Favorite TV Shows

[JackFavell]

Going the cheap route is traditional in Dr. Who! I think the producers would be proud of your thriftiness...

I don't think it will bother me too much that this doctor steps away a bit from the types who have most recently played him. One of the pleasures of the series is how varied they all are. Those variations make for the most interesting parts of his character. While my favorite will always be Tom Baker, I can appreciate the incredible range of actors who came before and after him.

[Lomm]

Red, it warms my heart that SUPERMAN will once again be airing on television.

You know how popular the show was when you have an involuntary reaction to any of it's cast showing up somewhere else. John Hamilton shows up quite often in TCM movies, and I still always say to myself, "There's PERRY WHITE!" (In fact, I'm ashamed to admit that I had to look up the actor's name to write this)

It doesn't matter what I'm watching, when I see him I have the same reaction! The Adventures of Superman, particularly the first season, is great TV. My mom introduced me to it in reruns when I was a kid. It showed every day during the after school hours on one of our local stations.

[Lomm]

Even though I have favorite classic TV shows, like the above Superman, such as The Dick Van Dyke Show, Six Million Dollar Man, Star Trek, MASH, Happy Days (before it got too silly), and thanks to old school Nick at Nite countless 50s/60s sitcoms, most of the best TV I've seen is in the last decade. In my opinion, we are living in another Golden Age of television (albeit a darker one, based on my list):

House MD
Breaking Bad
Deadwood
Firefly
Sherlock
Dexter (like Happy Days, until it got too silly, but in a more macabre way of course)
Lost, until the disappointing end.

[JackFavell]

You know, it's interesting that tv in trying to become more diverse, has completely left afterschool programming to Disney and Nickelodeon. It bothered me when my daughter was younger that the content from 3 oclock on is so completely inappropriate for kids to even surf through...dead bodies and rape victims abound. And don't get me started on the 8 at night time slot where foul language and dirty innuendo now rules. I'm far from a prude, but it's tough for parents to avoid the constant flow of gross, rude and disgusting images on regular TV anymore. That being said, I do watch Bones now sometimes in the afternoon reruns before Alice gets home from school...it's a show I like that I never seem to catch when it's actually on. So I guess I'm contributing to the problem even as I complain about it.

All the shows you mentioned are great examples of excellent television. I would add Six Feet Under, and some of the other cable shows from this last couple of years, like Halt and Catch Fire.

Masha, Peter Davison is my second favorite Doctor! I haven't seen those shows though for years, and it's possible that I also liked the juxtaposition of his character on ALL CREATURES with that of Doctor Who. I remember liking his sidekicks on DR. W very much as well, but I don't know what I would think of them now. They were very 1980's girls as I recall, one with short pink? punk hair.

While I haven't revisited his celery stalk bouttoniere, I HAVE gone back and watched ALL CREATURES again, and find Tristan as charming and naughty as he always was. I could name you my favorite episodes - I believe most of them would have 'Trissie' figuring strongly in the plot. In fact, the one I remember best is when Siegfried convinces Tristan that something is hidden in the locked closet under the stairs. He teases Tris by being mysterious until finally Tristan MUST know what's there. He steals the key 'unbeknownst' to Siegfried, and finds a skeleton in the closet, a prank of course. Another I like very much has Tristan telling Siegfried he flunked three classes at veterinary school. At the end of the show, we find that he lied, he only flunked one class, but he figured that Siegfried would be so relieved when he found out that he wouldn't punish him as much as he would have if he had told the truth in the first place.

[RedRiver]

Even I'm shocked at the language on cable. I think there's only one word they don't permit! My problem with filmmakers like Tarantino and Scorcese is, "What? Art has to be disgusting? When did that happen?"

[JackFavell]

There's a word they don't permit?

There's Perry White! It only took a day since our conversation for him to turn up as a judge in Strange Alibi.

[movieman1957]

The thing is you are going to find that kind of language and subject matter only on cable. The over the air stations still can't go anywhere near that level. (Though the current level is a lot different than the old.) The reasoning, I surmise, is that cable is optional and if you don't have it you won't be subjected to that kind of content. (Or maybe I'm watching the wrong shows.)

After school programming left everything a long time ago. Other than those you mentioned and PBS it is all talk shows. I don't think they were thinking that kind of education.

There is a day coming when you won't be able to tell the over the air channels from cable. I would imagine they are looking at the cable shows and their ratings and their Emmy nominations and they probably feel restricted. They will be asking for some broader limits and probably sooner rather than later.

[Lomm]

I'm all for fewer restrictions, myself, with a few caveats. First, it should be after 9 PM. Second, it should be (as it is now) clearly noted what "rating" the show has. AMC has a "one F word per season" policy for their shows; for some reason, one is apparently ok, but not more! Seriously, I think this is probably to curb the rise of lowbrow "adult" comedy shows that think funny means cuss every other word. The reality is that most adults talk using certain words that are not traditionally OK for television. It's reasonable to me to want to increase realism by including that kind of language, in an appropriate setting/time.

[RedRiver]

AMC has a "one F word per season" policy for their shows; for some reason, one is apparently ok, but not more!

That's the silliest thing I've ever heard! You can bet that restriction will be short-lived.

It's reasonable to me to want to increase realism by including that kind of language, in an appropriate setting/time.

I used to feel that way. The older I get, the more old fashioned I become. Increasingly, I would sacrifice realism for good taste!

[ChiO]

Why is swearing "realistic"? Is it because swearing actually occurs? Sure it does.

But not swearing also occurs. I frequently go through days without hearing anyone swear (well, except on TV).

I find it fascinating that we often think of things that generally are in poor taste (e.g., swearing) or extreme (e.g., violence) as necessary for "realism" and yet they are not an integral part of many persons' "realistic" lives.

Ignore them totally? No, because they exist. Rely on them in the name of "realism"? Nah.

Point (maybe): We don't want "realism." "Realism" is boring. We live "realism." Everyday. We want entertainment, titillation, shocks. We want non-"realism".

Now...back to watching Bela Tarr movies.

[Lomm]

I think it depends entirely on context. In an intense situation (i.e. an action/mystery show) you're going to have violence, because you'd have violence in those situations, and probably some language too. Being intended for entertainment, we viewers are only going to be privy to the most exciting days in the lives of the characters we are watching. Of course we won't see the days where nothing much happens and they sit around the office, or take holidays, etc. On those days, maybe they don't curse, and aren't exposed to violent situations...but those aren't very interesting times.

When I say I don't mind it, I don't mean it should be ever present (Deadwood excepted, since every other word on that show was foul, but somehow it just worked). I believe there's a place for a little of everything. We have hundreds of channels out there these days, why should they all try to be the same? Yet, they seem to shoot for the lowest common denominator all at the same time (reality TV shows). :sigh: I may have gone off point there at the end, but I hate reality shows.

[CineMaven]

I don't know if I can re-live it, having Optimum as a cable tv provider, but it was one of my favorite tv shows of my childhood:

[RedRiver]

Chio, you're fortunate to spend time with articulate, educated people. Gangsters, drug dealers, ex-cons...they probably don't go a full day without using some foul language. Is it necessary to replicate that manner of speaking in movies and TV? I don't think so. I have a feeling Tarantino, Scorcese and David Mamet would disagree!

I could drive myself batty considering the difference between realism and believability. But there is one. Something can feel genuine within the confines of the story, thanks to the creativity of writer and director, even though it would rarely happen in real life.