chastized for watching it, instead of reading or watching "intelligent" people shows.

Well hey, better to be thought of as stupid than to be trying to convince everyone how smart and refined you are because you don't watch TV or only watch "quality" tv shows.

[HYHYBT]

"Quality" depends on how you define it anyway.

The shows I most often watch are of a type that's been considered trash for almost as long as there's been television. (Perhaps longer.) But they're what they were meant to be: fun. And I think they're well-made. (But then, they ought to be. For example, the current run of The Price is Right is in its 40th year. If they haven't got the bugs worked out yet, they never will.)

[Rageaholic]

I'm a 90s child but I love Robot Chicken. Unfortunately, I get chastized for watching it, instead of reading or watching "intelligent" people shows.

Well hey, better to be thought of as stupid than to be trying to convince everyone how smart and refined you are because you don't watch TV or only watch "quality" tv shows.

Don't get me started on those people. :rant:

[jackfaire]

It's gonna sound weird but it's not the shows I hate. Honestly I can't think of any shows that I hate. Plenty I couldn't get into but none for the reason that they were crappy just mostly weren't my thing.

What I hate is the fans.

I watched the entire show of Arrested Development and honestly it wasn't that good. I love Jason Bateman and Michael Cera but most of the actors made me want to smack them around a bit.

But if you say that to a pseudo intellectual hipster that discovered reading in college and now looks down on anyone for watching "dumb shows" they will talk about what a moron you are even if your IQ is higher and have forgotten more books than they have ever read. I mean that literally. I at one point was reading at a rate of a book a day.

[draco664]

I watched the entire show of Arrested Development and honestly it wasn't that good. I love Jason Bateman and Michael Cera but most of the actors made me want to smack them around a bit.

Well, from what I remember, that was the whole point of the show. Those two were the only main characters with any redeeming features whatsoever. The thing I liked most about Arrested Development was that it *finished* correctly. So many shows leave unanswered questions at the end of a series to try and get the next season funded, which royally pisses me off.

[jackfaire]

Well, from what I remember, that was the whole point of the show. Those two were the only main characters with any redeeming features whatsoever. The thing I liked most about Arrested Development was that it *finished* correctly. So many shows leave unanswered questions at the end of a series to try and get the next season funded, which royally pisses me off.

It wasn't that I didn't like the characters it was that the characters were unbelievable the actors portraying them didn't give them a believable performance. It's like they weren't even trying like somehow their contracts had forced them into the show and they're trying to be as horrible as possible.

[blas87]

Honestly, watching the new Beavis and Butthead and listening to their little commentary on "Jersey Shore" and "16 and Pregnant" just cracked me up.

It's just sad that two cartoon idiots share the same views as me.

[jackfaire]

Beavis and Butthead Do America was the best bonding experience me,my brother and our dad ever had.

[kamn]

The Simposons and all of its spinoffs. :no: I just find it to be too crude and forced.

Most if not all reality shows. While I like the idea, the heavily scripted scenes go directly against it.

Chef Ramsey. I hate this guy and his tirades. He does have a lot of valuable information, he CAN help when he wants to, but it seems that he gets off verbally abusing others. Thats why when my brother watches him, I just leave the room for the 20-minute or so tirade he throws, then come back for the advice.


NCIS:LA. I love the original NCIS (mainly due to Abby and her open mind), but the LA one just seems like a copy with fake tits and more action scenes. NOT a good idea.

The Office. The over the top humor never realy goes well with me. I'd rather be forcing glass shards up my rectum than watch it.

[XCashier]

Chowder and Flapjack....seriously...:wtf:. Cartoons named after food, look weird, stupid have no plot and make me feel like it'll lower my IQ by 100 points just by watching 5 minutes of it.
A lot of today's cartoons are just like that. The Regular Show, Gumball, Almost Naked Animals, pretty much most of Cartoon Network's schedule. Stupid plots, horrid artwork, characters that are blatant assholes.

[jackfaire]

The worst part of chowder is watch the clothing. It's like they basically made cutouts were the clothing and then put a solid pattern on the back of each page of animation so as the character moves you see a diiferent part of the pattern.

[Gravekeeper]

Chef Ramsey. I hate this guy and his tirades. He does have a lot of valuable information, he CAN help when he wants to, but it seems that he gets off verbally abusing others.


Blame Fox. His UK shows are very engaging and thoughtful, his US shows are edited down to nothing but him yelling. Or more specifically thats all Hell's Kitchen US is now ( He doesn't yell on Kitchen Nightmares, just looks appalled. ) Its gotten worse every season to the point where I'm pretty sure Fox is surrounded him with idiots just to see what will happen.

I must now, however, now nominate Fringe. Not that I can't stand it per say, but that its infuriating me. I've only just started watching it, and its driving me crazy because it wavers drukenly between being rather smart and being utterly pants on head retarded. It seems to be the writers, the show has so many of them and a couple of them are insufferably bad. Its ability to go from good to bad in the span of 2 episodes is amazing. It'll swing from a scientific mystery based on actual technology to Internet pop ups that liquify your brain ( Oh come *on* ).

The female lead is a raging idiot too, not the actresses fault, but the character herself is awful and has to be the single most unqualified FBI agent in existence. With the show trying to build her up to be some special psychic child or something I'm not sure how much longer I can watch. >.>

[DrFaroohk]

I must now, however, now nominate Fringe. Not that I can't stand it per say, but that its infuriating me. I've only just started watching it, and its driving me crazy because it wavers drukenly between being rather smart and being utterly pants on head retarded. It seems to be the writers, the show has so many of them and a couple of them are insufferably bad. Its ability to go from good to bad in the span of 2 episodes is amazing. It'll swing from a scientific mystery based on actual technology to Internet pop ups that liquify your brain ( Oh come *on* ).

The female lead is a raging idiot too, not the actresses fault, but the character herself is awful and has to be the single most unqualified FBI agent in existence. With the show trying to build her up to be some special psychic child or something I'm not sure how much longer I can watch. >.>

If you just started watching it, it won't get much better. I LOVED season 1 minus a few things. Then season 2 just stalled, season 3 starts out good but then goes somewhere else i'm not even sure of...and then we're on season 4. It's basically a different show now. It's all the same actors, but we're not watching Fringe anymore. I think the writers don't understand the whole "Fringe" thing. It's supposed to be about things on the "fringes" of science. And I appreciated a lot of that stuff, like using the massive dynamic technology to examine a dead woman's eyes to see what she saw last. I can sort of buy that. I can't really get into a lot of the star trek stuff. No problem if they wanna do that, but maybe on a show called "Totally Out There!" Instead of "Fringe".

[Rageaholic]

Fringe always freaked me out. Just the adds were enough to give me nightmares.

[Gravekeeper]

I LOVED season 1 minus a few things. Then season 2 just stalled, season 3 starts out good but then goes somewhere else i'm not even sure of...and then we're on season 4. It's basically a different show now.


Well, saves me going past season 1 then.

And I appreciated a lot of that stuff, like using the massive dynamic technology to examine a dead woman's eyes to see what she saw last. I can sort of buy that.

