“Joe, step away from the TV.”
That was a comment Heather Pritchett, a friend of mine and co-worker, posted on Facebook back in December after reading a few comments I posted on her page referencing various television shows.
Although I am 110 percent certain she was joking, I admit I was a little offended at first as she made it sound as though all I do on my off time is watch television when in fact, that’s far from it. To be precise, ever since I got hooked up with AT&T U-verse back in 2007 my attitude has been I got 400 plus cable stations here (I don’t have the movie stations) and I can find NOTHING to watch!
If there is any reason why I do know about what’s been aired on recently and know, for example, that Steve Carell left "The Office", and Katie Couric, Mary Hart, Regis Philbin, Meredith Vieira and Oprah Winfrey are retiring from their day jobs, if they haven’t already, is because I do keep up with the entertainment trade magazines and what is reported on the Internet. Ninety percent of the time when I do have the television on, it’s to have something on in the background to listen to while I am doing something else and that includes the news.
In fact, I am not the least bit sorry I haven’t kept up with a majority of what today’s viewing audience watches. I work Sundays so I have no idea the dirty laundry the women of Wisteria Lane on "Desperate Housewives" have been up to for a few seasons now. I can’t remember what the last episode of "The Simpsons" I saw. I don’t know why viewers love "Modern Family" nor am I interested in finding out.
I am literally bored to death (no pun intended) of all the Law & Order, CSI, NCIS spin-offs and forensics shows like "Bones."
I am interested in seeing AMC’s "The Walking Dead" one of these days but not now. That’s what DVD season box sets are for.
As I read through the list of new shows for the Fall 2011-2012 season, I can’t say I am terribly excited about any of the major network’s offerings either. NBC dropped "Wonder Woman" and the other two shows I have a vague interest in watching like "Pan Am," a drama about female flight attendants set during the airline's early days and "The Playboy Club," about the women bunnies in their skimpy outfits back in the 1960s will be nothing more than male eye candy.
"We are taking this bold step to expand our business because viewers are looking for different types of programming these days,” said Brian Frons, ABC’s daytime department president in a 4/14/11 column on the Huffington post website. "They are telling us there is room for informative, authentic and fun shows that are relatable, offer a wide variety of opinions and focus on 'real life' takeaways."
Television to me has gotten to the point where the best thing to do now is to just turn it off. To quote another scene from a classic TV series which would no doubt get Heather to again tell me to “Step away from the TV,” I refer to an episode of "The Cosby Show" where Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam) can’t find anything to do. Cliff (Bill Cosby) tells her he has over a million dollars' worth of books sitting in her room she could read.
I got quite a few books and magazines all sitting in storage that I hope to get to one of these days. I have often considered just turning “The Boob Tube” off and do just that. There lies the problem. I like to read where I know I won’t have any distractions. I don’t have that luxury right now.
Sitting in bed at night trying to read George W. Bush’s "Decision Points," I find it hard to not be drawn to picking up that remote on my nightstand. Like everything else, looking to see what’s on television is like an addiction. No matter how much I complain about how there’s nothing worthy of my time on, I just can’t bring myself to leave that damn remote alone.
Excuse me now while I go look for something to watch.
©5/20/11
That was a comment Heather Pritchett, a friend of mine and co-worker, posted on Facebook back in December after reading a few comments I posted on her page referencing various television shows.
Although I am 110 percent certain she was joking, I admit I was a little offended at first as she made it sound as though all I do on my off time is watch television when in fact, that’s far from it. To be precise, ever since I got hooked up with AT&T U-verse back in 2007 my attitude has been I got 400 plus cable stations here (I don’t have the movie stations) and I can find NOTHING to watch!
If there is any reason why I do know about what’s been aired on recently and know, for example, that Steve Carell left "The Office", and Katie Couric, Mary Hart, Regis Philbin, Meredith Vieira and Oprah Winfrey are retiring from their day jobs, if they haven’t already, is because I do keep up with the entertainment trade magazines and what is reported on the Internet. Ninety percent of the time when I do have the television on, it’s to have something on in the background to listen to while I am doing something else and that includes the news.
