Isn't Television GREAT Right Now?

[Vic]

Originally posted by: mrzed
I dunno, when the best news reporting and political analysis/commentary is coming from 2 shows that are in fact pretend news/commentary shows, it's either a sign of a very sick or very healthy media. I'm not sure which. Maybe both.

I so very rarely watch any channel below 23 (hockey). Wife watches House, and I think it's OK because I like acerbic wit, but I'm starting to lose patience with the formula thing (as always).

Nah, that's a reflection on the news media itself, not the TV entertainment industry.

 

[dainthomas]

Originally posted by: Kev
Don't forget The Unit, ridiculously badass awesomeness

Hell yeah. See my Unit vs CTU thread where they quite handily kicked Bauer's ass.

 

[oogabooga]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: yllus
You left off Battlestar Galactica and Weeds. I hear that How I Met Your Mother is great too.

How I Met Your Mother is great (Weeds is too). I was the one who made the "tripe" comment, and I was mostly referring to shows like Deal or No Deal (randomly picking numbered suitcases... yeah) and the dozens of reality shows (like a show about which fat person can lose the most weight...). I was voicing my frustration over shows that are actually good being cut down in their prime. Sports Night is a great example. Arrested Development is another. Instead of great shows like those, we get another season of The Apprentice (which I watched for the first few seasons, but it jumped the shark when Trump started doing anything he could to surprise you, i.e. firing 4 people at once).

Frankly, I'm a little gunshy about getting into new shows because every show I like gets canceled.

I agree that a lot of great shows are getting canned while they still have some air in them(oh woe to futurama, arrested development, and countless others) but TV is business and that's the way it goes..

Truth be told my worry now is that a show will survive on the air but go downhill (ala west wing)

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Originally posted by: hdeck
please post links that confirm studio 60 is being canceled. i haven't read anything official. if it is canceled it will be a shame because it's one of the best shows on television.

It has not been cancelled. NBC picked up the full season of 23 or 24 episodes, so they're commited to it for that long. However, I'd be shocked to see it return for next season. It's an expensive show that is getting killed in its timeslot and it's losing money. It's a little too smart and too "inside" to get a big audience. Enjoy the last episodes of this season because its likely to be all you'll ever see.

 

[Ilmater]

Originally posted by: hdeck
please post links that confirm studio 60 is being canceled. i haven't read anything official. if it is canceled it will be a shame because it's one of the best shows on television.

I don't believe it's official, but I assure you it's true. The same insiders that I read that said it was going to get its full season (and it eventually did) are now saying it is definitely done after this season, they're just not going to say anything until the season is over so that people won't stop watching it.

I also have a friend whose wife manages the local NBC station, and while she doesn't know for sure, she says that EVERYONE she talks to internally says it's over.

Side note: he also said that they watched the pilot for 30 Rock and said it was horrible. Apparently, they changed the show MAJORLY before it hit the air.

 

[dennilfloss]

I think television was better during the 60s. I miss equivalents to The Ed Sullivan Show and The World At War.

Bewitched
The Avengers
The Outer Limits
Green Acres
Laugh-In
The Beverly Hillbillies
Get Smart
The Donna Reed Show
I Dream of Jeannie
The Fugitive
Batman
The Addams Family
The Munsters
Gilligan's Island
The Prisoner
Combat!
Star Trek
Mission: Impossible
Doctor Who
My Three Sons
Dark Shadows
Mister Ed
McHale's Navy
Hogan's Heroes
Hawaii Five-O
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
I Love Lucy
Adam-12
Hazel
Bonanza
Lost in Space
Petticoat Junction
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
Route 66
Rawhide
The Big Valley
Car 54 Where Are You?
Flipper
The Forest Rangers
My Favorite Martian
The Virginian
Thunderbirds
Land Of The Giants
Time Tunnel
Stingray
Fireball XL-5
Supercar
Ginsmoke
Perry Mason
Captain Scarlet
That Girl
Hee Haw
the Mod Squad

 

[Parrotheader]

There is a lot of great stuff out there right now. Too much for me to keep up with actually.

I didn't bother to read the whole thread, but others I didn't see mentioned on the original post that I also enjoy:

[*]How I Met Your Mother: Thought it would a Friends-ripoff, but is actually great. Excellent writing and good cast.

[*]Everybody Hates Chris: Probably one of the most over-looked shows on TV. Very good.

[*]Dead Zone: It's in its offseason right now (a summer-only show) but still doing well.

[*]Mythbusters: Yeah, it's non-fiction, but it's still great.

[*]No Reservations: Continuing to stray into non-fiction cable series but the show's so entertaining. It's the new Insomniac.

 

[torpid]

Originally posted by: Ilmater
Right now on TV, there are a number of good shows:

Heroes (has any show been this good right off the bat?)
24 (the best season so far)
Lost (finally starting to show promise again)
Friday Night Lights (talked about this in a separate thread, incredible TV)
Law & Order: SVU (I'm sorry, but Marissa H. is hot, she just is)
ER (was slow for years from what I hear, but lately has really been a powerful show)
The Office (funniest show on TV)
30 Rock (second funniest)
Rob & Big (I want to hate it, but how do you NOT laugh at that show)
Two and a Half Men (fourth funniest, too bad Heroes and 24 are on at the same time)
Sopranos (last season was slow, but the show as a whole is great, hope it ends well)
Entourage (hit its stride in season 2, and season 3 was even better)
Scrubs (this season is possibly the biggest drop-off of any TV series ever, barely made the list)

Don't watch, but should have made the list:
Battlestar Galactica
Grey's Anatomy
Prison Break
Weeds
Rome
Big Love

Didn't make my list:
Deadwood (too much cussing for me, and it's over now, but everyone I know loved it)
Studio 60 (I don't watch, but everyone says it is amazing, but it's getting canned)
My Name is Earl (started so strong, and now... god... just not funny any more)

I made this thread because someone in my FNL thread said that Studio 60 was "better than most of the other tripe on TV these days," and I think that's ridiculous. There is SO MUCH great TV out there right now, it's ridiculous. Heck, I barely even watch CBS, and supposedly they have the highest ratings, so they must have good shows as well.