Yeah, that's my problem. Half the episodes were based on actual interesting science and possibilities. The other half rely on a crutch plot device that either makes me go "Ehhhh...." such as the eye reader and Walter's amazing brain tank that can link consciousnesses or pulls a total deus ex machina plot device out its ass with no basis whatsoever in science. Like Walter's "Oh, that's right, I invented A GOD DAMN TIME MACHINE TELEPORTER a while back" that's just suddenly tossed in out of no where, then never really mentioned again.

[jackfaire]

I love Fringe but I can see how people who started watching it for the Science would get bugged.

For me it's about the characters.

As far as unqualified FBI agents it's not just her.

Every show with cops of any kind they are conveniently stupid.

For example if there is a break in and when asked if anything odd happened that day before the break in the cops are told, "Well our system went down and the regular technicians that come into fix it were out today so there were some new guys that came in to fix it."

In the real world a child of 5 would point at that and scream, "oooooo investigate the hell out of those guys"

In a cop show apparently that doesn't register as out of the oridnary enough and is ignored. Of course later after taking the long way around to IDing the bad guys they find out the bad guys are the ones that posed as the technicians leaving the audience to say, "Uhm doy!!"

Honestly any show that does that bugs the hell out of me I can usually watch for other reasons and if they keep that to a minimum but stupidly ignoring clues that a blind man is tripping over screams bad writing.

[Gravekeeper]

I love Fringe but I can see how people who started watching it for the Science would get

bugged.


It starts out with the science, which is the problem. Some of the writers are aware science exists, but a couple of them aren't and take the Star Trek route. So the show flipflops between being grounded in reality and being total and complete fantasy. Its such complete fantasy though that the viewer can't buy it in any way shape or form. The tone is too different so the show falls apart. If the show was one or the other it would be fine, but it can't be both without making people groan and roll their eyes.

Death by Internet pop up was probably the absolute worst episode of season one so far. Seeing as it basically ignored even the simpliest rules of technology and went "COMPUTERS R MAGIC". Wish I had a wifi connection that could download a 600 meg file in under 10 seconds like everyone in the show. =p



For me it's about the characters.


I like the Bishops, John Noble is especially good in it. But Olivia is an awful, awful character that buttered herself up and rolled around on a pile of Tv Tropes. She's a terrible FBI agent not just in procedure ( Which she regularly tosses out the window ), but in temperment and character. She's risked investigations a number of times based on her own immature feelings and is painted as a character that does whatever it will take to get things done. Yet doesn't.

In one episode especially, she risks the whole investigation by doing something incredibly stupid her boss told her not to do, her boss chews her out for it ( and the show tries to get us to be on her side while he's doing it ) she argues she'll do whatever it takes to save the hostages life ( Risk the entire investigation ). Then turns around and refuses to do whatever it takes to save the hostages life ( Ask the woman at Massive Dynamic a question ). Leaving it to Peter to do instead.

On top of that she constantly puts herself in danger by not calling for back up and chasing people/creatures by herself ( something either dumbluck or another character has to save her from ). Then the show started giving her a new Tragically Dramatic Backstory every other episode and now I'm suppose to believe she's the psychic Chosen One too? I think not.

Its like Scully and Wesley Crusher had a kid. >.>

[El Pollo Guerrera]

Not a show, but an entire network...

I was on vacation for the last week and a half, and the cable package in the hotel had the CNN sister network Headline News. I watched the channel for a little while, and had to shut it off because of the headache it gave me. All of the news 'anchors' seemed to be shouting at the screen.

And I didn't even try to watch Nancy Grace, either.

[Gravekeeper]

And I didn't even try to watch Nancy Grace, either.

That woman is a vile harpy to be frank.

[DrFaroohk]

Regarding Fringe, has Peter's absurd skepticism made it's showing yet? Every episode is basically "I don't believe any of this sci fi crap...even though I see it every day with my own two eyes!"

[Gravekeeper]

Regarding Fringe, has Peter's absurd skepticism made it's showing yet? Every episode is basically "I don't believe any of this sci fi crap...even though I see it every day with my own two eyes!"

Gah, are you serious? No it hasn't. How the hell can they possibly make him a skeptic after the first season and all the shit he sees, hears and works directly with hands on in the lab? ><

[DrFaroohk]

Yeah. They tone it town way later, but for a while it's just dumb.

"What? People can teleport!? What's next, you can plug people's brains in together and share consciousness? AS IF!"

[jackfaire]

On top of that she constantly puts herself in danger by not calling for back up and chasing people/creatures by herself ( something either dumbluck or another character has to save her from ). >

Though there was one time that actually is what saved her life.

[blas87]

I am not home most nights for primetime TV during the week because of my shift, but I can't believe Raising Hope is still on. That show was so stupid to begin with.

[Gravekeeper]

Though there was one time that actually is what saved her life.

That doesn't negate her raging stupidity the rest of the time. The whole "Dead traitor yet not traitor but actually traitor but maybe not but still a total asshole boyfriend living in my head" sub plot was embarrassing to watch.

I also have no idea how you could possibly add scepticism to Peter as a character after all the shit he sees, does and sticks his hands inside in the lab over the course of season 1.

[jackfaire]

I also have no idea how you could possibly add scepticism to Peter as a character after all the shit he sees, does and sticks his hands inside in the lab over the course of season 1.

There are a lot of skeptics in science who will test and verify before believing something that sounds crazy.

If he were "No way you cannot link two conciousness" after having seen it done that would be stupid but being all, "No way you can't possibly do that thing that we have never seen done before" Isn't really all that out there.

How many scientific advances were made while people who had seen amazing advances themselves are saying, "No way you can't do that"

[Gravekeeper]

There are a lot of skeptics in science who will test and verify before believing something that sounds crazy.


Yes, in science. But we're talking about a TV show. One where the character in question directly witnesses or actively takes part in breaking pretty much every law of nature over the course of the first season alone. For him to suddenly get skeptical about what is and isn't possible is just bad writing. As all of his experience in the first season proves that literally anything is possible. There's really no scientific law the first season doesn't whiz on. >.>

[jackfaire]

Yes, in science. But we're talking about a TV show.

So in the TV show even though they are dealing with science, that works somewhat differently in ways from our world's science at times.

He should not have the skepticism of a scientist because he is what a TV Character so he should automatically believe everything even though as a guy with a scientist for a father would have been taught, "Question everything?"

I would consider it bad writing if he just accepted that since one crazy ass thing is possible every crazy ass thing is possible even if they are unrelated.

[dendawg]

The Simposons and all of its spinoffs.]

Umm...what spinoffs? Surely you don't think Futurama counts. :confused:

[Gravekeeper]

So in the TV show even though they are dealing with science, that works somewhat differently in ways from our world's science at times.


Ok, I'm not sure what or why you're arguing this as it really doesn't sound like you've seen the show. His dad is a scientist yeah, a scientist whose been in a mental institute for the past 17 years and essentially in no way been in his life since he was a kid and even when he was a kid he resented his dad for being a scientist. Here's the last two things the character in question did on the show in season 1:

Used a Geiger counter and a 20 year old electron microscope to build a machine that could scan vinyl records and translate the image of the groves back into music. He then used this machine to play back a piece of glass he cut out of a window into a record shape and this magically gave him a full minute worth of crystal clear audio of what happened in the room prior to their arrival.

He closed a dimensional gateway into a parallel universe using what appeared to be a stud finder wrapped in electrical tape.

