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WHO watches this...stuff?!

I, for one, am glad I don't have extended cable so I don't have to watch the commercials for garbage like that.
Oh, but that's where the beauty of DVRs comes in. :) I never watch commercials. I DVR anything I want to watch, then skip right through the ads. It's only when I haven't hit the 30-second skip button enough times that I have the displeasure of seeing ads for nonsense like the show mentioned in my OP. :rolleyes: Then I QUICKLY hit the button some more!
 
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It's funny, we don't have cable so whenever we're on vaca I like to see what's "really" on tv. ;)
At my in-laws they have a TON of channels. Somehow I got addicted to Pawn Stars. :)
I love "Pawn Stars," although I got burnt out on it a few months ago and stopped watching. But I'll resume one of these days.

But yeah, my FIL was listing off all these shows on the "Learning" Channel. Yes, we are doomed.
How some shows even get to the point of concept development is beyond me. And then to actually be produced. :eek:

At any rate, I'm glad I have DirecTV and the plethora of channels that come along with it. I no longer have the premium movie channels (Showtime, TMC, etc.) because I stopped watching them after my two favorite shows ended, and couldn't justify the added expense. From time to time I take a look at what's on them, and reaffirm that I don't want/need them. :)

But there really are a ton of good shows on cable channels. I primarily watch the Discovery Channel and its offspring, like Discovery Fit & Health. I also like some of the stuff on the Military Channel. And I absolutely love BBC America.
 
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At the [rather unlikely, I think] risk of offending anyone here, I'm just wondering who watches crap like "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo." I mean, really, does anyone with an IQ above room temperature actually watch that? :thinking:

Lots of people, apparently. And let us not forget reality programming. Very cheap to produce and popular. People consume Honey Boo Boo and therefore, we have to endure it. If millions tune in, the network makes money and advertisers sell products.

Her time will end and she will be replaced by Doggy Meow Meow, a program about really fat beagles running for president of their trailer park.

I compare programs like Lost, The West Wing (President Bartlet was the last good democratic president we had) and The Newsroom (another Arron Sorkin masterpiece) to reality programming and clearly, production values and costs are much higher than a half-hour program about a fat little girl.

Producers want high profits and the public will swallow any, old crapola. The way to end Honey Boo Boo is to protest. Tell advertisers you will not purchase anything sold on a network populated with the likes of a Honey Boo Boo or any number of disgruntled housewives program.
 
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How some shows even get to the point of concept development is beyond me. And then to actually be produced. .

Well, it is simple: it is in the pitch or it is a matter of who you know or your past success. Some people have a talent for brilliant programs. Arron Sorkin comes to mind. Joe Eszterhas is another (or was, he be gone) writer with talent.

Sometimes, a well known director pushes for a project and it is made. Some writers have optioned many scripts without any of them being produced and some get lucky first time out.

Sometimes, you are a known quantity and it is much easier to get a meeting and without a meeting, you go nowhere.

Sometimes, that meeting goes well but more often than not, you are still going to be washing dishes and bothering Brad Pitt at his favorite eatery. "Here is my script, Mr. Pitt. I call it "Honey Boo Boo's Hell's Kitchen Dancing with the America's got Talent Pawn Stars." She tries to save the planet by eating an entire cow every week and then solves pageant related crimes. Cow farts are hurting the planet, Mr. Pitt."

Pitt either runs screaming or passes you on to a network looking for something new and stupid. If you succeed, you get a deal. If your crap is popular, you do not mess with the formula and you produce larger piles of crap. If you fail, you wash dishes. If you are wildly popular, there are spin-offs and other networks copy your crap and create more crap for a public that demands crap.

Bottom line: crap gets made and many good things do not.

Some times, the crazy slips in or the idea is in the news or some producer decides your crap will be a masterpiece. It gets dollars for development, a pilot and 13 weeks. When it fails, the producer is fulfilling orders shouted into a clown's mouth.

Sometimes, it is who you know. Sometimes, the casting couch decides the deal.

And sometimes, nobody in Hollywood will admit to the crap their production company created. Or perhaps they pass the blame to the guy just fired.

All I know is there is too much crap and not enough good stuff.
 
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At the [rather unlikely, I think] risk of offending anyone here, I'm just wondering who watches crap like "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo." I mean, really, does anyone with an IQ above room temperature actually watch that? :thinking:
Lots of people, apparently.
Yes, apparently so. But WHY?! :thinking: I've seen absolutely nothing more than ads for the show, and all they did was make me not want to go anywhere near the actual show. (I normally zap through ads, but occasionally stop on one to see what it's all about.) Seriously, who wants to see some ignorant, illiterate, obese, southern family whose little girl is...somehow...considered appealing?

And let us not forget reality programming. Very cheap to produce and popular.
I actually LIKE some 'reality' programming, but my taste runs to Gordon Ramsay's shows (Kitchen Nightmares, Hell's Kitchen, etc.), stuff about hoarders (whom I find absolutely fascinating), and a few others. But nothing of the sort like Honey Boo Boo, any 'real housewives' garbage, NOTHING to do with the Kardashians or any other 'famous for being famous' pseudo-celebrities :rolleyes:, etc.

