Why must TV forsake me?

[timwhit]

Arrested Development is off the air. Now there are no good comedies on TV that aren't animated. And frankly the new Family Guy episodes just aren't as funny as the episodes before the first cancellation.

Is anyone else pissed that Fox has once again screwed the pooch?

There should be an award: "Most good TV shows cancelled"

oooooh oooooh I wonder who will win?

 

[Mercutio]

"My Name is Earl" is pretty funny. Mostly 'cause that guy pretty much acts like every one of the Steelworkers I teach.

Other than that, yeah, network TV just sucks. It'd probably be a little better if every 3rd show wasn't a reality show and if every 4th show wan't CSI or Law and Order and every 5th show wasn't some dumbass news magazine.

Speaking of TV forsaking us...

Did you all see that 0 whitebox video cards, even the super-high end X1900s and 7800-whatevers, don't have the chip to enable encoded HDCP content?

Did you all also see that Cablecard, the HD content descrambling system, has no plans to allow encrypted HD access to homebuilt or white box systems?

But in both cases, systems built by Sony and Dell do and will have functional access to both HDCP and Cablecard. So don't worry. Just buy a Dell.

 

[Sol]

My picks of the crop TV wise are (in no particular order);

Veronica Mars
My name is Earl
Family Guy
American Dad
and The O.C (Yes it's basicallly a soap but it's a very well written soap)

But there have indeed been many a less desperate time TV viewing wise...

Be thankful at least that your not relying on Australian broadcast TV. The "final" episode of Veronica Mars just aired, somewhere about half way through the season so now there isn't even one good show on.

 

[Will Rickards]

Ah my tivo season pass list is filled with cancelled shows.
There is something seriously wrong with TV distribution or most of the country must like the stuff that passes for TV sometimes.

 

[Buck]

There aren't any new television shows that interest me . . . actually, there haven't been any in years. I usually check out the following channels if I'm going to watch TV: History, Discovery, Science, Military, Foodnetwork, AMC, and TCM. Otherwise a laugh down memory lane with All In the Family, Sanford and Son, Cheers, or Seinfeld works.

________________


Does anyone recommend any particular software for watching DVD movies on their computer?

 

[Sol]

I find Cyberlink powerDVD to be pretty much the best for DVD playback.

 

[Groltz]

Otherwise a laugh down memory lane with All In the Family, Sanford and Son, Cheers, or Seinfeld works.

And, uh, Hogan's Heroes?

***

WindDVD 7 for watching DVD's on the PC. It is much better than the v6 iterations.

***

Now in my 12th year of not watching any TV, and don't miss it at all.

 

[jtr1962]

There aren't any new television shows that interest me . . . actually, there haven't been any in years. I usually check out the following channels if I'm going to watch TV: History, Discovery, Science, Military, Foodnetwork, AMC, and TCM.

I feel exactly the same way. It's been literally decades since the major networks have had anything I consider worth watching. Sure, there may be an occasional good show, but given the penchant of the networks for cancelling the shows I like all the time I can't be bothered wading through the crap to find the occasional gem, especially when it'll likely be lucky to last five episodes. The popular programs these days are really a sad commentary on the level society has fallen to.

BTW, sitcoms were never really my cup of tea and the current crop of copy-cat reality shows is just as bad. Give me a good documentary or a good movie or even a sporting event like the Olympics instead. A decent sci-fi series will do as well, also.

 

[Tannin]

I switched my TV on last week. Yes, me. First time since, oh I don't know, when were the AFL finals? September.

It burped, farted, made a horrible and expensive-sounding crack-crack noise, then switched itself off again, smelling of hot insulation. Three minutes later it started up again all by itself, seemed to work normally for a half hour or so until I got tired of ignoring it and switched it off again.

I thought about buying a new one - this one is 20 years old - and, after some pondering, decided first to see if it works next time I want it, which will probably be around the end of June, I suppose.

I actually have a copy of PowerDVD. I took it home especially to load up in case I wanted to watch a DVD one day. Must remember to install it. Assuming, of course, that I can find it. Haven't seen it for six months or so.

 

[Pradeep]

Favourite show at the moment is The Office (US version). Boston Legal isn't bad. Lost, 24.

Also enjoying Battlestar Galactica (in HD via Universal HD)

 

[Buck]

And, uh, Hogan's Heroes?

:wink:

 

[Mercutio]

The problem with Intervideo products is they break a lot of other multimedia apps. WinDVD Creator + PowerDVD = no PowerDVD. WinDVD Creator + S-ny Vegas = No S-ny Vegas. I think I'll pass on that one.

