I don’t watch specific shows. When I feel like watching TV, I just sit down and flip around till I find something. I kinda wish I remembered to watch Scrubs more, because that’s the best sitcom on right now (in my opinion). I would say that at least half the time when I want to watch TV, I end up cycling through the channels a couple times (I only get 20), can’t find anything and turn it off.
Tell me, are those morons deep fried, baked, or served rolled in seaweed?
:)
Every bit of market research I’ve seen over the last ten years or so that TV viewership decrease as computer use increase. The surprising thing is that reading actually remains pretty constant. For older folks the driving force is internet surfing. For the under 25 set it is probably games, although I agree it that is far from clear if it is Console games, single player PC gamers, or online games which have the most impact.
Personally, I find myself watching less and less TV even the good series. Last week, I sat down to watch CSI and said you know I’d rather be playing Railroad Tycoon. I also made the conscious decision not to start watching Fox’s 24 this season, because between a new girlfriend, RT3, Civ Conquests, and Evercrack… There was no way I was going to watch the show consistently.
FYI, don’t diss Micheal Malone. He is the best technology historian around, with a couple of PBS TV series, a dozen books and scores of articles to his credit.
Good Eats rules. And personally, I think that the Cartoon Network is the best thing to happen to television in ages. There’s good stuff on… it’s just not on the major networks.
Yeah, there’s good stuff on cable and dish. I like the History channel, which could be renamed the Nazi channel, given how many shows they run about Nazi this and that. I liked the one where they linked Aryanism to Atlantis. That was cool.
If that’s what they show on the History Channel I don’t want to know what’s on the Fantasy Channel! :shock:
I gave up on TV a few years ago. Seinfeld went off the air, and the reality fuckingshitgarbage shows gained dominance. I even went so far as to cut off my cable about 2 years ago. The only thing I care to watch these days is sports.
Alton Brown for President! I enjoy the who as well. I think it appeals to the geek in me because it talks about cooking, but laced with why things cook the way they do.
Jaime and Adam are, I believe, both Special Effects technicians, animatronis builders for films, and toymakers. Jaime, the guy with the beret, also built a machine for competition in Battlebots, which was the first time I saw him on TV.
I’ve been without TV for two months now and I don’t miss it. Those tv-series I feel like watching (South Park, Simpsons, That 70’s Show, etc) can generally be downloaded and watched on my computer at my convenience, which has always been my problem with TV. I want to watch shows when it suits me, I hate being bound by the tv guide.
Yeah, we call it the “Hitler Channel,” but they do have some good shows. I wish they’d get over the idea that history started in 1939 and ended in 1945, but I guess that’s probably one of the earliest historical events for which they can find lots of film footage. “Modern Marvels” often covers some interesting topics, though, and I like “The Real West.” My favorite history show isn’t on the Hitl… er, History channel at all, though. “Secrets of the Dead,” on PBS. Awesome show, though it airs somewhat irregularly.
I enjoy the who as well. I think it appeals to the geek in me because it talks about cooking, but laced with why things cook the way they do.
Have you checked out his cookbook? It follows a similar approach, and is probably the most useful basic cookbook I own.
VCR? :)
I chose not to have my cable reconnected after moving a few years back and never missed TV at all. I decided to finally reconnect it a few months back but will probably have it cancelled again soon. I’m far more likely to watch a DVD or play a game on the TV that to watch any actual programming. Not that there aren’t some programs I enjoy, I just can’t justify the $50 or so per month for a handful of shows I might watch now and then.
THAT’s where I’ve seen him before.
Mythbusters is great - one recent episode they did the “exploding CD at high RPMs” story that I read so much about in Maximum CD when they do CD drive reviews. Well, it’s true - these things shatter like crazy at 30k RPM, right around 52-56K speeds. They built this gelatin mannequin and put it next to an open “drive” (the CD was mounted on a drill bit) and, poof, you had chunks of CD buried halfway into the flesh.
I watch a lot of TV - a healthy dose of sports, news, dramas and a sitcom or two. I don’t have Tivo and hate my VCR, so a lot of shows get downloaded when I don’t have the time or availability to watch them. Plus I can take them with me on my laptop or ipod, which is helpful.
There really are some good shows out there, depending on your likes.
Disgruntled Seinfeld fans who feel there is nothing left on TV usually watch Curb Your Enthusiasm, which is essentially the same (with the same creator/writer or whatever). Me, I hate it, but a lot of people I know that like Seinfeld love CYE.
