Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Is there anything good on that little thing called "TV"?

This is topic Is there anything good on that little thing called "TV"? in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=000656

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 01-30-2002, 04:16 AM:

I'm curious as to how many Film-Techers here watch TV. What do you watch, other than late night Miss Cleo infomercials? It seems most TV shows are turning into the same kind of recycled crap that Hollywood has been cranking out. I only know of one show on the air that is a stand-out for originality and entertainment value. Malcolm in the Middle!

So, what do YOU watch?

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 01-30-2002, 04:41 AM:

I don't have a TV at home. I spend my working life dealing with moving images I want a break from them at home. I listen to the radio a lot and have a DVD drive in my PC which I occasionally watch the odd film on.

Another disincentive is the TV licence cost. This is in order that the semi-public British Broadcasting Corporation can be funded by the public but (supposedly) remain independent of the government. So instead of just paying for it out of general taxation (a process which the government could easily mess with for political reasons), it's funded by a licence, which anyone who has TV receiving equipment in their home has to buy (it costs, I think, around £120 per year).

So even someone who has a TV and only watches commercial stations has to pay the BBC for the privilege of so doing. There are one or two paid channels I'd quite like to have (e.g. Film Four) but were I to do so I'd have to pay the BBC as well as the subscription for them, which pisses me off somewhat because they broadcast total rubbish: endless soap operas, repeats and totally hard-left biased news reporting. Over the last few years the things that the licence fee should have been paying for - major films, live sports coverage, serious documentaries - have either disappeared or gone to pay-per-view channels. IMHO they should get rid of the licence and make the existing two BBC stations pay-per-view too. Then they'd find out just how many licence payers would willingly cough up for their broadcasting in a free and fair market.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 01-30-2002, 04:58 AM:

Except for Seinfeld, I can't stand most of the new shows that I call sh!tcoms. I watch American Classic Movies, Turner Classic, Discovery channel, Biography,and History channel on the rare occasion that I even watch TV. I do restore old pre 1950 TV sets(round CRT only!) as one of my seldon gotten to hobbies. Out of a collection of 9 pre 1950 sets that I have managed to aquire, I've only been able to manage about one restore a year. Although I have a Mitsubishi HDTV, which my DVD feeds, I generally watch my restored RCA TS721 10" set(1947).

(Insert 721TS-2 photo here)

This thing has such a tack sharp picture that its actually fun to watch it. Especially the old B&W re-runs of You bet your life, or the Honeymooners. TV used to be great!

Mark @ GTS

Posted by Peter Berrett (Member # 672) on 01-30-2002, 06:05 AM:

Hi all

I don't watch much terrestrial or cable tv. I do however have a free to air satellite tv setup which receives some interesting channels. Of late I have been watching the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's new Asia-Pacific service. At various times they have been showing old episodes of "Bush Tucker Man", a sort of documentary series showing how to survive in the Northern Australia using bush foods. The photography is superb (I believe the early series were shot on film) and the locations very beautiful.

A series to keep an eye out for.
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~canine/bushtucker/index.html

cheers Peter

Posted by Josh Kirkhart (Member # 1046) on 01-30-2002, 06:42 AM:

Ok, I'm the only entertainment junky here.

Alias
any Law and Order
Nypd Blue
Smallville
West Wing
U.C.
the Job
24
Enterprise

My wife records a lot while I work. I can't get enough of any of this crap, hell I wasted 88 minutes of my life on Kung Pow or worse yet last year--Pootie-tang. Why oh why?

Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 01-30-2002, 07:22 AM:

Some of the best shows are on the Food Channel. Best is GOOD EATS, with Alton Brown. I like to cook, and I've learned many good ideas from him. He tells why things work like they do...he also has lots or really good cooking "toys" (like the teakettle with spinning rocketships...had to get that one when I saw it)

New show is COOK'S TOUR, Anthony Bourdain. This is about a chef who is travelling the world in search of unusual food. He is very opinionated, very entertaining and I have found this to be an excellent program. Supposedly, he eats live cobra heart on one show. Some of the food looked pretty good, but some I wouldn't go near. He's braver than I am (and he DOES get sick, occasionally!)

