Whedonesque : Comments on 2955 : Rest in Peace Whedonverse comic

ah, so true. I hate reality TV.

I hate cop/medical/and legal dramas.

I hate silly half-hour sitcoms.
Hmm...is there ANY TV we like? :D

Um, I like Angel. I also like a few other shows on TV, but most of what is on the air is either CSI, Law and Order or reality crap.

RootBoy42 | February 16, 19:28 CET

I actually like CSI, Friends has grown on me, and although I had mostly given up on Survivor in recent years I have found this "superstars" approach to be entertaining. Law and Order is terrible, but for the most part I think there's room on TV for "reality crap" and "silly half hour sitcoms" and other cheap shows of questionable taste as well as more expensive but higher quality shows.

The thing is, networks are scared. The money is simply not there across the board and they have to tighten their belts. If they can fill time with programs that cost half as much to make but attract about the same number of people, they're gonna take it. They are no longer catering to our demographic because we demand higher quality and spend less money than those who tolerate a lower level of entertainment. It is not in network television's best interests to cater to us, and I'm questioning whether it is in our best interests to further encourage them.

However, television's not any better or worse today than it was ten twenty or even fifty years ago. It's just different. Some shows appeal to some people. Other shows appeal to others. Reality is very subjective.

ZachsMind | February 16, 20:02 CET

Come on, Zachs, this is no time to be reasonable! One of our favorite shows is being canceled and all you can do is offer well thought out, rational opinions. Frankly, I don't have time for that. :o)

RootBoy42 | February 16, 20:16 CET

If you want to check out what might be the only intelligent sitcom on American television, watch Arrested Development Sundays 9:30 on FOX.

It has very low ratings, but even an idiot network like FOX knows it's worth keeping.

prufrock | February 16, 20:29 CET

And I have to disagree. I think it's a little worse last couple of years. It's more than ever just formula, copying that which has come before. Sticking to what's known. Clones of succesful shows. All going for the cheapest sensations, the least originality, the lowest common denominator and the most easily labeled. More than ever it's JUST about the money.

And I can hardly find anything to watch. Friends has become a sad imitiation of itself by now. Almost every sitcom is washed up old leftovers or copies of it. (Well Scrubs is pretty original in style. Lone exception)
Law & Order and CSI aren't bad. They're just so....I don't know. Bland is the best word. I can watch it, but I can't care about it. Smallville is childish and dull, Charmed is a cheap Buffy knock off with more make up and outfits. All those teen soaps just reek of Dawson's Creek, or Beverly Hills 90210, which I've always loathed.... I tried to watch Tru Calling, but it's just sooo mediocre....

What I do watch? Lessee....Buffy, no is gone. Angel, Scrubs, Gilmore Girls (Buffy type quirky humor. It's cute.) and the Simpsons. Then it's nature documentaries or crime documentaries and Cops.......Everything else I watch is reruns of old shows. That's about it. So for me, Angel's demise is pretty hard to swallow. I got so little else!

And that cartoon is funny cuz it's true.

And it's sad....because...uhm....it's true....uhm...

EdDantes | February 16, 20:41 CET

lol, that was great. and so true. tv sucks now

riaspark17 | February 16, 21:18 CET

Excellent cartoon...and yes, it's sad/funny because it is so true.

As for the state of television itself, I agree that it has gotten worse in the past couple of years. Ever since reality TV really hit it big. The thing is, we all know that the American public is eventually going to do what they do best: binge on tons of reality programs, then kill the fad swiftly when they suddenly lose all interest in the genre. Remember when prime time game shows were the big thing? Now there's none on the air. I think we just have to ride out this wave of reality crap, though what the networks will do once this genre dies is beyond me. Will they have any quality shows left?

As for what else I watch on television: Alias is excellent, amazing and obsession worthy, though much different from any Whedon show. Gilmore Girls has endlessly intelligent dialogue, and manages to be quirky without being grating. Though I'm worried that since the ratings are dipping and the magical 100th episode will occur next year, that Levin will obviously cancel the show after season 5. The O.C. is strangely addictive, but I also used to be addicted to Melrose Place, so take that as you will.

That's pretty much it. I also love Six Feet Under and watch Tru Calling despite its badness. All I can hope is that something addictive and original appears on the schedule next year. I'm certainly looking forward to Wonderfalls, but I already feel like it's cancelled and it hasn't even aired yet. I doubt it stands a chance in hell. Quirky, daring, original, and Friday nights on Fox? Ha!