Aside from that he's witnessed, experimented on or actively taken part in investigations that proved: Telepathy, pyrokinesis, people that can control electricity with their mind, precognition, linked conciousness, memory transfer, active genetic rewriting on living people, genetically engineered monsters of various shapes and sizes, spinal vampires, computer programs that can liquefy people's brains, people who can microwave people to death with their brains, magical unaging albino children that are born from nothingness, walking through solid matter, magic chemicals that can dissolve people or cause their entire face to disappear, teleportation, time travel and parallel universes.

At no point during all of this was he sceptical and this is not a show that goes "Oooh, we'll never know what really happened!" at the end of the episode. Every cause of every case is proven by the end of the episode.

So for him to suddenly turn sceptical is bad writing, yes. It'd be like having Mulder and Scully swap personalities just for one season.

[jackfaire]

So for him to suddenly turn sceptical is bad writing, yes. It'd be like having Mulder and Scully swap personalities just for one season.

Actually I almost stopped watching after season 1 for the fact that they were all seeing these crazy whacked out things and everyone of them was acting like it was someone showing off a microwave.

Making him Skeptical made him more realistic to my mind.

And I won't spoil it but there was a time when he wanted to be like his dad. There was a moment that changed and he grew to resent him but that part has an in story reason.

[Gravekeeper]

Actually I almost stopped watching after season 1 for the fact that they were all seeing these crazy whacked out things and everyone of them was acting like it was someone showing off a microwave.


That certainly sums it up, yeah. The first two episodes were great, nice and sciencey. Everything after it was hit and miss. Especially every episode that focused on Olivia Drama(tm).



Making him Skeptical made him more realistic to my mind.


Problem is not being sceptical to begin with. If he had started with that trait and had to slowly go "Wait, holy shit" at all the stuff he was seeing that would have been a realistic character arc. But doing it in reverse is bad writing. It sounds like they tried to sort of retool the show and forget season 1.

[jackfaire]

I meant that in Season 1 no one was really like WTF.

But I am now fully onboard the Fringe doesn't know what the hell it is doing train.


SPOILER ALERT
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In the latest episode of Fringe Peter goes into his dad's house in a timeline where his dad hasn't lived in the house since the 80s.

In Peter's normal timeline him and his dad live in this house. The set designers apparently forgot. They covered the place in dust and put sheets over all of the furniture.

The stupid part is that they forgot to take out the flat screen tv and the armchair of a design not seen until the 90s at least.

Things that in that timeline would not have been there.

[Rageaholic]

I am not home most nights for primetime TV during the week because of my shift, but I can't believe Raising Hope is still on. That show was so stupid to begin with.

From what I've seen of Raising Hope, it looks incredibly lame and obnoxious. Of course I wasn't in the best mood when I was watching it because a rerun of it had taken the place of another show I like.

[IDrinkaRum]

SPOILER ALERT
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In the latest episode of Fringe Peter goes into his dad's house in a timeline where his dad hasn't lived in the house since the 80s.

In Peter's normal timeline him and his dad live in this house. The set designers apparently forgot. They covered the place in dust and put sheets over all of the furniture.

The stupid part is that they forgot to take out the flat screen tv and the armchair of a design not seen until the 90s at least.

Things that in that timeline would not have been there.

That's bad continuity and someone needs to be in charge of note taking and set notes. Is there a job for that?

I tried watching the first season, but I got bored with it.

[DrFaroohk]

That's bad continuity and someone needs to be in charge of note taking and set notes. Is there a job for that?

There was recently a "timeline" change. Everything in that world that happened after 1985 or something is now different. Anythign that doesn't fit they can just toss into the timeline argument.

[jackfaire]

There was recently a "timeline" change. Everything in that world that happened after 1985 or something is now different. Anythign that doesn't fit they can just toss into the timeline argument.

That's the point DR that is what the error was. The house that Peter and Walter were living in prior to the Timeline change was Walter's house from when he was a professor and was still owned by him.

Due to the timeline change him and Peter never moved into the house and since Walter had been in mental hospital for 12 years no one occupied the house after the 80s

The error is because they had technology in the house that hadn't been touched since the 80s that was clearly New Millenium technology.

[DrFaroohk]

Or so we thought. Perhaps Peter's lack of existance caused leaps and bounds in the TV industry, to the point that they can even teleport a TV into an unused house!

[fireheart17]

Umm...what spinoffs? Surely you don't think Futurama counts. :confused:

Futurama was MADE by the same people. There's no link between The Simpsons and Futurama.

Now if you want a show that has Spin-offs, think of Family Guy and The Cleveland Show.

[Gravekeeper]

Season 2 of Fringe seems to be better....so far anyway. They're being more grounded with the tech and less "Invented by mystical space fairies". I've only had to yell "WINDMILLS DO NOT WORK THAT WAY" at the screen once or twice so far.

[jackfaire]

I've only had to yell "WINDMILLS DO NOT WORK THAT WAY" at the screen once or twice so far.

Careful if they blow a logic fuse you will find yourself tilting at them.

[blas87]

Oh FFS, Drunken Shore is back on again.

I'd rather watch an all day marathon of 16 and Knocked Up than that nonsense.

I could just drive down by the university on a Friday or Saturday night to the bars and watch a bunch of fairer skinned more Norwegian or German type people of the same mentality wearing the same clothes and acting the exact same way.

[Ginger Tea]

I've only had to yell "WINDMILLS DO NOT WORK THAT WAY" at the screen once or twice so far.

my main beef with the X DO/DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY meme is that ChaosD1's mic is crap on the last few times hes been called upon do shout it, I've never till now seen/heard anyone else do the same, so really I should write 'catchphrase' and not meme.

[the_std]

Uhm, GingerTea, ChaosD1 didn't start that phrase. It's originally from a Futurama episode, uttered by Morbo the TV Monster.

[Ginger Tea]

I have to admit I've watched only a hand full of episodes of the show and even if it only ever appeard in one episode and I might have seen it, well it just didn't stick in my memory.

And if it had appeared in a show that never got aired this side of the pond, well all I could do is go "thewhatnow?" google it, find out we never had show X and just shrug.

he still needs a better mic if he is to be shouting like that regardless of what he is shouting.

[the_std]

If you're curious, here is the original bit. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQg8JKo_3ZQ) I would definitely recommend watching the full episode, as it is one of the series' best. It is Season 4, Episode 8 "Crimes Of The Hot".

[HYHYBT]

I know it's not the point, but how don't windmills work?

[the_std]

The entire joke is that the planet is overheating due to global warming. Hordes of turtles are shown migrating to Holland in an attempt to escape the heat. The female news anchor says, "I'm sure all those windmills will keep them cool!" Then Morbo the monster anchor gets angry and yells, "WINDMILLS DO NOT WORK THAT WAY! GOODNIGHT!"

But really, explaining it takes every ounce of humour out of it. It's a thousand times funnier if you watch the episode.

[HYHYBT]

Thank you. I don't think it's that your description removed the humor, but that there's not much there to begin with.

[the_std]

Well, the phrase itself has also become a handy one to keep in the arsenal. I find that it fits perfectly into a situation where you are so completely tired of listening to someone say idiotic things, and when they say something entirely illogical, you just snap.

