Writers on Strike

I'm right there with ya Lori!! my husband gets drawn into some of the shows too, but usually only if we're at my mom's and she has one of them playing... he'll sit down and will not move until it goes off... one reason why is that he has never been a tv watcher.. or even a movie watcher or book reader. he's always been active, outdoors, with friends, having REAL fun... not wasting his life in front of a tv set.. but now that he isnt as active as he once was he has time to watch.. and its brand new to him.. trying to figure who killed who.. or stole what... 

we seriously need some friends out here lol  

 Dumdog, I don't see why you're getting so excited - find me some major issue in the world today in which money is not a driving force. I don't think anyone is arguing that money is not a consideration, just that the writers are justified in wanting a bigger share.

I also don't understand the anti-TV hate - if someone can't find a single program on all of TV that they enjoy watching, reruns included, considering that there are hundreds and hundreds of available options... maybe that's not the fault of television writers so much as people not bothering to search for something they like? (Which is perfectly fine, btw, as is not paying for cable... but even so, that doesn't allow for accurate generalizations!)

My husband and I did not have a TV at all for many years. At least five. And then when we did get a TV we don't have cable and never will. No need, I can watch anything I want, when I want with Netflix and the internet. Even with that, our number of TV viewing hours per week is way below the national average.  I am not the kind of person that can just sit around and watch any old crap (though my husband is and this tendency of his is one of the driving forces behind us not getting cable--I'd loose a husband!). The TV does not come on before like 7 PM in this house (weekends included) like, ever. Unless there's a Steelers game.  I am so far from being a passive consumer of broadcast media. I also hate what is on TV mostly but there's a really easy solution for that that I've found: I don't watch it. Only getting in 5 broadcast channels also makes that real easy. I don't like it, so I don't watch it, end of story. But clearly, these shows turn someone's crank or they wouldn't be on (I have never gotten 24, but so many people just love it, so there you are). Networks don't make shows for no reason, they make them to make money, and they make money by selling ads and they sell ads because people watch the shows. When shows are so ridiculously bad that no one watches them, they go off the air (unfortunately this also goes for really great shows that no one "gets" like Firefly, alas).

For real quality TV, I don't see how it's any different from watching a play. I am very very loyal to the few shows over the years that have really touched me (and the list of what those shows are maybe is a testament to how weird I really am) because there is nothing about the medium of TV that has to suck the art out of what is otherwise a form of artistic expression (theater). It's there if you're selective about what you watch and don't turn your brain off when you turn your TV on.

For me watching TV is a relaxing & almost mindless activity.  With the exception of a new show where I need to figure out who the characters are and can recognize their voices, I can be reading a magazine, doing a crossword puzzle, talking on the phone, etc. and still follow a TV program. I've been known to "watch" a program from the kitchen where I couldn't even see the screen but could hear the voices. You don't necessarily have to be sitting "glued to the screen."

Joyce

What makes sitting on a computer so much better than watching TV? Both can be mindless or engaging, depending on what you watch or what websites you surf. I think it's pretty clear we all do our fair share of computer-sitting, so to put down TV-watchers is just ridiculous and hypocritical.

I'm a big-time reader too, but geez, I don't even see what makes books in general better than TV. Most books are absolute trash, just like most TV and most websites. You have to work to find the good stuff.

Dumdog… I don’t watch more than 2 hours of TV a week at the TOPS.. I HATE 99.99% of TV out there and yet when you look at the facts behind the strike, it is incredibly unfair and I support them and the ones that I feel write crap 1000%.

You don’t have to like what they put out there and if you don’t then don’t watch it, but IMO, writers are getting the short end of the stick and have for many years. I say “good for them” and wish them all the luck I can offer.

chelsea_b

What makes sitting on a computer so much better than watching TV? Both can be mindless or engaging, depending on what you watch or what websites you surf. I think it's pretty clear we all do our fair share of computer-sitting, so to put down TV-watchers is just ridiculous and hypocritical.

I'm a big-time reader too, but geez, I don't even see what makes books in general better than TV. Most books are absolute trash, just like most TV and most websites. You have to work to find the good stuff.

Well, I read a lot of stuff--about twenty books a month.  Most of it is NOT crap.  I recently finished one on the Great Depression and another on the Home Front during WWII. I am currently reading a Daisy Dalrymple mystery and one called, "Cooking Up a Storm" about cooking in the "good old days". I read literature, some junk, a lot of nonfiction, NO self help books, and very little off of the best sellers list.  I prefer to have quiet times digesting what i read rather than to have someone shouting at me and a laugh track telling me when to laugh (like I can't figure that out for myself).

 I didn't grow up with TV and the noise makes me jittery and quickly gives me a headache.
 