I use PowerDVD 6 and the "Neo" skin, which I find quite comfortable for a 10' interface. It has an acceptable playlist facility, and it handles DVD-Audio discs, which is a feature I'm quite fond of.

Since we haven't brought up cartoons...
I haven't been able to stomach the last few seasons of the Simpsons. Family Guy came back and stopped being funny.
Boondocks (12AM EST on the Cartoon Network) is awesome.
I like Venture Bros. a lot, but I guess there are only 10 episodes of that.

I like to watch the Daily Show and the Colbert Report as well - both of which are hysterically funny. If I watch any "serious" news, it's Newshour on PBS. I got really sick of "And today in our Massive Media Conglomerate..." from CNN and MSNBC.

 

[Mercutio]

WMV of Daily Show coverage of Cheney's Ultimate Hunting Adventure. Seriously, this is hysterical. 6MB.

 

[timwhit]

In my opinion, the Simpsons hasn't been funny since Season 8, which was 9 years ago. They should have killed that show long ago.

Season 3-8 of the Simpsons is the best TV ever created. Nothing will ever top that show when it was in its prime.

 

[Will Rickards]

Boondocks is awesome, I can testify to that.
I only caught two episodes but both were hilarious.
When the kid shot the rich kid's son out the window, classic.

 

[Gilbo]

I'm quite perturbed about the whole Cable Card, home-built systems fiasco myself. OTOH, since I mostly agree about the desert that is contemporary television; I don't really care as much as I might have a couple years ago. Screw 'em.

The Daily Show & the Colbert Report are both, absolutely, hysterically funny. They're also a pretty good way to stay up-to-date on American issues --I find that watching the real news just makes me murderously enraged and/or suicidal. My girlfriend doesn't let me watch it [the real news] anymore because I make darkly cynical comments the whole time, or mutter about gruesome, hyperbolic tortures various politicians deserve.

BTW, has bittorrent and DVD boxed sets ruined anyone else's capacity for commercials. I can't really stand commercials anymore. I don't know if they've gotten more irritating (they definitely have) or if there are more of them or both, but I find commercial breaks pretty much unbearable. I barely watched any NFL football this year because of the commercials. I used to be a regular sunday couch potato. Oh welll, screw them too. Because I live in the modern world I can download rugby games over bittorrent.

At the moment I'm working my way through the boxed sets of Babylon 5. Ahhh, sweet memories and the blissful relaxation of good sci-fi. There's an excellent movie rental store two blocks from my house. They rent the whole boxed set to you for approximately the price of two rentals. Rental places that rent individual disks deserve Milton Waddams beat downs.

 

[Mercutio]

Firefly.
Battlestar Galactica.

I'll set up a private torrent tracker if I have to. I must preach the gospel.

 

[jtr1962]

BTW, has bittorrent and DVD boxed sets ruined anyone else's capacity for commercials. I can't really stand commercials anymore. I don't know if they've gotten more irritating (they definitely have) or if there are more of them or both, but I find commercial breaks pretty much unbearable.

I blame the movie stations like HBO on that for me personally but nevertheless I feel the same way. The problem is that commercial breaks have gotten more frequent and longer. Yes, commercials have also become a lot more irritating, especially those moronic car commercials where they try to make yet another SUV look like the second coming. I particularly hate the fact that commercials are purposely louder than the normal programming. Kind of reminds me of a kid who has tried everything else to grab your attention, and now screams in your ear as a last resort. In any case, I'm tired not only of TV commercials but of unsolicited advertising in general, whether it be on billboards, subways, radio, or the Internet. I can tolerate ads in my local paper since it's really easy to just ignore them, but that's as far as I go. Hint to TV producers-have fewer commercial breaks (better yet only one in between programs), less annoying commercials, and keep the volume down. Do that and I might actually take the time to sit through a few commercials instead of using the time for a bathroom or snack break.

I blame commercials in part for the shortened attention span of people nowadays. After 6 or 7 minutes it's almost as if people expect an interruption of some sort. It seems most people set their lives up that way as well, getting calls on their cell phones constantly so they never really learn to concentrate on one thing for too long. The fine art of multitasking, or how to look really busy while you're accomplishing absolutely nothing.

 

[Howell]

I blame TV commercials for my not having finished an episode of nearly any program in 5 years. As soon as a commercial comes on, I change the channel. I usually miss a lot of the middle of programs. Or is this just another example of my low attention span.