Then, maybe I'm just a big Futurama nerd and other people might not get it, so I don't use it too often in every day conversation, only when I know there are people around who will get it. I've seen Gravekeeper use it a number of times here, so I'm pretty sure I'm not alone.

[Hyena Dandy]

Thank you. I don't think it's that your description removed the humor, but that there's not much there to begin with.

More of the humor comes from the way those two have always interacted than the specific phrase.

[Gravekeeper]

Then, maybe I'm just a big Futurama nerd and other people might not get it, so I don't use it too often in every day conversation, only when I know there are people around who will get it. I've seen Gravekeeper use it a number of times here, so I'm pretty sure I'm not alone.

Sometimes, its really the only phrase that explains exactly how I feel ;p

[Sleepwalker]

Charmed.

Annoying yuppie women dressed like teenagers fighting annoying yuppie men.

Who are demons from hell.

Or something.


Makes me miss Buffy, shitty seasons and all.

[fireheart17]

This one's a local series but I'll give you the gist of it-it's called RBT. Random Breath Testing. Should give you a clue.

I can understand that certain shows like Border Security, The Force and so on are entertaining. It's when they try and capitalise on that popularity by making stupid shows like THAT. We do not NEED to see 30 minutes of people getting randomly breath tested.

(for the record, Border Security is a mix of Customs, Quarantine and Immigration cases at the airport, docks etc. while The Force is a cop "documentary" that is a little less involved than COPS)

Sleepwalker, I'll agree with you about charmed. I don't know why, but one of the digital channels down here decided to re-air it during the day. I went and watched an episode the other day. Now I USED to like Charmed when I was younger: I would read the books and all that jazz. Now I watch it and I skip through the episode.

Another show that is starting to get irritating: Family Guy. They have started to clone a lot of the Simpsons jokes to the point where it's no longer funny: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mWSM1duydE&feature=related

[blas87]

Family Guy still amuses me so much because, well, the show goes there. And you sit there at home, knowing you probably shouldn't laugh, it's soo wrong...but you do it anyway. Because it's funny.

[AdminAssistant]

Archer is like that, too. New episodes Thursday - woo! "It's like Meowschwitz in here!"

[senor boogie woogie]

Me again.

I dislike most HBO/Showtime series. I am not a prude, but it seems that every other word that comes out is fuck, shit, or motherfucker among others. It seems to me that they do this because they can, and it is something that they can do that the broadcast networks cannot.

There is too much sex in these shows too. Guess what, sex is no big deal. I dont need to see your tits or bare ass. Really.

[blas87]

I disagree with you. It just sucks you have to pay for those damn channels.

I missed all of season 4 of True Blood.

It may seem over-the-top, and they may do it just because they can. But hell, have you ever watched syndicated Sex and the City and the dubbed over words? Or movies that get put on regular cable channels with obvious different voices dubbing over curse words?

[jackfaire]

Or movies that get put on regular cable channels with obvious different voices dubbing over curse words?

And even more annoying they dub a word that fits the mouth movements that is a non swear word instead of a word that fits the dialogue. I can handle the mouth and word not matching better than I can the word not making sense.

In Lethal Weapon 4 Riggs says, "We fucked you" and then laughs. In most dubs it is done as "We Fixed you" Really "We Screwed you" may not look right but it will at least flow with the dialogue.

[Dreamstalker]

I loved the original (BBC) Being Human; I have no desire whatsoever to see the SyFy version. It seems to be mostly about sex and banter, and the few character revelations in the trailers have been really dumb.

[Andara Bledin]

I loved the original (BBC) Being Human; I have no desire whatsoever to see the SyFy version.
I've just finished watching the SF version. There is a bunch of sex in it, but most of it is actually related to moving the plot, surprisingly. I like it and am going to catch the next season when it hits Netflix.

I've never seen the original, so I can't say how it compares.

^-.-^

[firecat88]

I hate...most things that have a laugh-track on them. If I have to actually be told when to laugh, something is very wrong. The exceptions are older shows like I Love Lucy and Get Smart because those shows were freakin' hilarious. Other, non-laugh-track things I hate are:

~Toddlers & Tiaras (aka How To Train Your 5-Year-Old To Look Like A Hooker and Act Like An Entitled Bitch)

~Say Yes To The Dress and its other forms (aka When Brides Let Other People Decide For Them What Their Perfect Wedding Dress Is)

~Extreme Couponing (aka Extreme Hoarding-and-Shopaholicsm)

~Extreme.....y'know what? I'm just going to say 'Everything on TLC that isn't Cake Boss or that new special JIG (which is about Irish dance competitions).'

~Most of what's on History Channel. It's all Nostradamus and aliens and truckers now.

~A lot of cartoons that have been made within the past few years. It's all fart jokes, characters throwing up, and general crap as far as the eye can see. Which is why I treasure such things as MLP, the new ThunderCats, and most of what's on Nicktoons that isn't The Mighty B and Dragon Ball XYZEleventy.

[AdminAssistant]

I tried to watch Cake Boss once. Too much yelling and drama. Much prefer the stoners and artists and wacky hijinks of Ace of Cakes.

[Andara Bledin]

~Extreme Couponing (aka Extreme Hoarding-and-Shopaholicsm)
Don't forget the fraud.

I have to say I agree with most of your list. Especially about comedies with laugh tracks. Not only are they often inappropriate, but it's the same exact laugh sound every single time. >_<

^-.-^

[Ginger Tea]

Some UK sitcoms the laugh track isnt canned laughter, nor is it filmed infront of a studio audience. I guess any fluffed lines and retakes tend to kill the joke for the audiences.

Last of the summer wine would have coach loads of OAP's come in to watch special screenings and they would record their reactions, they laughed cos they thought it was funny, not cos some one pressed play on a tape deck.

it would be nice if shows that had laugh tracks had an option to watch the show without, sometimes the laughter drowns out the next few lines.

[HYHYBT]

it would be nice if shows that had laugh tracks had an option to watch the show without, sometimes the laughter drowns out the next few lines.An advantage of using a live audience: it's possible simply to hold the next line a few seconds until the laughter dies down a bit.

(Speaking of new ThunderCats... when will they show the rest of them?)

[Andara Bledin]

Some UK sitcoms the laugh track isnt canned laughter, nor is it filmed infront of a studio audience.
There are two ways to do canned laughter: Either get some laugh samples together and hit the "play laugh" button every time the script calls for it, get an audience together and then after the show is filmed, have a session with just the audience being asked to do various responses on cue such as laughing, booing, etc, so that you can pad the end product with the live studio audience recordings. Going to a taping of one of your favorite comedy shows (Whose Line is it Anyway) can be quite an eye opener.

^-.-^

[Racket_Man]

And even more annoying they dub a word that fits the mouth movements that is a non swear word instead of a word that fits the dialogue. I can handle the mouth and word not matching better than I can the word not making sense.

In Lethal Weapon 4 Riggs says, "We fucked you" and then laughs. In most dubs it is done as "We Fixed you" Really "We Screwed you" may not look right but it will at least flow with the dialogue.