So can we all stop throwing out the cliche "all TV other than the one show I love is crap, thank god for that one show" because it no longer applies.

Edit: that wording on the poll was bad, I fixed it now

Good list, although I personally don't like a few of them.

You forgot:

The Wire - Best show on TV - no other show in history has the scope and vision of this show
The Shield - Better each season
Rescue Me - Soap operay but the fire fighting scenes are great and the dialogue very humorous
Extras - Better than the original british Office, IMO
Dexter - Built up to a great show in its first season
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Veronica Mars
House - But only if you watch it as a witty dialogue comedy
Knights of Prosperity - Goofy new comedy
How I Met Your Mother - Most quoteable sitcom
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
The Simpsons
South Park
The Daily Show & The Colbert Report

However, what your friend said is still technically true. Studio 60 is better than most of the other shows on TV. There are a LOT of shows. Studio 60 may not be better than the shows mentioned in this thread, but there are still hundreds, perhaps thousands of shows that are even worse than studio 60.

One thing, though, you should never argue with a fan of Aaron Sorkin. They are as close to a violent cult as a tv fan can get. I can't tell you how many times I've heard them dismiss someone who dislikes a sorkin show because they must not be smart enough, sorkin is the only intelligent writer in existence, he craps gold and cures babies with his writing, etc.

Edit: Forgot about Doctor Who

 

[A Casual Fitz]

Still love those Gilmore Girls.

 

[jjones]

Football season is over. TV sucks.

 

[Parrotheader]

Originally posted by: Vic
It's true. I'm not a big TV watcher, but there really is a lot of good TV out there right now.
The latest generation of TV shows have a nice gritty somewhat realistic feel to them, a complete lack of campiness or corniness, and utilize an excellent episode-after-episode format of plot and character development (as opposed to the traditional way of encapsulating the plot of each episode into itself).

This applies more to the dramas, but we can thank the rise of the DVR, the continuing buildup of competition from cable networks and (ironically enough as most people love to bash them) reality tv shows.

Thanks to the success of shows like Who Wants to Be a Milionaire, Survivor and American Idol the networks quickly learned that the best way to avoid being Tivo'd was to have a show that wasn't just an episode, but an event; an event that reaches a climax at the end of each episode and is wholly dependent upon the sequence of events that unfolds from the previous episodes . Much like sports, this style of programming is less vulnerable to being Tivo'd because of the immediacy of the content. If you don't want to hear what happened on last night's 24 or Lost before you get a chance to watch it you have to watch it that night. Networks love it because it gets ratings which draw in the advertisers. As a viewer it's great because it makes the shows more intense and compelling.

 

[LS20]

i'll take Survivorman and No Reservations over these network primetime shows 20x over

 

[LS20]

Originally posted by: Ilmater

Seinfeld is just awful to me. Everyone I know with seemingly the same sense of humor as me likes it, but I just can't stand it. Boring, stupid, slapstick comedy. Basically I can't stand most sitcom styles, and it is as bad as they come.

There's something to be said about your personal taste

Especially given that you view Seinfeld as a slapstick comedy. It is NOT, its a situational comedy, and if you watch it from that standpoint, its a good show

I say that and im not even a big seinfeld fan...

 

[Kelemvor]

I'd also add Bones to the list. I like that show a lot.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: child of wonder
WHERE IS HOUSE!?!?!?

D'oh! I forgot about that one.

Haha, I actually saw my first episode of House in Japan, and now I'm rushing to catch up on all the back episodes. Great show

Originally posted by: Ilmater
Seinfeld is just awful to me. Everyone I know with seemingly the same sense of humor as me likes it, but I just can't stand it. Boring, stupid, slapstick comedy. Basically I can't stand most sitcom styles, and it is as bad as they come.

I'm the same. Most people seem to love it, but I've never liked Seinfeld one bit.

 

[BlancoNino]

What about South Park?

 

[SoftwareEng]

Yes, fry your brains for free! Get fat in the comfort of your living room! Reduce your imagination and intellect to deciding which show to watch! Have sex with the tube!

 

[jjones]

Originally posted by: SoftwareEng
Yes, fry your brains for free! Get fat in the comfort of your living room! Reduce your imagination and intellect to deciding which show to watch! Have sex with the tube!

Wow, maybe you should switch to decaf.

 

[mrzed]

Originally posted by: LS20
i'll take Survivorman and No Reservations over these network primetime shows 20x over

Survivorman rocks. I heard there is a new season coming too. Us canucks kick serious ass when it comes to being lost in the woods.

 

[Imported]

You forgot House!

 

[Raiden256]

BOSTON LEGAL

That show is such a guilty pleasure. So damned funny...

 

[KarenMarie]

there is nothing on that entire list that i watch. in fact, most of it i have never even seen.

 

[ric1287]

it will be exponentially better in a few months when:

The Shield
Rescue Me
Entourage
Curb Your Enthusiasm (hopefully)

come back on