Truth be damned, I sit on my ass enough as it is between working in front of the computer and blogging and going to see movies that the last thing I truly want to do when I get home is watch television.Looking at the list of 31 TV shows that ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS and THE CW canceled this season, I find there were only two series I found marginally worthy of my time this year if I had been home on the nights they aired (or knew how to use the DVR (digital video recorder) which I haven’t bothered to learn yet). Those two shows were "Law & Order: Los Angeles" which actually got better with the recent reboot with the killing off of Skeet Ulrich's character though I still didn’t like the depressing “ripped from the headlines” episodes and the science fiction remake, "V," which lasted one season longer than its NBC predecessor (1984-1985). I suppose I should thank ABC for giving "V" a chance, but I am still ticked off at what they did to "Battlestar Galactica" (1978-79). Now that "Law & Order: Los Angeles" and "V" are gone, I can't say I am going to miss them.
In fact, I am not the least bit sorry I haven’t kept up with a majority of what today’s viewing audience watches. I work Sundays so I have no idea the dirty laundry the women of Wisteria Lane on "Desperate Housewives" have been up to for a few seasons now. I can’t remember what the last episode of "The Simpsons" I saw. I don’t know why viewers love "Modern Family" nor am I interested in finding out.
I am not sorry I missed the several train wrecks on Dancing with the Stars seeing various celebrities prove to audiences they got rhythm. Though I did catch five minutes of reality star Kate Gosselin dancing last season and agreed that she can’t dance and this is coming from someone who also has no rhythm either.Nor am I upset to have missed Simon Cowell belittle more than hundreds of contestants on "American Idol." I’ll watch Gordon Ramsay lose his temper with want-to-be chefs on "Hell’s Kitchen" or for that matter, view brief clips on YouTube of Paul Teutel Sr. argue with his son, Paul Jr. about his son's chronic tardiness on "American Chopper" if I need to be entertained.
I am literally bored to death (no pun intended) of all the Law & Order, CSI, NCIS spin-offs and forensics shows like "Bones."
I am interested in seeing AMC’s "The Walking Dead" one of these days but not now. That’s what DVD season box sets are for.
As I read through the list of new shows for the Fall 2011-2012 season, I can’t say I am terribly excited about any of the major network’s offerings either. NBC dropped "Wonder Woman" and the other two shows I have a vague interest in watching like "Pan Am," a drama about female flight attendants set during the airline's early days and "The Playboy Club," about the women bunnies in their skimpy outfits back in the 1960s will be nothing more than male eye candy.
The truth is television today has changed. There is no such thing anymore as “Must See TV” on Thursdays-like back in the mid-1980s when shows like "The Cosby Show" (1984-1992), "Cheers" (1982-1993) and "Night Court" (1984-1992) were on. There are no worthy dramas out there like "Hill Street Blues" (1981-1987), "St. Elsewhere" (1982-1988) or "Dallas" (1978-1991). Most everything in terms of award-winning dramas (and I can’t really say any of them are “award winning”) has gone to the cable networks, if for no other reason are that they are cheaper for the studios because they don’t always have to churn out a full season of 20 plus episodes.Soap operas are now an endangered species with the cancellations of "All My Children" and "One Life to Live" this January.
"We are taking this bold step to expand our business because viewers are looking for different types of programming these days,” said Brian Frons, ABC’s daytime department president in a 4/14/11 column on the Huffington post website. "They are telling us there is room for informative, authentic and fun shows that are relatable, offer a wide variety of opinions and focus on 'real life' takeaways."
Television to me has gotten to the point where the best thing to do now is to just turn it off. To quote another scene from a classic TV series which would no doubt get Heather to again tell me to “Step away from the TV,” I refer to an episode of "The Cosby Show" where Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam) can’t find anything to do. Cliff (Bill Cosby) tells her he has over a million dollars' worth of books sitting in her room she could read.
I got quite a few books and magazines all sitting in storage that I hope to get to one of these days. I have often considered just turning “The Boob Tube” off and do just that. There lies the problem. I like to read where I know I won’t have any distractions. I don’t have that luxury right now.
Sitting in bed at night trying to read George W. Bush’s "Decision Points," I find it hard to not be drawn to picking up that remote on my nightstand. Like everything else, looking to see what’s on television is like an addiction. No matter how much I complain about how there’s nothing worthy of my time on, I just can’t bring myself to leave that damn remote alone.
Excuse me now while I go look for something to watch.
©5/20/11
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