When one of the 3 big networks showed the first Die Hard movie in prime time, they had to either silence or (badly) dub in "other words".

the biggest fake out dialogue overdub was near the end where John McClane (Burce Willias) when he is attempting to rescue his wife and says "Yippy Kiyay Mother Fucker" they dub in "Yippy Kiya Mr Falcon" (*not Bruce doing the dubbing) to which Haans (Alan Rickman) says (in a fake German accent) "Yippy Kihah (they dubbed some horrible line that was kind of garbled))

just sort of ruined the scene.

[Andara Bledin]

My favorite overdub piece of censorship will likely always be the changing of a Cheech and Chong movie from talking about a bag full of tied sticks to talking about a bag full of diamond chips. :rolleyes:

I can't even figure out why they even attempted to show a C&C movie when their network wouldn't allow the more overt drug references.

^-.-^

[Dreamstalker]

I've just finished watching the SF version. There is a bunch of sex in it, but most of it is actually related to moving the plot, surprisingly. I like it and am going to catch the next season when it hits Netflix.

Huh; I'll have to check it out (the most recent trailer did look kinda interesting). I guess I'm just jaded with American TV making a royal mess of British shows. I thought the UK version did a great job with the werewolf transformation sequences and TBH I'm a bit leery of seeing how the US version did it...mom also thinks it's weird that the ghost character is dressed exactly the same as her UK counterpart.

One of my 'favorite' broadcast overdubs has to be in Ghostbusters, during the scene in the mayor's office.

Original line: "It's true, this man has no dick."
Redub: "This man is some kind of rodent, I don't know which." It seems to me like they slowed down/otherwise fuzzed the visuals to get it to match as the film quality does seem to change briefly.

The studio kept the next part of the joke: "Well you can believe Mr. Pecker..." resulting in the whole thing making no sense (I actually had to explain to a few friends what happened).

[Andara Bledin]

I thought the UK version did a great job with the werewolf transformation sequences and TBH I'm a bit leery of seeing how the US version did it.
I was actually pretty impressed with the special effects; rather fancy for TV.

^-.-^

[fireheart17]

One question: Why do they call it Toddlers and Tiaras when the show ends up showing kids who are no longer toddlers?

Another show that's due to come back to Australian Screens this year: Big Brother.
:help:
The old show was horrible enough as it was: sixteen-eighteen people locked in a house and there were so many twists every damn week.

[mikoyan29]

My favorite overdub piece of censorship will likely always be the changing of a Cheech and Chong movie from talking about a bag full of tied sticks to talking about a bag full of diamond chips. :rolleyes:

I can't even figure out why they even attempted to show a C&C movie when their network wouldn't allow the more overt drug references.

^-.-^
My favorite overdub is, "Yippe Kay Ye...Mr. Falcon"

[Shangri-laschild]

I loved the original (BBC) Being Human; I have no desire whatsoever to see the SyFy version. It seems to be mostly about sex and banter, and the few character revelations in the trailers have been really dumb.

I actually tried watching both and couldn't get through more than a couple of episodes of the UK version but I love the US version. A lot of that is because of the actors I think. The vampire in the US version manages to get a lot more across with facial expressions while the UK guy seems to have a lot longer dialogue. While longer dialogue isn't always a bad thing, in this case I definitely enjoy what the US actor brings to it. And while the werewolf can be fairly whiny in both, he at least seemed less 2 dimensionally whiny in the US version. And I didn't like how the UK version started things timeline wise. Seeing the ghost get to the point of actually being able to touch things (which I believe happened fairly soon in the original?) was nice among other things.

I tried to watch Nip Tuck. I was very curious and figured I'd give it a shot. I got about 5 or 10 minutes in and the hand in the butt flap managed to hit several of my weirded out buttons (the line of what bugs me is weird and wavy) and just couldn't do it.

My friend's mom watches reality shows and for the time period where I lived there I did too since we did a lot of catching up while the shows were on too. I am just not a fan though every once in a while I come across some that can be fun to watch, not for the drama but for the competitions. The Ultimate Gamer show was like that for me.

My roommate loves Arrested Development but I couldn't get into it. I get and am all for the idea of characters that you hate. Hell some of my favorite shows are ones where I've disliked all of the characters at one time or another. And I've been marathoning Prison Break lately which has people that I despise. But for me, this show seemed obnoxious and not even highly interesting to me anyway. Of course I also couldn't stand The Big Lebowski because of the one guy who kept pissing me off. I was never a fan of The Office either.

[Seifer]

I can't stand King of Queens. The show is just blatantly unfunny.

[jackfaire]

I can't stand King of Queens. The show is just blatantly unfunny.

I started watching that show and was going to stop but then my roommate would sit down and watch it with me and his reactions to it were so funny I watched the whole series.

[DrFaroohk]

I can't enjoy any sitcoms these days. Why? Mostly, it's the standout oddball Urkel character that everyone has. He's either really really smart and socially awkward, or really really stupid, or a foreigner.

They don't all suck...I loved Kramer, and Balki. But like, there's that weird guy with the lisp on That 70's Show. Over the top and not funny. The extremely psychotically nerdy guy on Big Bang Theory. I don't "buy" their character. Most plots will revolve around them doing something extremely stupid that could be explained with a simple one or two word apology, but instead they drag it out for the entire episode like it's some big deal.

They are not funny! They go to far. It's like a dude playing a guitar solo - you get the one guy who just plays soulfully and hits the right notes. He's funny, good timing, hits your funny bone.

Then there's the guy who says "Hey, if one note is good, I bet 10 notes is even better!" So he wanks off on the guitar and you're like "WTF!?" Same with the comedy. Over the top just ruins it.

[AdminAssistant]

I don't buy anything about The Big Bang Theory, frankly.

[DrFaroohk]

lol it's kind of like they went "Hey, let's do another Roseanne...but...the opposite."

[Andara Bledin]

Ah, that mention of Kramer (who I despise as a character) made me remember how unwatchable Seinfeld is.

It's all of the worst parts of situation comedy with some of the most unlikeable characters ever put on tv.

^-.-^

[jackfaire]

I can't enjoy any sitcoms these days. Why? Mostly, it's the standout oddball Urkel character that everyone has. He's either really really smart and socially awkward, or really really stupid, or a foreigner.

This made me think of How I Met Your Mother. Mostly because Barney is the stand out character but not really for any of the usual reasons which might be why he is so good. He isn't even as one dimensional as some of the other characters out there. The character is fleshed out and given back stories that explain who and why he is in a satisfactory way.

[protege]

It's all of the worst parts of situation comedy with some of the most unlikeable characters ever put on tv.

I never really liked that show. It wasn't funny when it was new, and it's not funny now.

[blas87]

I think TV would be much better off without that Sheldon, Barney, and all of the Jersey Shore idiots.

[AdminAssistant]

I just can't get into any scripted, live-action show anymore. Everything I watch is animated (Archer, Family Guy, Futurama, etc.) or 'reality' (Storage Wars, No Reservations, Bizarre Foods, The Layover). I've heard about a few that look good on paper, but I just don't have the energy to commit. I'd rather rewatch Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood than try Dexter or Breaking Bad or any of those other 'must watch' series.

[protege]

I think TV would be much better off without that Sheldon, Barney, and all of the Jersey Shore idiots.

I think the *planet* would be better off without all the Jersey Shore idiots. Hell, one of the (Deena) is here in town for a car show. When she arrived, I think the IQ of the entire tri-state area dropped into single digits :eek:

[bunnyboy]

Well let's see I don't watch too much TV but...