HBO usually has a nice variety of short season programs. I think the Sopranos and most recently Six Feet Under has gone downhill, but The Wire and Carnivale are quite good, as are their miniseries (Band of Brothers of course). Project Greenlight is like watching a trainwreck in slow motion (that is, the trainwreck of spoiled Miramax execs and producers and fledging filmmakers in over their heads). BBC sometimes imports good stuff, like Red Cap, and people like A&E’s MI-5 (I don’t). PBS continually imports interesting shows as well. TDC has American Chopper, Monster Garage, and Mythbusters (Monster House kinda sucks). I don’t watch them regularly but usually do whenever I flip the channel and they’re on.
As for the networks… it’s sometimes hit or miss. I still watch NYPD Blue, Law & Order: Criminal Intent (still the best of all three), and ER somewhat regularly. Other shows include Cold Case (mostly for Kathryn Morris), Karen Sisco (mostly for Carla Gugino), Joan of Arcadia (mostly for Amber Tamblyn), Alias (though less and less these days), The Practice (pretty funny with James Spader now), Angel, 24, and a few others.
I still occasionally watch G4 TV (ugh), some TechTV, National Geographic Channel, and a few others.
— Alan
I’m far more likely to watch a DVD or play a game on the TV that to watch any actual programming.
That’s kind of how I look at it. For the cost of cable or sat every month I can just buy my favorite series on dvd and watch them when I feel like it.
So the consensus is that there hasn’t been that many quality programs since Xena, right?
Personally, I watch West Wing, ER, South Park and Futurama re-runs. That’s pretty much it, at the moment.
And High Chapparal, quite often. (they rammed Fabio with a dirtbike!)
Honestly I think the networks cut their own throats when they started playing fast and loose with the scheduling to gain short term bumps in the ratings.
While allowing them to use popular shows to boost the ratings of flagging series, it certainly must have burned viewers who were unable to chase their favorite through the week…
There’s no doubt that games have had some effect. They certainly aren’t increasing the ratings of TV shows.
I’d think that DVDs and Netflix are also taking their toll. Besides just getting movies, I’ve started watching any series I’m interested in on DVD instead. No commercials, and I can enjoy an entire season over the course of weeks, not months. Netflix now lets you add a “Season” to your rental cue with a single click.
Hmm… I wonder. I mean I personally thing TV is worse lately, but it’s hard to say.
It’s certainly true that as games have become more widespread, it has presented a new alternative that simply wasn’t there before. Sure there were games 10 years ago, but it’s four or five times as widespread now.
And yeah, I don’t know why he focused on online games. If you’re playing Madden instead of watching Average Joe or whatever the latest crappy reality TV schlock is, it doesn’t matter if you’re online or not.
I watch a fair amount of TV - all on TiVo - but personally I’ve never once been polled about my TV viewing habits.
Have these people considered that maybe the shows suck? If there were good shows on, I’m sure that plenty of people would play games and have the show on in the background.
I doubt that games are the sole cause of poor TV ratings. There are many entertainment choices of which games is just one. With more and more specialty TV channels springing up, the viewing audince becomes more fractured. This leads to lower viewership for the network shows. With reduced viewership comes reduced advertising revenue putting pressure on the programming budgets. Enter the inexpensive reality show and other such dreck. It’s cheap to program, and doesn’t require the same numebr of viewers to make the show profitable.
Some guy at NBC did. Good on him.
I do watch an assload of cable stuff these days. Lots of the History Channel, lots of the Cartoon Network (God bless Adult Swim!), lots of the Food Network. A lot of the issues that the networks are having, in my mind anyway, is the way they drive lots of loyal viewers away during the summer by loading up on 21 hours a week of shitty reality TV in prime time instead of reruns. You can’t catch up on shows you wanted to see but missed anymore, and you can’t figure out when the new seasons of shows you do like start because you aren’t watching the network when they advertise that fact.
I fell in love with Gilmore Girls over the summer watching reruns, and it’s one of the network bright spots for me this fall. Lucky for the WB they can’t afford to produce new content year round the way the big 3(4) can.
On a side note, WTF happened to Smallville? I know it always wanted to be Buffy, but the last two episodes have so completely ripped off 2 individual episodes of Buffy I can’t believe it! Right down to the use of the same song, “I Only Have Eyes For You” in Smallville 1961 as utilized in a season 2 episode of Buffy flashing back to an afair in the 60s as a ploy to get the leads together without actually getting the leads together… I hope Joss Whedon is making some angry phonecalls…
Anyway, count me in as a huge fan of Good Eats. I hope you guys have tried the recipies as well. Alton Brown’s pancakes are pure genius. His meatloaf is brilliant as well. A number of the recipies from the show have made it into heavy rotation in my family. Really funny and interesting show, and really delicious food. I haven’t been able to get the money together for my terracotta smoker, so no pulled pork for me yet…