What in your opinion is specifically wrong with modern American Television?

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NM505StKate said:
I have to disagree with a majority of you. American television is too coy with sex. As for violence it just depends on the show. I love some of the police procedure shows, like NCIS and CSI, but I am not much for a lot of the reality TV. Yeah Netflix gives us much more thought out plots as well as stuff off of HBO and the like.

American TV needs better writers in some cases. Gotham is wonderful and I hear great things about Arrow. Everything changes. I am glad American Idol is done with. I wish some talk shows were gone as they are far too fake. Cartoon are okay, depending on your tastes. Steven Universe is really good as is My Little Pony.
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I’m sorry you feel that way. As an observant Catholic I cannot allow my senses to be invaded by what you call ‘coy’ sex nor gory and quite frankly, sick violence. If you are okay with that, that is your decision. This thread is for people who are fed up with what is wrong with modern television. If you don’t feel there is, why bother to post on the thread?
 
JustaServant said:
I’m sorry you feel that way. As an observant Catholic I cannot allow my senses to be invaded by what you call ‘coy’ sex nor gory and quite frankly, sick violence. If you are okay with that, that is your decision. This thread is for people who are fed up with what is wrong with modern television. If you don’t feel there is, why bother to post on the thread?
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Agree
 
I don’t even watch modern television because all or at least a great deal of it is just sheer trash. Sex, sex, sex, sex, sex…need I say more? The only three-letter word this culture is obsessively obsessed with and mired in.
 
Writing. There simply aren’t enough talented writers in the world to meet the 24/7 demand across the thousands of media outlets. And culture has become so fast paced that it seems everything has to be run via formula.
 
on_the_hill said:
Writing. There simply aren’t enough talented writers in the world to meet the 24/7 demand across the thousands of media outlets. And culture has become so fast paced that it seems everything has to be run via formula.
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I’ve always wondered why we have never borrowed the British model, a limited 6 to 10 episodes per series. It forces writers to put their best stuff first instead of trying to fill up screen time.
It also, IMO, has to do with the number of writers with ‘real world experience’. The world beyond LA, Hollywood, TV and movies. One of the reasons I watch British TV is the emphasis on story-driven shows. Stories written by people who know the culture, the society, the people, ect. That is changing unfortunately, as the Brits seem to be aping American shows.
 
Crown_of_Stars said:
I don’t even watch modern television because all or at least a great deal of it is just sheer trash. Sex, sex, sex, sex, sex…need I say more? The only three-letter word this culture is obsessively obsessed with and mired in.
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I agree. It’s like they are written by sex-obsessed teen-agers.
 
NM505StKate said:
I have to disagree with a majority of you. American television is too coy with sex. As for violence it just depends on the show. I love some of the police procedure shows, like NCIS and CSI, but I am not much for a lot of the reality TV. Yeah Netflix gives us much more thought out plots as well as stuff off of HBO and the like.

American TV needs better writers in some cases. Gotham is wonderful and I hear great things about Arrow. Everything changes. I am glad American Idol is done with. I wish some talk shows were gone as they are far too fake. Cartoon are okay, depending on your tastes. Steven Universe is really good as is My Little Pony.
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Many of the shows you mention I would regard as right-wing fantasies. The further this country goes down the fascist road, the more dark, brutal, moral-less, soul-less violence we see.
 
Sex and materialism --which itself has been ‘sexualized’. It’s not about people, it’s about commodities. . .everything and everyone is only valued for their use to the consumer, and to be thrown away when no longer 'useful.
 
Tantum_ergo said:
Sex and materialism --which itself has been ‘sexualized’. It’s not about people, it’s about commodities. . .everything and everyone is only valued for their use to the consumer, and to be thrown away when no longer 'useful.
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Most TV shows are just that.
And have you noticed the actual length, without ads of most TV?
In the 1950s a Perry Mason episode clocked in at 52 minutes without ads.
Today an hour show clocks in at roughly 40 minutes. Basically 20 minutes of ads compared to eight.
 
pianistclare said:
The making fun of people as a blood sport.
The cursing out of people as “wit”.
The violence depicted to “entertain” us.
The portrayal of evil characters as somehow “the hero” of the story.
The depiction of perversion as “options”.
The placement of damaged people and hurting folks on display for strangers to pick apart.