But the greatest of all is IRON CHEF. I love the pageantry, the sports-like atmosphere and the skill of the contestants. (Did you know much of the music is from BACKDRAFT?) I find myself using phases from the show just to see if I can find other true fans. If I get a reaction to "Always a pleasure", I know this is another IC fan.

Other good shows: The Sopranos (took me 16 episodes to really get it!), Sex and the City, Project Greenlight (discovered this late, but it is excellent---shows the backbiting and intrigue of making a real movie), and IMUS IN THE MORNING on MS-NBC. I also never miss MCLAUGHLIN GROUP. Oh, and the best part of a quiet Sunday is SUNDAY MORNING on CBS...a true civilized moment that is as good as TV gets.

OH, and the Dennis Miller HBO show.

And, no, I don't work for HBO.

(Nice to have HBO sending some of the newer films out with 5.1 Dolby sound, like Showtime and STARZ.)

That's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

Posted by Chris Erwin (Member # 176) on 01-30-2002, 07:30 AM:

In Newton Minow's speech to the National Association of Broadcasters on May 9, 1961:

When television is good, nothing--not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers--nothing is better.

But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there without a book, magazine, newspaper, profit and-loss sheet or rating book to distract you--and keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that you will observe a vast wasteland.

You will see a procession of game shows, violence, audience-participation shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, western badmen, western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence and cartoons. And, endlessly, commercials--many screaming, cajoling and offending. And most of all, boredom. True, you will see a few things you will enjoy. But they will be very, very few. And if you think I exaggerate, try it.
************
So that was in 1961. And how about today? I tend to agree with some of his comments. I don't watch any show on a regular basis. When I watch TV, it's mostly old movies, old shows, or documentaries. Sometimes, I turn to one of those music only channels that are on the dish and listen to music while I do other things.

I thought I'd throw that Newton Minnow piece in there just to see what people thought. My college professors in the school of communications would be proud of me.
--Chris

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 01-30-2002, 08:53 AM:

Here's a link to the current channel lineup on Time-Warner Cable in Rochester:
http://www.twrochester.com/ChannelLineups/rochester2.cfm

I subscribe to the Basic, Standard, Digital Music and Digital television services they offer, as well as Road Runner for ISP.

I usually watch AMC, TCM, the documentary channels and the news channels (CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, BBC America, Newsworld). The basic and standard tier channels are still carried as analog, and generally have better image quality than the digital channels, which often have artifacts because of excessive digital compression. I don't subscribe to any of the "premium" services like HBO or Showtime. I am an NFL football fan, and my younger daughter loves figure skating. Looking forward to the Winter Olympics.

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Posted by Jerry Chase (Member # 660) on 01-30-2002, 09:00 AM:

We do not EVER watch live TV anymore, we Tivo anything we want to see. Most of what we end up watching is old movies on TCM, some "Who's Line Is It, Anyway?", some "Jeopardy", and some science and current affairs shows. We used to watch "Screen Savers" back when it was Kate and Leo, partly for the tech stuff, and partly to see how chummy Kate and Leo could get before Leo's wife stepped in.
Watching Pat in his kilts doesn't have the same effect on me...

I've heard "West Wing" is good, but haven't bothered to watch. Real-life politics is too much of a soap opera for me anyway.

Oh yeah, Bill Moyers has a new show on PBS (called "Now"?) which we plan on watching regularly. The first show in the series was excellent.

Miss Cleo was the reason for my getting a Tivo unit. I can't thank her enough.

Posted by Ken Layton (Member # 133) on 01-30-2002, 09:09 AM:

There's only one program I watch: FAMILY GUY!

Posted by Barry Floyd (Member # 385) on 01-30-2002, 09:28 AM:

I've never had cable TV, so I have no idea about what they offer.