They used to tell me not to touch the dial. Then they said put down the remote. I think they have given up on me now.

Which reminds me of a joke:

How many people with ADHD does it to screw in a light bulb?
Wanna play soccer!?

 

[Gilbo]

Yes, commercials have also become a lot more irritating, especially those moronic car commercials where they try to make yet another SUV look like the second coming.

Don't get me started on "lifestyle" commercials jtr...

 

[Mercutio]

Do you all know what HBO is trying to do right now?

HBO is trying to extend "content protection" to 1. Completely block all analog recording and 2. Extend "content protection" to all their shows.

In other words, HBO is trying to make it illegal to use a VCR or a Tivo or a Windows MCE machine to record its programming.

In fact, MCE already won't record HBO original content.

Now, every once in awhile, someone will mention that RIAA or the MPAA is trying to do that sort of thing, but HBO is serious enough to actually whine to the FCC about it.

 

[Sol]

I somehow ddon't see that working out for them quite yet... Maybe if they buy a half dozen judges to go with thier politicians...

 

[LOST6200]

tV has gone crazy in the decades since.
Tonigth on TV commercial old Lieftenantt SUllu is selling quadractic cooloered TV sets. WFT?

 

[ddrueding]

Welcome back Lost!

 

[CougTek]

Lost found himself.

 

[LunarMist]

Our cable is on the fritz. WTF is this crap on network TV? Since when is 2 hours of fat people trying to lose weight entertainment? Good grief!

 

[ddrueding]

Just ordered Comcast for the house. The rep kept trying to talk me into adding tv to my internet order and seemed amazed that I wasn't interested in any number of channels at any price.

 

[Mercutio]

Our cable is on the fritz. WTF is this crap on network TV? Since when is 2 hours of fat people trying to lose weight entertainment? Good grief!

One of my fellow TotalFark.com members is currently a contestant on that show. I believe he's lost around 200lbs. since the beginning of the year. Reality shows are pretty much the worst bullshit ever invented but on the other hand, there has been a pretty remarkable difference in that guy's life and I wouldn't take that accomplishment away from him. He really does think he might be inspiring some people to be less fat, too.

 

[LunarMist]

I think it mostly because the reality shows are cheap, but then viewers decrease and there is a viscious cycle. :frowner:

 

[Mercutio]

The side effect of ongoing production of reality shows is that great TV is showing up in non-traditional places. If we didn't have American Idol and Survivor taking up broadcast TV timeslots, we might not have The Walking Dead or Mad Men or the Shield or Battlestar Galactia showing up on basic cable.

 

[MaxBurn]

Just ordered Comcast for the house.

Geez, I'm sorry to hear that.

 

[ddrueding]

Geez, I'm sorry to hear that.

Yup, not happy about it. But the speed difference compared to DSL is significant (in my area at least). I've heard that people have had good luck keeping their promotional pricing long-term if they make a bit of a stink, and all I want is internet, so we'll see how it goes.

 

[MaxBurn]

I have a friend in Maine that was using them for Internet and he finally is dumping them for DSL. They were jacking around the prices on him, eliminated the one he was on and in place added one really slow plan or the next step up was something that doubled his previous bill.

I had them twice myself and it didn't end well the second time, arguments on turning in the modem.

On and on the speed thing his upload is doubling...

 

[ddrueding]

I have a number of clients on both DSL and Cable in the area. The best DSL plan will get you around 7mbps, Cable will do 42mbps down and 2mbps vs 15mbps up. Not sure why, but DSL just sucks around here.

 

[LunarMist]

Maybe so there, but cable is flaky around here. Slower is better than none for unacceptable periods of time.:smurf:

 

[ddrueding]

The only issues I've had with Cable around here is that the modems they provide are crap. I'm ordering one of these for my house.

 

[LunarMist]

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/12/04/2497484/how-reality-tv-took-over-prime.html

 

[LunarMist]

The side effect of ongoing production of reality shows is that great TV is showing up in non-traditional places. If we didn't have American Idol and Survivor taking up broadcast TV timeslots, we might not have The Walking Dead or Mad Men or the Shield or Battlestar Galactia showing up on basic cable.

That is a good point and I must admit ignoring anything not on the main four networks. Now what in the world is up with the regurgitated Hawaii 5-0. The players are dull and there are several Koreans for no apparent reason.

 

[Stereodude]

Because they sort of look Hawaiian? :scratch:

 

[LunarMist]

...or Japanese or Chinese? :skepo: