The Brain Death of Television

[SargeSmash]

I know it's very old-school (and might expose me to a bit of ridicule), but I was always impressed by the writing in The Andy Griffith Show.  Seriously.  And plus, Barney Fife. 

[SamIAm]

According to my dad, the only thing that he and the people in his commune found worth watching on TV in the 70's was Sesame Street.

Note that drugs may have been involved in their evaluation.

Anyway, I haven't had any habit of watching TV in 12 years. In fact, I saw a full episode of a reality TV show on Youtube for the first time just this year. The main reason I avoid it is because commercials disgust me. There are other reasons, but they get complicated.

The one exception is the Colbert Report, which I watch online, because Stephen is my hero.

Overall, I think that the quality of TV is like the quality of games and music and movies: most of it is underwhelming and always has been. Let's take advantage of hindsight and get the best we can find as quick as we can.

[MontyMole]

Most of the stuff I watch is US imports such as CSI*, Touch and NCIS which I enjoy,  most of the UK stuff is piss poor however.  Only really Doctor Who and Sherlock are the real stand outs (you can't really go wrong with Stephen Moffat wrtitng).  The downside of this is depressing soaps and reality shows of which there are legions of here.   The only real good reality shows are American Pickers and Storage Wars which is strangely compelling.

Sitcoms have largely gone to hell (seriously BBC if you think Miranda is the future of Sitcoms then you're seriously mistaken).  Steptoe and son, Are you being served, Dads Army, Allo Allo, One Foot in the grave and of course anything with Ronnie Barker in was comedy gold. 

BBC mini-series and documentaries

I'll give you documentaries, anything with David Attenborough in is gold, also Springwatch is good stuff which is basically televised birdwatching but much much more interesting than it actually sounds.

[SargeSmash]

Absolutely seconding "Are You Being Served?"  Such a great show. 

[DankPanties]

most of the UK stuff is piss poor however

Monty Python and Edge Of Darkness are both tremendously amazing, as well as all the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes stuff.  Admittedly, those shows are ancient.  A more recent BBC TV show I enjoyed?  Well, I thought Luther was quite good.

[SargeSmash]

Also, I think I may have mentioned Poirot in another thread.  It's my understanding that the series is still going.   

[Garoth Moulinoski]

Monty Python and Edge Of Darkness are both tremendously amazing, as well as all the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes stuff.  Admittedly, those shows are ancient.  A more recent BBC TV show I enjoyed?  Well, I thought Luther was quite good.

I'm not sure if it's BBC, but Sherlock seems like it's pretty good. I haven't been to sit down and watch it calmly enough like my sister has,, though... Being an adult sucks.

[kingofcrusher]

I know it's very old-school (and might expose me to a bit of ridicule), but I was always impressed by the writing in The Andy Griffith Show.  Seriously.  And plus, Barney Fife. 

Hah, I got your back on this one. I love the Andy Griffith show, although it lost a bit of charm when it went to color and the episodes started focusing on events rather than character-based comedy. Plus, no Barney:( I've been watching all of Leave It To Beaver on netflix, that show is awesome. Relaxing, entertaining, good characters, and occasionally pretty funny.

TV is pretty much the same today as it's always been; people just tend to only remember the good shows of the past. They never remember the hundreds and hundreds of awful, stupid, insultingly-bad shows that didn't last or that were popular in their day but no one cares about anymore. Actually, if anything, I think the really good shows are much smarter now than they were in the past. Even dumb-fun shows like Glee (a guilty pleasure, I love it) are extremely well-written and clever.

Great shows on now-- It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (nearly my favorite comedy of all time), Workaholics, 30 Rock, and Community. I'd argue that 30 Rock and It's Always Sunny are as good as the best sitcoms that have ever aired; the writing is nearly flawless, the characters are memorable, and most importantly they're hilarious.

[FallenAngel2387]

You mean back when the TV producers told you when to laugh? Uh thanks no. Thankfully that is a trend that was never copied in Germany. Everything that uses a laughing track is instantly unwatchable for me, if the writers don't take my intelligence seriously I won't take their show seriously.

I can't remember Fresh Prince that well, but The Jeffersons and All in the Family had studio audiences. In fact, AitF brought the practice back to TV to begin with.

Also:

[BRPXQZME]

I'm not sure if it's BBC, but Sherlock seems like it's pretty good. I haven't been to sit down and watch it calmly enough like my sister has,, though... Being an adult sucks.

It’s pretty good! And Series 2 is currently streaming on pbs.org (but they’re the 82-minute U.S. cuts).

According to my dad, the only thing that he and the people in his commune found worth watching on TV in the 70's was Sesame Street.

Note that drugs may have been involved in their evaluation.

According to my dad (class of ’69), one show college kids would communally watch was George of the Jungle... the reasoning was probably similar.

