What happened to TV?

[2of1million]

I'm gonna quote Data from the episode "The Neutral Zone."

When asked if they had TV Data says

"That form of entertainment did not last much beyond the year 2040."


I wonder why TV didn't last? I sure hope it wasn't cause the writers were on strike that long!!!

 

[Lindley]

I'd imagine by that point internet TV would be the norm, which opens plenty of options for viewer feedback controlling the story. Thus TV as a completely predefined story may *not* last that long.

 

[Jack Bauer]

The writers went on strike and it dragged on and on and on and on and on and on and eventually people started reading books again.

 

[Nebusj]

2of1million said:
I wonder why TV didn't last? I sure hope it wasn't cause the writers were on strike that long!

Between the increasing number of bugs, pop-ups, scrolling text screens, and advertising notices plastered over the screens the audience was driven completely away until finally there was no point showing programming.

More generally: mediums and genres have lifespans. There aren't wandering minstrels or professional fools in a way that would be recognizable to people of 16th century England anymore; operas are no longer the entertainment of the masses; pulp magazines are gone by the standards of what they were in their heyday. Why should television be immortal?

 

[nx1701g]

As suggested above I think that the Internet may have had something to do with it. I know that I more commonly watch current TV shows on the internet through the network's website rather than on TV itself. It's more flexible time wise so I can choose when I watch and how much I watch. Plus there are some websites that don't have advertisements. For example Fox's website plays shows completely through without adverts.

 

[Forbin]

I'm gonna second the writers' strike scenario.

If it goes on much longer, TV will only be shit game shows, talent contests and "reality" shows. At that point there'll be no point.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Nebusj said:
Between the increasing number of bugs, pop-ups, scrolling text screens, and advertising notices plastered over the screens the audience was driven completely away until finally there was no point showing programming.

That and once 50% of every TV show was taken up by commercial breaks.

We're almost there in the US. Take away the commercials and the opening closing credits, and many hour-long shows are now hovering between 38-40 minutes...on cable, half-hour shows are only 18-20 minutes and generally contain a three to four minute commercial break every four to six minutes...

 

[CaptainStoner]

TV as we know it probably dies out with commercialism and the 9 to 5 drudgery for which many people use TV as an anesthetizer. People have more energy and vibrancy because energy and food production are not a survival factor nor distributed in a commercial elitist way.
You can tell I've been posting in TNZ....

 

[Kegek]

Nebusj said:
operas are no longer the entertainment of the masses

I don't believe they ever were.

Theatre was, though. Why, as late as the nineteenth century there were spectacular, lavish plays with incredible special effects, star casts and superb set design (and often frankly dodgy writing) people rushed to see... the blockbuster movie has replaced these altogether, however - and has even adapted one of these theatrical hits, Ben-Hur, twice into film.

So yes, mediums come and go, and TV already seems to be on the way out.

 

[misskim86]

Reality tv killed it

 

[StarryEyed]

The last TV series I watched other than Star Trek was The A-Team during it's original run. I'm amazed it hasn't died yet. It's pure garbage.

 

[Spider]

Fiction on TV these days bores me to death. The only fiction show I’m keeping up with is BSG, although the Sara Conner Chronicles looks like it might be interesting. Otherwise, I keep ordering DVDs of old TV shows I used to watch years ago.

Non-fiction TV is getting better though. The Science Channel, History Channel and National Geographic are pretty good when they aren’t endlessly repeating their stuff.

 

[Kegek]

IMHO, fiction on TV these days is better than it's ever been. On the right channels and shows, naturally...

Documentaries are about as reliable or unreliable as they have been in the past.

 

[Vic Sixx]

Contrary to Roddenberry's vision, I don't believe TV, Baseball, or Religion will ever die out. There's always gonna be a market for them.

 

[Kegek]

The death of baseball was actually Piller's vision, ironic, as IIRC he loved the sport. He just seemed to like writing for melancholic characters who wistfully recalled baseball.

 

[erastus25]

I think some form of 3-D movies/TV will replace 2-D TV. HD is the first step!

 

[Kegek]

3D? I doubt that. I don't think 3D will be a serious competitor until we can get Holodeck-level immersion. 3D has been around since at least the 1950s.

 

[Timo]

...OTOH, extra-widescreen displays might sell well eventually. And by that I mean three walls wide. That concept has been around since the fifties, too, but the technology hasn't been up to it.

But whether those would be showing "television" or something else remains in doubt.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Kegek]

Heh. Wallscreens. For some reason, all I can think of is Fahrenheit 451, when Cusack notes that Werner has 'just the one' wall screen, and he really should get more.

So, sci-fi utopia: TV has died out.

Sci-fi dystopia: TV rules the world.

Subtle.

 

[Son_of_Soong]

Maybe in the Star Trek universe someone created a television show called Star Trek, and it created a paradox causing global damage of some kind.