People consume Honey Boo Boo and therefore, we have to endure it.
Well, its commercials, anyway. But that's what the zap button is for! :D

Her time will end and she will be replaced by Doggy Meow Meow, a program about really fat beagles running for president of their trailer park.
:laugh:

Producers want high profits and the public will swallow any, old crapola. The way to end Honey Boo Boo is to protest. Tell advertisers you will not purchase anything sold on a network populated with the likes of a Honey Boo Boo or any number of disgruntled housewives program.
But to do that, I'd have to actually WATCH to see which companies are advertising during that crap...
 
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Honey Boo Boo, Toddlers in Tiaras, 13 and pregnant LOL.... It's all crap. Everything on TV today. I just stick to social media and watching anime :D Once in a while I'll watch some good older TV series on Netflix, I wonder why people still pay ridiculous money for what TV has to offer nowadays....
I have to disagree with you. :eek: You're definitely right that there's a lot of crap on TV, but I can't go along with making a blanket statement that EVERYTHING on TV today is crap. I watch a lot of very good shows, while completely ignoring the garbage like the shows you mentioned. I've learned so much about stuff I didn't even know or care about, it's amazing. For example, the excellent and entertaining "Mysteries at the Museum" is absolutely fascinating. Each segment focuses on some thing stored in a museum somewhere, and then delves into its past. I've found out the most interesting facts about things that I never would've learned without this show.

Of the several hundred channels I have available, I probably watch only 15 or so on a regular basis. Those tend to be Discovery and its offspring, along with BBC America, the Science Channel, TCM, the Military Channel (and not just because my husband is a disabled US Air Force veteran!), and a few others.
 
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One reality show I like is"Oddities" on the Science Channel. The ones that have a slightly educational quality I'll give myself a pass on. Others rot the brain. Can't believe Jerry Springer is still actually still on the air. Oh, and there's already a show on the way about a trailer park. Seriously.

Anyway, prepare to be appalled.

"Shawty Lo": Cable network's anti-family programming - Chicago Tribune

wow
 
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One reality show I like is"Oddities" on the Science Channel.
I LOVE "Oddities"! I was already a huge fan when I found out that the owners, Mike and Evan, are both vegetarians (like me). Yay! :D

Can't believe Jerry Springer is still actually still on the air.
Ditto. I like Maury Povich, but his show long ago became [apparently] nothing but paternity tests, sluts, women with 8 children from 8 different...often unknown...fathers, etc. No thanks.

Oh, and there's already a show on the way about a trailer park. Seriously.
No... I refuse to believe it. :eek:
 
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I LOVE "Oddities"! I was already a huge fan when I found out that the owners, Mike and Evan, are both vegetarians (like me). Yay! :D


Ditto. I like Maury Povich, but his show long ago became [apparently] nothing but paternity tests, sluts, women with 8 children from 8 different...often unknown...fathers, etc. No thanks.


No... I refuse to believe it. :eek:

Believe it lol. Here's a blurb about the trailer park show:

TLC gets southern-fried with shows about gypsies, a trailer park | Inside TV | EW.com
 
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I have to disagree with you. :eek: You're definitely right that there's a lot of crap on TV, but I can't go along with making a blanket statement that EVERYTHING on TV today is crap. I watch a lot of very good shows, while completely ignoring the garbage like the shows you mentioned. I've learned so much about stuff I didn't even know or care about, it's amazing. For example, the excellent and entertaining "Mysteries at the Museum" is absolutely fascinating. Each segment focuses on some thing stored in a museum somewhere, and then delves into its past. I've found out the most interesting facts about things that I never would've learned without this show.

Of the several hundred channels I have available, I probably watch only 15 or so on a regular basis. Those tend to be Discovery and its offspring, along with BBC America, the Science Channel, TCM, the Military Channel (and not just because my husband is a disabled US Air Force veteran!), and a few others.
Ditto. I've been finding some real gems on the Smithsonian channel lately. Good stuff!
 
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At the [rather unlikely, I think] risk of offending anyone here, I'm just wondering who watches crap like "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo." I mean, really, does anyone with an IQ above room temperature actually watch that? :thinking:

It's garbage like this that makes me embarrassed for my country. I hope foreigners don't believe this is representative of Americans.

The sad reality (pun intended) is that reality TV is low risk and cheap to produce programming compared to sitcoms and dramas. It wasn't that long ago that the History channel actually showed documentaries, TLC and Discovery were educational, and the viewership for The Real World and Road Rules combined was diminutive compared to Friends or Seinfeld.
 
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At the [rather unlikely, I think] risk of offending anyone here, I'm just wondering who watches crap like "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo." I mean, really, does anyone with an IQ above room temperature actually watch that? :thinking:

I thank the powers that be that I know zip, nada, bunko about that show except to have seen the title as I flip through the guide channel. Just reading the title makes me a bit nauseous.

But there really are a ton of good shows on cable channels. I primarily watch the Discovery Channel and its offspring, like Discovery Fit & Health. I also like some of the stuff on the Military Channel. And I absolutely love BBC America.

Those are the very ones I enjoy, along with TCM. I used to like Spike, but I lost track of it; I don't even know what they air any more.

I confess to a morbid fascination with Hoarders and the Buried alive spinoff. I used to watch The Biggest Loser, as well. But mostly, just give me my old movies, my Mythbusters, my Big Bang Theory, Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey, and I'm happy.
 
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