Most kids network cartoon shows, it's either random all the time or feels like a diabetes wrapped anvil ( a certain show see avatar is exempt)

Queer as folk, all three versions. R.T.D. UK version, soap only gay, US Showtime version, soap, stereotypes and soft core GL porn, Bravo version, see US remove the porn.

Family guy, South Park, "adult" cartoons. Simpsons had you beat, enjoyable early seasons, then the characters just go flat.

Pretty much all crime dramas, (NCIS, SVU, CSI Vegas, and Criminal Minds being the exceptions) .

Reality TV in general. If I wanted to see idiots, I'd stay at work, where the stupidity isn't scripted by hacks that make hack authors look like The Bard.

Sci-Fi (sorry SyFy) Originals. Used to be so bad it's good or pretty good, now it's not even fit for direct to DVD releases.

And worst of all

History channel Paranormal Mumbo Jumbo 1-4 hour "special"

Cooking wise until I stopped watching Food Network it was anything that had Bobby "Ego the Size of Russia" Flay.

[bunnyboy]

My favorite overdub piece of censorship will likely always be the changing of a Cheech and Chong movie from talking about a bag full of tied sticks to talking about a bag full of diamond chips. :rolleyes:

I can't even figure out why they even attempted to show a C&C movie when their network wouldn't allow the more overt drug references.

^-.-^

The words censored here isn't a bag full of tied sticks (this being a C&C movie and if it's the one I think it is) the word is actually THAI sticks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_stickhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_stick

And now you know why.

[fireheart17]

Well let's see I don't watch too much TV but...

Most kids network cartoon shows, it's either random all the time or feels like a diabetes wrapped anvil ( a certain show see avatar is exempt)

Cooking wise until I stopped watching Food Network it was anything that had Bobby "Ego the Size of Russia" Flay.

I agree on the kids show front. There were some GREAT shows when I was a kid. Nowdays they have some horrible stuff. Disney channel is even worse: every show seems to involve Kid-At-High-School-Who-Has-Unusual-Circumstances-But-Can-Still-Get-A-Boyfriend-Or-Girlfriend. What happened to the good old stuff, like Captain Planet?!

One show I'm still a bit mixed on is Power Rangers Samurai. While I think it's great that Saban redid it and they seemed to have adapted the Sentai footage quite well, the premise of the characters is slightly strange: at least go back to the good old days where the kids were in high school! It'll be interesting to see how they're going to adapt the next two series (the first one seems to be centred around the use of trading cards, while the one after that involves ALL the past Sentai teams including ones never seen before in American footage)

Down here, there's another TV show I cannot stand: Home and Away. It's a soap opera for the unfamiliar, so you're expecting it to be somewhat cheesy. While it's known for having one of the longest-running actors on a soap opera (the guy who plays Alf has been on it since the beginning, only missing a few episodes here and there), the storylines are just cheesy. The only remotely good one involved one of the characters developing HIV through sexual intercourse. Every second week someone gets stabbed, shot, kidnapped, abused, hurt etc. It's received a lot of complaints due to the storylines being shown in its timeslot. I agree with those complaints.

Neighbours at least has some more clout with the exception of some slightly annoying characters. They've also done similar storylines, but have a) spread them out, b) managed to portray them in a decent manner without looking too damn cheesy and c) kept the controversy to a minimum.

There was some minor controversy when they had a lesbian on the show. In reality, it was done tastefully and handled well in my opinion. There was no sexual element towards it, in fact, the only remotely sexual things occuring between her and her "girlfriend" (one of the long-term characters was shown as bisexual) was some kissing. That was it. There was no broadcasting "Hey, I'm a lesbian" or "Hey I'm bisexual". The only other very minor controversy was a teen pregnancy storyline, but that was also done well, resulting in said pregnant character going back to school after the baby was born.

[Racket_Man]

my biggest beef these days is ALL of the "reality" shows that have permeated the airwaves/cable channels.

How many pawn shop show do we need??

How many auction house shows do we need?????

How many fishing shows do we need????
I used to be a Deadlyist Catch fan until the last season. now there are shrimpers, swordfishers, noodlers, lobster, tuna (ALL produced, it seems, by one company).

Dog The Bounty hunter needs to go far away.

Pest control shows need to get gased.

Fashion, designing/designer, models, and even how to stuff on HGTV gets REAL boring now. how many house hunter/"Iam an EW and I WANT ALL OF THAT SHINY KITCHEN STUFF AND GRANITE COUNTERTOPS NOW!!!!!!!!" . Selling <whatever city they are doing now> is realy boring to me as most of THOSE properties are waaayyyyy beyond anything I can do, comparing living rooms, bathrooms, master bedrooms reno's that cost more than the house I am living in juust turn me off.

One recent show called MIllion Dollar Houses showed a patio where JUST the floor of the patio (3 inch marble) cost above $300,000 and kitchen cabinets that cost over $400,000.

SciFi or SyFy is not all that good anymore. most of the during the day marathons are Ghost Hunters, Twilight Zone, some lame series they themselves cancelled early on, etc. the serial shows they put one at night are just meh to me.

Even the History and Nat Geo channels are going more and more reality. I could care less about AxMen and such.

[NateSean]

On and off I've only watched a handful of shows ever. Only one or two could be considered religious viewing (as in I will watch turn the TV on specifically for) or something I've seen from beginning to end. Buffy falls under that category. Everything else, that's what DVDs are for.

That said, there are certain trends in TV shows that got old for me way back when.

The X-mas episode: Or any holiday really. It usually involves one or more characters that doesn't like Christmas, doesn't celebrate it, or is just a general ass in regards to the day for whatever reason. It usually winds up being a bottle episode with an ending worthy of either Charles Dickens or Charlie Brown.

The only X-mas episodes that I have ever liked in any show: Buffy Season Three and the Santa Clause Conquers the Martians episode of MST3K.

The Last Minute Reprive:

In certain cop/squint shows, whenever a deathrow inmate is just days away from execution, his innocence is called into question and the team rushes to prove it saving said convict with minutes to spare. Oh and the convict is so overwhelmed with joy that he doesn't sue the government that very nearly wrongly killed him.

The only series where I feel they did that right was Bones season 1. Yes, the man was spared a half hour before his execution but it turned out he was guilty and the only reason the execution was stayed was because they found two other corpses he was responsible for and they wanted him to answer for them.

[CriminalMindsRocks]

Cooking wise until I stopped watching Food Network it was anything that had Bobby "Ego the Size of Russia" Flay.

Hey now, Bobby's actually a nice dude ( and yes before anyone asks I have met him in person). Now Anne Burrell I CANNOT stand! Watched the Chopped:All-Stars episode with her & Robert Irvine PISSED me off! :soapbox:


How many fishing shows do we need????
I used to be a Deadlyist Catch fan until the last season. now there are shrimpers, swordfishers, noodlers, lobster, tuna (ALL produced, it seems, by one company).

I kinda agree with you here Racket Man..Last season's DC was kind of hard to get into because of Phil Harris being gone. Could NOT stand that ASS they had on the Cornelia Marie during Kings, was soo glad Josh & Jake got rid of him.