I usually catch these show on a regular basis:
JAG
CSI
NYPD Blue
Law & Order (any variety)
King of Queens (sometimes)
Bob the Builder (required by my son)
Star Trek Voyager (late night)

Radio is my best bet for the entertainment dollar:
The G. Gordon Liddy Show
Sports Talk (Nashville Predator's Hockey)
The Dave Ramsey Show

------------------
Barry Floyd
Floyd Entertainment Group
Nashville, Tennessee
(Drive-In Theatre - Start-Up)

Posted by Evans A Criswell (Member # 381) on 01-30-2002, 10:09 AM:

Most of the time when I'm using my TV, it is to watch DVDs. When I do watch TV, I tend to watch the Cartoon Network when they're playing classic cartoons like the Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and watch Comedy Central sometimes, and sometimes find very interesting shows on TLC and Discovery, although they run the same shows over and over. I really hate the logos on the screen all the time, since I remember TV before that got started. Some stations even put a black bar at the bottom of the picture, and they either black out part of the picture or compress the picture to fit the part of the picture that isn't black. I refuse to watch such a station.

------------------
Evans A Criswell
Huntsville-Decatur Movie Theatre Information Site

Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 01-30-2002, 10:11 AM:

Shows that I try not to miss:

Law and Order
Walker Texas Ranger
CSI
Fear Factor
Fox News Channel
MS-NBC
Judge Judy
AMC
HBO
Starz
Bravo
Seinfeld re-runs
Weakest Link (Watch for my Son Rob Jr. Taping end of Feb.
Game show channel
Sports - Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets, Rangers, Knicks

Shows I will not watch

Gardening
Food shows
Cartoons

We receive over 300 channels and sometims can't find a thing to see.

In 1976 I was on the Pyramid Show with Dick Clark and in 78 I was on Pass the Buck with Bill McCullah. So you neverknow who you will see on the Game Show Channel.

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 01-30-2002, 11:29 AM:

I don't watch a lot of TV, not because I don't want to, but because I don't have time. I'm always either at school or at work, and the two nights a week I have free I either watch DVD's or play on my computer.

But I must admit, I am a junky when it comes to certain shows. Unfortunately those certain shows are on when I'm not home or on channels I don't get. So, I buy them on DVD. So far I have season two of the Sopranos on DVD and season one of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (please don't make fun of me, I feel enough shame the way it is).

Okay, not sure why I'm telling you this but this is REALLY sad. You see, after five years in syndication they just released season one of Buffy this January. Season two won't be out until June. That means by the time season three or four comes out it will be next year. Well, like any adict I can't wait that long. Enter region free DVD player. Thats right, I dropped 300 bucks on a region free multi-format player just so I could order Buffy from Australia, where its been released up to season 3 and season 4 will come out in April.

Gawd...I'm a loser.

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 01-30-2002, 11:54 AM:

The only thing I watch regularly is:

"The O'Reilly Factor"

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 01-30-2002, 12:01 PM:

Quality dramas that I often watch:

NYPD Blue
West Wing (widescreen this season)
Enterprise (widescreen)
CSI
JAG
The Guardian

Comedies:
King Of The Hill (my current favorite comedy)
Simpsons
Malcolm in the Middle
Futurama
Seinfeld reruns

I don't get HBO, so have never seen Sopranos or any other "subscription" stuff. Just as well anyway, I don't need to watch any more TV.

------------------
- dave
Stay away from the meadow...

Posted by Keith Peticolas (Member # 971) on 01-30-2002, 12:46 PM:

The only good thing on TV is my cat, because that is where he sleeps. Ha! TV is furniture, Film is God.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 01-30-2002, 12:55 PM:

West Wing is beautifully photographed, on film. DP is Tom Del Ruth, who I think has won multiple Emmy awards for his work on this show. It just happens to be delivered over TV.

Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 01-30-2002, 01:47 PM:

I have Dish Network with PRV so I can "tape" programs to watch later. I never save anything I just don't like to miss stuff.

On broadcast stations I like West Wing and Enterprise. On HBO I like Six Feet Under and Sex in the City. I am also hooked on Discoveries many channels. I like Lonely Planet, anything on Wings, and the Food Network.

On the Food Network I like The Naked Chef (Jamie Oliver) and A Cooks Tour (Anthony Bourdain). Read his books too. I used to watch Iron Chef but it grows old after a while.

I get trapped in TV cycles. I'll go for a month mindlessly watching TV. Then I will get disgusted with myself and just watch a few shows and rip through 4 or 5 books. The bad news is that the Winter Olympics are coming up and I am an Olympic junky.