[Kyrael Seraphine]

Sherlock is pretty ace. I actually bought the first season on blu-ray on a whim (I don't watch TV as a general rule) and was pleasantly surprised. I mostly watch QI and Buzzcocks, otherwise. Everything else is pretty meh. Australia had Good News Week, and that was pretty awesome, but that died, too. In the soul.

[DankPanties]

Are you guys talking about the new Sherlock or the old one?  I was talking about the old one.  I haven't seen the new one yet, but it's in my queue.

[Garoth Moulinoski]

I was talking about the new one "Sherlock"

It's a modern twist on his stories. Apparently it's all the rage with the girls, though. Do not look up fan related material on it. Trust me, my sister has and keeps oscillating between face palming and... well, laughing.

But what snippets I've seen, it's pretty cool. Sometimes a little confusing, but I guess that's to be expected when I don't watch it from start to finish.

[Kyrael Seraphine]

The new one. It's written by Stephen Moffat as an idea of how to play Holmes in a current day setting. Holmes is effectively an abrasive, unlikable, brilliant, perceptive son of a bitch. Very modern in locale and paraphernalia, but still kind of... old fashioned in tone. Somehow. I never liked Dexter, Holmes is my current favourite sociopath.

And Garoth was hinting that there's a lot of homosexual tones. Which there is. Mostly played for laughs in the very early bits. After that, mostly forgotten, I guess. Never really noticed. Well, except for one notable character, he who cannot be named. Who is the campest mofo this side of Julian Clary.

Benedict Cumberbatch (my god, his name is just as unwieldy as his face) makes Holmes a very manic, addicted person, to Martin's much more everyman Watson. Also the other writer of the show plays Mycroft. Who is in MI-something or other.

The writers basically went in with the viewpoint of "we really love Holmes, and we love the old series, and most of the stuff that's been done, but it's all so very Victorian. Holmes can work as a current idea, and here's how. We aren't replacing the old Holmes, just showing another way to do it." It was very much an experiment that happily played out.

[MontyMole]

New Sherlock is definitely great, though it updates Sherlock Holmes to the 21st century rather than keep it Victorian era.  The old Sherlock Holmes with Jeremy Brett was pretty good too, though that is strictly victorian. 

Monty Python and Edge Of Darkness are both tremendously amazing, as well as all the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes stuff.  Admittedly, those shows are ancient.  A more recent BBC TV show I enjoyed?  Well, I thought Luther was quite good.

Yeah used to watch Monty Python on reruns and to be honest forgot all about it.  You may also like Fawlty Towers as it has John Cleese in and is really funny as well as being old.  I'll also add Shooting Stars as well as Look Around You which are also old but really funny as well as Little Britain and Harry Hills TV burp (sadly ended now).

Mainly though its still reality trash here like Towie and Geordie Shore (Jersey Shore but set in Newcastle) and everything ever made on BBC3.  Oh and homegrown talk shows like Jeremy Kyle, and XFactor and Britains Got Talent which I really don't care for.

[Garoth Moulinoski]

Well there's that, yeah, but apparently written in really retarded fashions or something. I'd have to ask my sister how bad the fandom really is.

I wasn't speaking about the themes, but rather the skill and consideration they were written in... by the fans of the series.

[geishaboy]

I stopped watching TV once pedophilia became a spectator sport

I normally just buy or borrow DVDs of the shows I want to watch, and most of them are pretty old school anyways

Mind you, Japanese TV is far, far worse than it is in most western and English speaking countries (I assume)

[Eien Ni Hen]

That reminds me, a big THANK YOU to whoever recommended Edge of Darkness (I think it was awhile ago, in the "recommend a show" thread). That was one of the best series I've seen, and I actually enjoyed Joe Don Baker in it.

My brother keeps telling me to watch Breaking Bad.  But if I really wanted to see some faces of meth, I'd just bebop down to the local Walmart.

Breaking Bad is excellent. The writing and story development is great. Despite what you might think, it's not so much about meth addiction, but rather the business of dealing meth. It's not preachy at all and the storyline is quite dark.

I like Mad Men but I think it's a little over-hyped. Supernatural is campy as hell but fun to watch (although the first few episodes are awful). I mostly watch older sitcoms. Been working my way through Fraiser lately, and before that Married...With Children. Honestly I think there's always been a lot of crappy TV with the occasional gem, now there's just more shows to watch.

[Gideon Zhi]

I really enjoy Leverage. It's a bit of a guilty pleasure. I know a lot of it would never work - the technology shenanigans in particular are kind of hilarious - but if you can endeavor to suspend disbelief for some of the more unbelievable moments, it tends to be a very clever show with a lot of feel-good moments.

[Pennywise]

I like Grimm. There were a few episodes in the beginning that I thought were just stupid, but the season turned out pretty good I thought. Hopefully it makes it past 2 seasons because I'm interested in seeing how they tie-up everything and where the story goes. Btw, one of the creators, David Greenwalt, was behind the short-lived Profit which was probably one of the boldest shows ever. There were only like 8 episodes so it's a quick and fun watch.