Yeah.
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Great points.

May I add that in a nutshell a lot of TV shows seem to convey the message of calling evil good and calling good evil.
 
Crown_of_Stars said:
The whole sex obsession seems more immature to me than adult, actually. If that makes sense, in a strange way.
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It does.
Take the movie Casablanca. Unless you need hit over the head with a two by four, it’s pretty obvious Bogie and Ingrid Bergman were sleeping together. We didn’t actually need to see them in bed doing the act. The sex was implied, it wasn’t necessary to the story to dwell on it.

And since we are on the subject, can anyone tell me of any instance in which showing a sex act has been necessary to the development of a story?
 
Tantum_ergo said:
Sex and materialism --which itself has been ‘sexualized’. It’s not about people, it’s about commodities. . .everything and everyone is only valued for their use to the consumer, and to be thrown away when no longer 'useful.
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Whatever is salacious, perverted, shocking, gets the most commercial promotion = $.
Why is there a FCC agency? They were supposed to regulate subject matter and when were they released from that obligation? I am sure they still exist to the tune of many tax dollars. If it makes money, it makes its own rules - nobody left to lead up hill, not down!
 
Has anyone ever given up TV for Lent? I did a few years ago and it made a huge difference in my level of stress and anxiety. A friend recommended I read the book I See Far by A Friend of Medjugorje and while I don’t agree with a lot of what “the Friend” promotes I found this book to be an excellent and worthwhile read on the subject of television. I would recommend this book to anyone.

I have not paid for any TV service for years and refuse to now especially considering what you can watch online for free. I’m a fan of hockey and football and there is usually a free stream available for most of the games.
 
Sex, drugs, violence, obscene language- all of this is supposed to entertain us. I’ll admit, there’s a few shows that I like that have all or most of that stuff, but it certainly hasn’t made me a better person.
 
NM505StKate said:
I have to disagree with a majority of you. American television is too coy with sex. As for violence it just depends on the show. I love some of the police procedure shows, like NCIS and CSI, but I am not much for a lot of the reality TV. Yeah Netflix gives us much more thought out plots as well as stuff off of HBO and the like.

American TV needs better writers in some cases. Gotham is wonderful and I hear great things about Arrow. Everything changes. I am glad American Idol is done with. I wish some talk shows were gone as they are far too fake. Cartoon are okay, depending on your tastes. Steven Universe is really good as is My Little Pony.
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As a storyteller, Gotham and the Arrow are really bad. Sex outside of marriage, making deals with people just a notch or two above the devil? Even killing for them? Seriously? I want my heroes to be heroic. And issue advocacy. DONE COMPLETELY ON PURPOSE as if we don’t notice. Gay husbands - as if they’ve always been there, or a bisexual wife.

As a professional editor, I’ve seen a ton of manuscripts and the people in Hollywood as well. God forbid you tell them to stop turning up the volume on immoral sex, profanity and dysfunctional living. Hollywood, for the most part, gives us bad to awful role models. It has nothing to do with the writing since scripts are not approved by writers. I’ve watched the trends for 40 years. My comments are not opinions.

amazon.com/Noise-Media-saturated-Dominates-Dismantles-Families/dp/1932927948

Ed
 
Son_of_Niall said:
Most TV shows are just that.
And have you noticed the actual length, without ads of most TV?
In the 1950s a Perry Mason episode clocked in at 52 minutes without ads.
Today an hour show clocks in at roughly 40 minutes. Basically 20 minutes of ads compared to eight.
Click to expand...
In the 1990s, advertisers convinced people in Hollywood they needed more ads since more ads meant more dollars for TV show producers.

Ed
 
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