[fireheart17]

I don't know whether to really consider these TV "shows", but A Current Affair, Today Tonight and those "tabloid TV" shows. The ones that try and expose some con man and tell you how bad corporate greed is. It's a waste of 30 minutes.

[Gravekeeper]

I agree on the kids show front.
There were some GREAT shows when I was a kid. Nowdays they have some horrible stuff.


I'm gonna have to disagree. Most kids stuff has always been crap. You just don't remember the crap because it was crap, but fondly remember the good stuff. There's usually only a few good kids shows at any given time to be honest. Then a lot of middling stuff thats alright but you never remember. Then a bunch of crap you block out. >.>

Captain Planet is pretty terrible on a side note. I would not classify it as gold old stuff. Though I guess it does have a certain so bad its good quality. Like when they went back in time and faced Hitler. ;p



at least go back to the good old days where the kids were in high school!

Seriously, not a single actor in Power Rangers ever passed for a high school student to begin with, heh. Or an actor. ^^



How many pawn shop show do we need??

How many auction house shows do we need?????


Ugh, gotta agree there. Corporate media is so devoid of ideas at this point that any show thats remotely successful will inevitably have a carpet bomb of shitty spin offs and copies of it hoping to cash in on the money trough. Combine that with how cheap it is to make a reality show compared to a show with any sort of substance and you get what we have now. An ocean of shit. >.>

[BlaqueKatt]

Captain Planet is pretty terrible on a side note. I would not classify it as gold old stuff.

actually as an adult it's full of thinly veiled racism/bad stereotypes, though it is Ted Turner.


Kwame-from africa, has "dirt."
Wheeler-from america-is a "hothead"(and incredibly stupid)
Linka-soviet union is a "windbag/ice princess"
Gi-from asia, overfished the oceans so all that's left is "water"
Ma-Ti -the latino, has the power of "love"

[Gravekeeper]

actually as an adult it's full of thinly veiled racism/bad stereotypes, though it is Ted Turner.


Wasn't there a rather horrific AIDS episode too?

[jackfaire]

Wheeler-from america-is a "hothead"(and incredibly stupid)


While I am not stupid I was a hot head and Wheeler is my surname, not giving any personal info away with this statement since it is almost as common as Smith

So people started joking that the character was based on me.

[BlaqueKatt]

Wasn't there a rather horrific AIDS episode too?

yup from wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Planet_and_the_Planeteers#.22A_Formula_for _Hate.22):

The episode titled "A Formula for Hate" (1992) was also unique for the series in that it did not deal with environmental pollution or destruction. It was also the first episode in an American children's animated series to directly deal with the AIDS-HIV pandemic. In the episode, Skumm brainwashes a local community into thinking the virus can be spread through casual contact, and thus causing people to hate and fear a young man, infected with HIV, named Todd (voiced by Neil Patrick Harris, with his mother (voiced by Elizabeth Taylor).

[Ginger Tea]

Ma-Ti is (or up untill his 'death') the only planeteer to actually still be 'active', I had seen a few episodes, but I would not have been able to name anyone else save gia cos that was Whoopie Goldburg.

[Silverharp]

Glee can go or stay, doesn't matter to me there. Not my bag, although it is extremely predictable on character reactions/situations.

The Big Bang Theory can go die in a fucking fire. That shit reinforces every negative geek stereotype in existence and aside from part of an episode where George Tekai and Katee Sackhoff guested in a dream sequence (I actually fast forwarded through the whole episode until I got to their parts, everything else filled me with nerd rage) it’s inane and makes me want to punch a baby, or club a seal. Maybe even club a seal WITH a baby

[Racket_Man]

Ugh, gotta agree there. Corporate media is so devoid of ideas at this point that any show thats remotely successful will inevitably have a carpet bomb of shitty spin offs and copies of it hoping to cash in on the money trough. Combine that with how cheap it is to make a reality show compared to a show with any sort of substance and you get what we have now. An ocean of shit. >.>

Now if I want to watch something meaninful on History or NatGeo TLC, or Discovery, I have to go to their "alternate" channels. BUT the only problem with that is I have to pay EXTEA money to cable or satellite to get those channels.


GAAAAAGGGGGGGG now 2 channels (Nat Geo and History) have full on Jousting programs. OK I will admit I did at one time (many many many years ago) get slightly into the SCA thing but for me: just more stuff that I seem to be wasting my money on cable for.

HGTV seems to just run one big marathon of House Hunters and Food network is all about battles between chefs cooks or bakers (like the battles are really life or death situations)

[DrFaroohk]

I heard once that in other countries like England, when they have a show out they only do it for like 3 years so it doesn't get all stale. I think we should all do that.

If you want a show like Fringe or Alcatraz, you'd damn well better have it planned out, with a decent resolution after a few seasons. No more stretching it out, making it up as you go along, and other assfuckery. Just make a 60 hour movie and show it in 1 hour installments on tv.

[Gravekeeper]

I heard once that in other countries like England, when they have a show out they only do it for like 3 years so it doesn't get all stale. I think we should all do that.


Yeah, actually, American media tends to make shows designed to basically last for as long as they make even a shred of money even if they have to wring every last ounce of cash juice out of the corpse. Other countries don't seem to do this as much and many foreign shows I've watched have had a set beginning and end to them.

With American shows the cycle seems to be keep it going as long as possible, then cancel it by surprise and force the show's writers to cobble together some shitty unsatisfying ending. -.-

[Ginger Tea]

Not always so (edit in response to Dr)

#1 Sit coms
Faulty Towers gets cited alot as a great comedy but only had 12 episodes split between 2 seasons, most American shows see that as a failure* seeing as most 12 episodes is the half way mark. It might have gotten stale had they gone for another run ore more, but we will never know, although it seems to still be popular today and people remember there being more than 12 cos it never seemed to be off the air.
I think its the length of a season over here that keeps shows from petering out, the whole run of Red Dwarf if shot as a 24 episode season would only last 2 and a half (without counting) and seeing as it kinda went pants when Kochanskie (sp) was brought back (and not Altered Images Clair Grougan (sp) ) And Rimmers departure for the Britas Empire, it might not be as fondly remembered as it is now.
Watching one episode a week till the box set is done and you can see it stagnating half way through, keeping it split as the show was originally and aside from my reservations of the later years, it's way more enjoyable.
I borrowed the box set and marathoned it, episode after episode and I really didn't want to watch it again for a real long time.

*When Cybil started airing over here they had an interview and she said that our shows with 6 episodes would be seen as a failure as everyone is used to half a years worth of any given show per year at that point.

We have had numerous long running sit coms, afaik all have kept to the 6 episode per year method and had smaller writing crews and aside from being written in the 80's most are still revisitable today, the more pop culture you add, the less it means later on (or to a foreign audeince, lost count of the jokes I never got in friends cos I wasn't American or in touch with their politics or could remember who was relevant a year ago when it was first broadcast over there).

(I know this isn't from the UK)
I went and snapped up Shogan when I saw it on DVD late last year (not seen it yet since way back when we got the VHS, but remembered seeing it a few times over the years since it first aired in the UK) I don't think it's long (without checking) but as a mini serise I don't think extending it to a full season woudl have helped, sure maybe a part of me would like to see more*, but too much of a good thing is sometimes bad for you.