Posted by Rachel Gilardi (Member # 4594) on 01-30-2002, 01:48 PM:

The only shows I watch reguarly are:
Enterprise &
Nick at Night Shows (the good ol' stuff)

I also watch Passions occasionally and old Voyager reruns sometimes late night. I also watch Garfield & friends very rarely because I never seem to be awake when its on at 6AM.

------------------
"I'd like mornings better if they started later." -Garfield the Cat & Jim Davis

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 01-30-2002, 02:22 PM:

When you watch television, you're usually watching FILM:
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/forum/tv/
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/forum/onFilm/
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/story/insight.shtml

Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 01-30-2002, 02:38 PM:

I gotta ask- how can anyone STAND to watch anything with those damn logos on the screen??? I find they completely ruin the mood of the show, especially anything trying to be the least bit serious (seeing ABC's logo on a dramatic show, I can't stop thinking about Schoolhouse Rock!) I complained to the Fox network when this practice started, and I got a thank-you letter from someone working on "The Simpsons" because they didn't like seeing their show ruined like that! When the logo didn't go away, I eventually quit watching.
I wanted to work in TV for a long time, but I never would now. This is absolutely the most f---ed up sense of aesthetics I have ever seen, and regardless of the arguments that 'people need to know what channel they're watching', the simple truth is that I CAN'T watch the SHOW with the logo on!
Why do people put up with this, and why haven't show producers caused an uproar about having their shows ruined like this? If I'm ever approached to appear on a news story, I will refuse to do so if there is a logo on the screen.
I didn't spend $2500 for a big screen TV to have these bumper stickers stuck on the picture!
(Can you tell I REALLY hate this practice?)

Posted by Jerry Chase (Member # 660) on 01-30-2002, 02:42 PM:

I sometimes stick a bit of black cardboard in the corner over the logos. Works for me.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 01-30-2002, 03:01 PM:

The absolute worst with the logo is TNN. They are now running a black band across the entire bottom of the screen, with the name of the show and the TNN logo. Then to add insult to injury they vertically compress the program image to fit in the reduced space that's left because of the stupid black band. So everything is vertically squished. Whoever came up with this idea should be shot.

Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 01-30-2002, 03:29 PM:

I saw that thing on TNN since the place I moved into had the cable still on (I thought maybe they were giving me free cable, but they turned it off 2 weeks ago.) I never watched a single show, just wondered how the hell they expected anyone to actually watch anything on most of those channels. I can adjust the vertical size via the service menus on my TV though, so I played around with it to show TNN unsqueezed with almost no crap on the bottom!
Since they turned my cable off I've been getting absolutely NO TV at all, since I still haven't unpacked my rabbit ears yet and am in no hurry to do so. I don't miss it one bit, though I'll eventually get the antenna hooked up in case another national disaster happens or something.

Posted by Ken Lackner (Member # 1002) on 01-30-2002, 03:52 PM:

I only watch 2 shows regularly: South Park and Enterprise. I watched Legend of the Rangers last week. If that ever makes it as a series I'll watch it every week because I love B5. Other than that, I don't watch much. Not because I don't want to, but I just don't have time.

Is Family Guy still on?? I love that show!

I agree that TNN sucks with their logo.

------------------
This one time, at Projection Camp, I stuck a xenon bulb....

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 01-30-2002, 04:23 PM:

Those logo "bugs" are the worst idea ever in TV (excepting the content, of course). Teletoon had a little visual pun - a bug "bug" - but they stopped using it last year.
I can't imagine a good reason to have them there. At least they should have them on commercials too - oops, I forgot that the stations listen when sponsors complain about their bits being overlayed. Show producers should rise up on ther hind legs and demand artistic control of the presentation.
I doen't use the TV much, if I do I watch just about anything until I hear a laugh track or see a commercial so I have well worn buttons on my remote or I get stuck on PBS.
The only show I try to watch right through is Combat!, still in reruns on our Canadian version of the History Channel at 5pm. King of the Hill is also on during the first half hour so I have something for during the commercials, the second half I go to Crocodile Hunter.

TV shows are generally garbage, and when they show a decent movie it's ruined by the bad dubbing of "gosh" et al for any swearing and the constant commercial breaks.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 01-30-2002, 06:54 PM:

I can't believe there aren't any Dave Letterman fans up to this point.