Again Lori simplified it... sure if you dont like whats on the tv no one is forcing you to watch it. duh.. but my annoyance (not excitement, you've yet to see me get excited about something) comes from the accepted material (whether the writers or producers are responsible for it remains to be seen) being so bloody violent and just plain nasty.

And everyone wonders why dog fighting and violent crimes committed by kids is gaining more and more popularity.... seems like a no brainer to me. its popular because people enjoy it. 

again i rephrased my earlier statement... the writers do deserve to make money off their talent, but they want change the contract now.... after how many years of following it? of COURSE the guys in charge dont want to change it. they would lose money!! 

I watch a crapload of TV. from schlock to entertainment. As with any LEISURE activity...you get out of it what you expect. If all you expect to see is gore and violence then that's what you see.

IMO TV has tons of great content for adults and children alike...you have only to make the effort to find it and enjoy it....or don't. No skin off my nose either way.

nicely said gina.

 i watch too much tv. i think the current crop of shows are better than what we have been getting the past few years (read: too many reality shows).

 
without tv, how would i get my weekly fix of college football? no writers needed for that! :)
 

Bradley I've added Lou Holtz to my list of cool old dudes right by Lee Corso. His "Lou's Pep Talk" segment just is TOO cool for school! And I dig those huge thick glasses too lol.

ok i'm not talking about people who cable and satellite. i am talking prime time local networks. ABC, CBS, PBS etc. thats my selection. i dont have the extra $$$ to pay for extra channels.. believe me, i wish i did... this thread wouldnt exist if i had actual CHOICES.

So i'm sitting in front of my tv flipping through all seven channels.. laugh tracks, murder, vampire, doctor, 1970's britcoms, and weather... 

the majority of the time the tv is off(also a choice) or playing a DVD - i have even dusted off the VCR and all of the tapes - the only mature social interaction i get since gas prices have skyrocketed is on the computer.

i will agree that i hated the reality shows.....  but my main argument is... EXCLUDING reruns... i'm talking about the new stuff they are churning out and calling entertainment. sure now one man's trash is another man's treasure.. thats an undisputed fact. i would LOVE to have a 24 hour sports network.... but i dont. in fact i want a service that will only make me pay for the channels i watch... i dont need 500 of them! i like the music channels, the sports, once in a while animal planet, gardening and .... yeah TVLAND... i cant be bothered with the rest.

so yeah at this point, given my lack of selection, i'm disappointed in who ever decides what is entertaining to all, and i'm wondering if i am alone in this disappointment. the stuff that is the CBS, CW, etc. the shows that are always talked about the next day on Good Morning America. its like they are trying to figure out how many different ways you can mangle the human body!! its too predictable... playing a game of Clue is more of a challenge. I'm also disappointed and slightly disturbed that the majority of the nation finds it entertaining to watch this right before bed.... its like we're back in Roman times where we throw people into a pit of gladiators and wild animals so we can watch them get torn to shreds. its also like we - as a nation- are saying this is acceptable to WATCH but not participate in. now those are some good values to be teaching the kiddies.

DumDog

its also like we - as a nation- are saying this is acceptable to WATCH but not participate in. now those are some good values to be teaching the kiddies.

Last I checked DD...*I* taught my child values...not TV, the computer, video games, or books...but me.

There has been sex and violence on network TV since I was a BABY. Dynasty, Falcon Crest, Dallas, Beretta, Hills St Blues, A Team, Starsky & Hutch....and more besides. Blowing stuff up...having cat fights, sleeping with other people's husbands, murders, etc have been part of the fabric of American TV for AGES. You want to see violence on TV? watch some Japanese gameshows.

I am just happy AMERICAN GLADIATORS is back.

The HOT TV show when I was a kid was Miami Vice. Drugs, hookers, murder, the works.  I desperately wanted to watch it when I was 9-10 years old because it was so popular and everyone was talking about it and all the cool kids were allowed to watch it. My parents were really hesitant about it, but eventually they caved and said I could watch it, but we had to all watch it together (we only had one TV in the house growing up so that was sort of a necessity anyway). I loved that show. And I watched it every week without fail for a few years (it was on for 5 years but I think I kind of outgrew it--and it started jumping sharks--after a couple years).

 And guess what. I am not a drug addict, or a hooker, or a murderer, or a vice cop for that matter. And I never thought it was cool to hurt people or to hurt myself. Because my parents taught me my values, not the TV.

And seriously have you read some of Shakespeare's plays?!? Talk about a bad influence! Murder, cross-dressing, incest, racism, suicide, they've got it all!
 

Totally forgot Miami Vice, Magnum PI too...some juicy bits in that! Remington Steele...Heart to Heart...all kinds of death and sex! lol...

and Archie Bunker and The Jeffersons...with all the racial comments. Yet somehow I muddled thru! Truly...this ain't a new concept...TV hasn't been innocent since Barbara Eden bared her NAVEL...shocking!