*Case in point, the mid season break in Dr Who, unheard of over here afaik, I was miffed about having to wait so long for the next episode, TBH, I would have prefered them to release it fortnightly or monthly than give me half and half, it's the only thing I watch on bbc iplayer, everything else is catch up DVD's, the wait annoyed me, but a regular gap between episodes would not have.

TL;DR
I think we keep shows fresh by keeping them short running and not having 24 episodes a year year in year out.

[blas87]

I keep trying to tell my dad and brother that the History channel has "sold out" just like every other channel with the same crap reality shows cloning themselves. How many pawn shop shows on different networks are there? Cooking contests? Shows about people who do logging, alligator wrasslin', whatever have you. Seriously!!!

[protege]

How many pawn shop shows on different networks are there? Cooking contests? Shows about people who do logging, alligator wrasslin', whatever have you. Seriously!!!

It's because the networks are out of ideas. I admit that I enjoy Hardcore Pawn, World's Dumbest (the commentary from the celebs is usually hilarious), Bait Car, etc. on TruTV, but do we really need similar shows on the other channels? Not really. But, as such shows are "hot" right now, that's not going away any time soon. I do miss the "Forensic Fridays" on that channel, since it was more interesting than some of the crap they have on there now. Seriously, do we really need multiple shows about repoing cars?

[Rageaholic]

I heard once that in other countries like England, when they have a show out they only do it for like 3 years so it doesn't get all stale. I think we should all do that.

If you want a show like Fringe or Alcatraz, you'd damn well better have it planned out, with a decent resolution after a few seasons. No more stretching it out, making it up as you go along, and other assfuckery. Just make a 60 hour movie and show it in 1 hour installments on tv.

That was why I stopped watching Heroes. By season 3, it was the same plot over and over and over again.

-Claire and her father fight but make up by next episode.
-Someone dies but gets revived with healing powers.
-There's some prophecy bullshit that has to be fullfilled.
-People keep switching sides.
-And in the end, it's everyone against Sylar.

I guess every show does this, but it was so obvious in Heroes.

[fireheart17]

To quote someone who pointed out that most kids shows back in "our time" were crap too, looking at a few of them, I can see why. Here's one example: I don't know if it was because I couldn't understand it or similar. Now looking at it, I have to wonder exactly WTF they were smoking, but ladies and gentlemen, I give you the travesty that is Lift Off (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWWjXs1bLfY).

Everyone bleats on about how it was the greatest thing since Sliced Bread. Me? It made zero sense.

Pingu was another one I couldn't stand: it'd just go around screaming "NERYK NERYK" or something like that for around 5 minutes.

There were SOME good shows when we were children. There was two series made by the same guy which turned out great. They were Ocean Girl and Thunderstone. Ocean Girl had a stronger environmental message and the characters were VERY well-developed. Thunderstone had a similar environmental message and the characters, while not that fleshed out, at least the plot holes were minimal. (compared to Ocean Girl, which had a few gaping plot holes here and there)

The two current night-time soap operas are starting to drive me nuts at the moment as well. Home and Away is trying to be all "edgy" and "dark", by having a gang present within the township. Neighbours is just nothing but love triangles at the moment. Sadly, Degrassi also seems to have met the same treatment, although they do tackle some decent and relevant issues.
(Some examples off the top of my head: character takes diet pills and suffers an unpleasant side effect; same character later discovers that she's 4 months pregnant but hasn't been showing any symptoms, another character is a female-to-male transgender student (he is played by a guy), another character LARPs in her spare time, there have been a few instances of dating violence and one two-part arc which involved a school shooting)

[Gravekeeper]

Pingu was invented by stoners for stoners. It is the claymation predessor of Spongebob. >.>

[bunnyboy]

Hey now, Bobby's actually a nice dude ( and yes before anyone asks I have met him in person). Now Anne Burrell I CANNOT stand! Watched the Chopped:All-Stars episode with her & Robert Irvine PISSED me off! :soapbox:

I kinda agree with you here Racket Man..Last season's DC was kind of hard to get into because of Phil Harris being gone. Could NOT stand that ASS they had on the Cornelia Marie during Kings, was soo glad Josh & Jake got rid of him.

Oh I know Bobby's nice, much like Ramsey is actually pretty chill. But the TV personality was just way too, I'm the best there is, probably didn't help that Food Network (much like Fox) pushed the character over the guy behind it.

I guess it's probably the same for people who love Bill Nye while I grumble about how almost nobody else from the show he started on got a real break, and I'm a bit colored by a friend who's actually met the guy.

Then again George "seven dirty words" Carlin was Mr. Conductor.

[DrFaroohk]

Not a show in particular, but some plots I can't stand:

1) "You're not safe with me". If there's a superman antagonist with lots of powers or skills, at some point he's like "I have to stay away from you so the bad guys won't come after you."

I could understand if it were like Spiderman, and identities were still secret, but if they're not, and everyone knows who your girlfriend is and where she lives, just because you're not nearby isn't going to stop anyone from hurting them.

2) Long running show, sexual tension between two characters. Ok, that's familiar. And oh boy, a couple seasons in they FINALLY hooked up! Yay! Wait, what? Two weeks later they broke up and the whole relationship was a big fucking waste? What was the point of all that?

[Ree]

2) Long running show, sexual tension between two characters. Ok, that's familiar. And oh boy, a couple seasons in they FINALLY hooked up! Yay! Wait, what? Two weeks later they broke up and the whole relationship was a big fucking waste? What was the point of all that?Because they usually find out that it was the buildup with all the flirting and sexual tension that was the excitement for viewers.

Viewers think they want the characters to hook up, but when they do, the show gets stale because there's really nowhere else to go with the relationship.

[jackfaire]

Viewers think they want the characters to hook up, but when they do, the show gets stale because there's really nowhere else to go with the relationship.

Or so the show runners think. There are viewers like me that hate the epsiodes where they "will they won't they" and avoid watching them but love the ones where they show them actually in a fucking relationship.

I started watching Friends more when Monica and Chandler entered a relationship because that was good TV.

[Ree]

Viewers think they want the characters to hook up, but when they do, the show gets stale because there's really nowhere else to go with the relationship.Or so the show runners think. It's based on ratings.

Ratings do, as a rule, drop once the characters hook up, unless the writers come up with something else in the plotline to keep viewers tuned in.

There have been some successful pairings, but there have been many more that ended up tanking the show.

It's called the "Moonlighting Effect" based on what happened with that show once they allowed the main characters to hook up.

[jackfaire]

I think ratings are BS in the first place I have never met nor known anyone to having anything to do with ratings. Most of the people I watch or discuss tv with start watching more when characters hook up not less yet because we don't have nielsen boxes the network doesn't know that.

[Gravekeeper]

Viewers think they want the characters to hook up, but when they do, the show gets stale because there's really nowhere else to go with the relationship.

There's plenty else to go, but as a general rule it seems like most writers suck nuts at writing an actual relationship. Unless two characters start out married, in which they can shift to "wacky" marital hijix that are essentially recycling the same handful of tropes and jokes over and over since the invention of television. ;p

When they *do* try to write a relationship, it ends up dysfunctional as fark all because they keep trying to generate tension between the two characters themselves, instead of between the two characters and the setting or other characters. Cue fluke misunderstandings, etc.