MindPieces | February 16, 21:23 CET

Lol RootBoy

forcorreo | February 16, 21:35 CET

Yeah, I used to work for record companies and you can see similar behaviour there. If there's a fad, everyone jumps on board. After a while, the fad dies out and they all panick since they've put out so much fad, they've become dependent on it. Then everyone starts looking for the 'next big thing' except no one knows what it is yet. So many try to create it, and most fail.

We're right on the beginning of the end of a fad now. (The difference between Joe Millionaire I and II? Only millions of viewers) Sure 'Idol' will rake it in but even that won't last, and it won't help any new 'Watch my big fat uncle marry a horse' show.

But the networks have switched to those shows and especially to their low costs. So then what?? Originality is just too risky!!

EdDantes | February 16, 23:26 CET

well done and so sad :'(

Mok | February 17, 00:38 CET

Yeah, I used to work for record companies and you can see similar behaviour there. If there's a fad, everyone jumps on board. After a while, the fad dies out and they all panick since they've put out so much fad, they've become dependent on it. Then everyone starts looking for the 'next big thing' except no one knows what it is yet. So many try to create it, and most fail.

We're right on the beginning of the end of a fad now. (The difference between Joe Millionaire I and II? Only millions of viewers) Sure 'Idol' will rake it in but even that won't last, and it won't help any new 'Watch my big fat uncle marry a horse' show.

But the networks have switched to those shows and especially to their low costs. So then what?? Originality is just too risky!!

EdDantes | February 17, 02:44 CET

Cute t-shirt, but I'm not feeling the fourth headstone. Quality television still exists, it's just that there'll be less of it by the end of this year and less and less of it is genre-TV (at least it seems that way).

Quality series I watch that aren't going anywhere, at least not until the end of their next seasons...

-Six Feet Under
-Scrubs
-Carnivale
-The Sopranos
-The Shield

Sure I may only feel as fanatical as I was for Buffy, Angel, and Firefly (and other older cancelled shows) towards a couple of the above-mentioned (SFU and Scrubs), but the others are all well-acted, -written, -directed dramas that I can't stand missing a single episode for.

...and I'm catching up on Oz through DVDs and waiting for the third season of 24 on DVD, so there's a wealth of good shows to catch up on through DVD as well. Probably give Farscape a go if I can actually find it for rent somewhere, those DVDs are way too pricey to buy at the moment.

The following usually-good shows, guilty pleasures programs, or in the last three's case "on the verge of being good" shows (meaning the crap or mediocre episodes are as numerous as quality ones throughout most seasons, in my opinion) that might last another season or more...

-The O.C. (a shoe-in)
-Malcolm In The Middle
-Smallville (I think it's been renewed?)
-Enterprise (on the bubble)
-Will & Grace

Gone this season for me are Angel, Sex & The City, Friends, Jake 2.0, Survivor and probably Jeremiah. :( (sad face applies to Angel, Jake, and hmmm, yeah Jeremiah too I guess...for Friends and Sex & The City, it really is their time to go, and Survivor I can certainly live without, even though it's the only show that my whole family agrees on and will sit down to watch together).

There're probably a bunch of decent shows that I'm missing out on at the moment. I hear only positive things about Arrested Development, but the premiere didn't grab me so I haven't given it a second chance yet. I'm not home on Fridays so Joan Of Arcadia was missed and I probably won't get the opportunity to watch it until DVDs.

There's some damn good programming out there, you just have to search around and taste test some of it (much of it for at least two or more episodes, as there's always familiarity of characters/setting to consider, plus factoring in the off chance that you'll catch the odd misfire of an episode). Having HBO (or Showcase and/or The Movie Network if you're Canadian) helps a lot, or being patient and DVD-savvy. Network television isn't usually a safe haven for creativity at the moment though, which is why I won't be touching anything new on the Fall `04 line-up, or any future line-ups, of Fox's, ABC's, NBC's, The WB's, UPN's, etc...Not until this reality TV stuff dies down a lot more and/or the networks dump the Nielsens. Until then, it's strictly DVDs for necessary network shows after this season ends in May. I'm tired of getting burned.

Kris | February 17, 05:46 CET

*frowns* link doesn't work for me can anyone help?

pezwitch | February 17, 09:49 CET

February 16 2004