"They're not booing...they're chanting 'Daaaave'"

"Every show we do either sucks, blows or eats"

Forget all the damn news channels...you can find out more about what's happening watching Dave.

I also like Looney Tunes. Can't figure why Cartoon Network hasn't spun off a "classic toons" channel like TV Land.

Also, Judge Judy and Weakest Link. My wife is so nice to me, I have to tune into some mean, dominating women once in a while to keep myself in line.

I also have a collection of videos of "Green Acres" which I watch when nobody else is around...

"This town used to be a peaceful, happy community. Well, there were a few fights...but mostly it was a peaceful happy community, with a few fights." -- Mr. Kimball, 1966

Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 01-30-2002, 06:55 PM:

No cable or satellite here yet, but when away and have access to it I usually watch:

History Channel
Discovery Health
Discovery Channel
TLC (esp. Junkyard Wars!)
Travel Channel

-Aaron

Posted by Ethan Harper (Member # 472) on 01-30-2002, 07:09 PM:

SIMPSONS!!!!!
Family Guy
Malcolm in the Middle
King of the Hill
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Battlebots-Sometimes
Conan O'Brien

------------------
--"That's my story and i'm sticking to it!"--

Posted by Josh Jones (Member # 447) on 01-30-2002, 07:43 PM:

I dont know why we have a TV in the first place. I HATE watching cable because of the mediocre picture quality, in fact, I disliked it so much I put a pack of antanna's on the roof. still get better picture off those than the cable.
Shows I watch occasionally:
Simpsons
Seinfeld
King of the Hill
with a little AMC and TCM thown in for flavor.

On the average week I watch about a 1/2 hour of TV. The only other stuff I watch is the Acme Hour on cartoon network. aside from that the only sports I watch (maybe once a year) is Hockey. football bores me to death.

Josh

P.S. Short answer to brads original question.....no

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 01-30-2002, 08:20 PM:

Also, on occasion, in addition to "The Factor", I'll watch:

Craig Kilborn (only for "In The News" and "5 Questions")
Judge Judy

Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 01-30-2002, 10:09 PM:

My shows are as follows...

The Simpsons
The Sopranos
Sex and the City
Arliss
OZ
Six Feet Under
The Outer Limits (old and new)
Twilight zone (old and new)
Star Trek TOS (the only star trek that mattered)
24
Dark Angel (shes hot, even if the show sucks)
Special Report with Brit Hume
Nascar
Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Strangers With Candy
South Park
Thats My Bush
MASH

I am sure there are more, but thats about it.

Dave

Posted by Ken Lackner (Member # 1002) on 01-30-2002, 10:38 PM:

Is That's My Bush still on? I haven't seen commercials for it in a long time.

------------------
This one time, at Projection Camp, I stuck a xenon bulb....

Posted by Steven Gorsky (Member # 603) on 01-31-2002, 01:49 AM:

According to my father, who works for a local TV station, the "bug" is for two reasons. First, other stations using material without giving proper credit. Second, video pirates - people who tape shows off TV, and sell them on eBay, etc. as though they are store bought. These two reasons are probably why they don't appear on commercials.

Steven Gorsky

Posted by Paul Cassidy (Member # 951) on 01-31-2002, 04:24 AM:

We are doing the revival thing down under with shows like "Joe 90" "Thunderbirds" "Stingray" "I Dream of Genie" "Knight Rider" "6 million Dollar Man" "The Mod Squad" to name but a few and I say to my kids a used to watch these when I was your age,We have a Wide Screen TV with all the bells and whistles ,but looks better watching DVDs and some LDs than broadcast as we only have internal Arial ,but soon to have Digital Satelite Dish installed for Sky Broadcasts ,Sport and all the Doco's and Kids shows.

------------------
A KIWI eats,roots & Leaves.

Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 01-31-2002, 02:31 PM:

It makes some sense to have 'bugs' on news, though it's still annoying to watch. Having them on any form of entertainment show is completely unacceptable; it might stop people from taping, but it also makes it UNWATCHABLE! (BTW the main reason doesn't seem to be to prevent taping, but for "brand recognition"; the silly assumption we'll see the logo and feel really good about the network.)