Have we witnessed the death of intelligent TV?

[JirinPanthosa]

Is television really dumb? Absolutely.

Is this a change from before? Absolutely not. There has never been an era where network TV has been intelligent. Have you seen Nick at Nite? We romanticize old television because we weren't alive then and we've only seen the standout exceptions like Twilight Zone.

And premium channel TV shows are way more intelligent than any other era of television.

It is a shame though that learning-oriented channels are getting desperate enough for ratings to dumb themselves down.

And yeah, reality shows have writers. They don't script the characters, but they script the situations.

You know how they all have the disclaimer "Portions of the show not affecting the outcome have been edited"? Yeah. Even before The Apprentice turned into a celebrity crazyfest, Trump discussed his firings with the producers.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

TV has far more interesting and intelligent shows in the last 10 or so years than it ever did. There were decades where it was all formulaic episodes of crap. Remember when Hill Street Blues was some kind of pinnacle of television?

I suppose there must be more guff too, but I don't have a working tv connection so I miss all that and just watch the good stuff.

 

[Gil T.Azell]

That happen when they approved the first reality show, and was confirmed when Jersey Shore went on the air.

 

[jayceee]

That happen when they approved the first reality show, and was confirmed when Jersey Shore went on the air.

What was the first reality show, as we have known it?

(The first "reality show" I watched was COPS, back in the late 1980's).

 

[Guy Gardener]

The Sopranos: Cancelled a decade ago.
The Wire: Cancelled a decade ago.
Enlightened: Cancelled 5 minutes ago.
Girls: Self Indulgent.
Justified: Meh?
The Shield: Cancelled a decade ago.

 

[stj]

But the sheer number of awful shows is pretty hard to ignore.

There are more good shows, too. There are more shows, full stop.

Alan Sepinwall wrote a post last week that there are currently too many good shows to keep up with them all, and that he sees that problem growing as more non-traditional sources start developing original material.

The proliferation of content may mean you have to wade through more crap to find the good stuff, but that doesn't mean it's not there.

Sepinwall's article, strictly speaking, mostly explains that there is just too much for a TV critic to keep up with. He specifically says that "first tier" shows are still relatively small in number. The common phenonomenon of a show getting better as the format and characters gel over a season (or more,) is mentioned.

But one morething he mentions is the ever increasing numbers of serials, which require continuous viewing. The thing is, he doesn't seem to understand serialization, either in artistic or in commercial terms. His book, The Revolution Was Televised, repeatedly trails off lamely in its discussions of failed serials.

 

[Venardhi]

The Sopranos: Cancelled a decade ago.
The Wire: Cancelled a decade ago.
Enlightened: Cancelled 5 minutes ago.
Girls: Self Indulgent.
Justified: Meh?
The Shield: Cancelled a decade ago.

A show finishing its run and being cancelled are entirely different. Deadwood was cancelled, Sopranos simply finished.

 

[PsychoPere]

The proliferation of content may mean you have to wade through more crap to find the good stuff, but that doesn't mean it's not there.

There's a lot of smarter television out there, but it's all over the place. You have to actively search for it rather than it show up on your favorite prime time network station.

Exactly. AMC, FX, and HBO are three good places to start. Showtime's Homeland gets quite a lot of critical love as well*, and even History has jumped into quality production with The Vikings. And, of course, there are always some imports such as Sherlock and Luther that are well-worth people's time.

(* I don't have Showtime, so I haven't seen it yet.)

 

[Avon]

You sound like you all need BBC4.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Reality TV is just a smart way to make dumb TV without having to hire dumb writers to write dumb stories.

I wouldn't be too sure of that. I've long believed that there is literally no such thing as true "reality" TV. It's as scripted, pre-planned and rigged as any scripted show. How could it not be? All TV is concerned with ratings, and reality doesn't always deliver ratings. So reality TV must, logically, be rigged.

The only true reality shows are game shows, sports broadcasts (well, ones that aren't pro wrestling anyway) and shows like Cops and Disorderly Conduct, which literally just put video cameras in police cars which follow the officers around. That's the only way there can be actual reality TV that isn't scripted and pre-written.

 

[the G-man]

The Sopranos: Cancelled a decade ago.
The Wire: Cancelled a decade ago.
Enlightened: Cancelled 5 minutes ago.
Girls: Self Indulgent.
Justified: Meh?
The Shield: Cancelled a decade ago.

A show finishing its run and being cancelled are entirely different. Deadwood was cancelled, Sopranos simply finished.

I think his point was that most of the shows cited above to "prove" current TV is more intelligent than ever are either no longer in production or, in the case of "Girls" wildly overrated.

Better examples might have been: Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Venture Brothers, Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, Homeland, Southland and Sherlock

 

[the G-man]

The only true reality shows are game shows, sports broadcasts (well, ones that aren't pro wrestling anyway) and shows like Cops and Disorderly Conduct, which literally just put video cameras in police cars which follow the officers around. That's the only way there can be actual reality TV that isn't scripted and pre-written.

And even some of those can be selectively edited and/or narrated.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Well, yeah, but at least they're not completely written in advance.

Again, how could "reality TV" NOT be prewritten in this way? They have to deliver ratings like any other show does. If reality doesn't deliver ratings, how can they air it? Think about it.

 

[not]

Not only is it pre-written; they also do take after take to make sure they get the pre-scripted shot.

 

[not]

The only true reality shows are game shows, sports broadcasts (well, ones that aren't pro wrestling anyway) and shows like Cops and Disorderly Conduct, which literally just put video cameras in police cars which follow the officers around. That's the only way there can be actual reality TV that isn't scripted and pre-written.

And even some of those can be selectively edited and/or narrated.

Game shows are the 'exception to the rule'; they are strictly controlled because of past scandals.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Not only is it pre-written; they also do take after take to make sure they get the pre-scripted shot.

And yet, so banal.

 

[not]

Not only is it pre-written; they also do take after take to make sure they get the pre-scripted shot.

And yet, so banal.

Truthfully, it is what sells; I think the T&A shots are damaging to girls/women but it is where we are as a society

 

[jayceee]

The only true reality shows are game shows, sports broadcasts (well, ones that aren't pro wrestling anyway) and shows like Cops and Disorderly Conduct, which literally just put video cameras in police cars which follow the officers around. That's the only way there can be actual reality TV that isn't scripted and pre-written.

Also the news. Can't get more "reality" than the news.

 

[RandyS]

Or is TV only getting dumber because we're getting dumber?

Bingo.

And no, this is not a new thing by any stretch of the imagination. It's been going on for ten or twelve years now.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Can't get more "reality" than the news.

Sadly, decent news reporting isn't what it used to be.

Put it this way: The song "Dirty Laundry" was written 30 years ago. It's a lot worse now.