http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/bastard-machine/golden-age-tv-best-tv-814146

"There hasn't been a more competitive, cut-throat, quality-saturated era in television ever,” says Tim Goodman. “Period."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/bastard-machine/golden-age-tv-best-tv-814146

"There hasn't been a more competitive, cut-throat, quality-saturated era in television ever,” says Tim Goodman. “Period."


If this is the Platinum Age it stinks. There is NOTHING on these days worth my time. Reality has taken over for the most part and I'd frankly rather chew glass. Little is left as far as sitcoms and the ones I've tried aren't worth my time either. My husband and I are in our 30's and watch DVD's most of the time. I think the days of TV are pretty much over which breaks my heart. I can remember a time when we looked forward to good entertainment back when writers and producers had talent and fresh idea's instead of doing remakes and reality and when a family could enjoy shows together without all the smut.

If this is the Platinum Age it stinks. There is NOTHING on these days worth my time. Reality has taken over for the most part and I'd frankly rather chew glass. Little is left as far as sitcoms and the ones I've tried aren't worth my time either. My husband and I are in our 30's and watch DVD's most of the time. I think the days of TV are pretty much over which breaks my heart. I can remember a time when we looked forward to good entertainment back when writers and producers had talent and fresh idea's instead of doing remakes and reality and when a family could enjoy shows together without all the smut.



Very well said!!!:)

I could spend hours on why the supposed "golden age" of TV is a crock (or for that matter the first golden age wasn't so hot either) but I'll just make a few points:
--The "quality shows" the critics moon about make up maybe 5% of total TV content. You never hear the critics mention all the horribly padded reality shows, infomercials (and infomercials posing as news programming), endless shouting on "news" programs; in short, what's actually on the rest of the time.
--Plus the shows the critics promote only focus on the most outlandish parts of society. They can show you endless shows about drug dealers, sex researchers, and torture-happy goverment agencies; but what about normal working class families, minority families, religious families, rural families, etc.? Why aren't they worthy of their time in the sun?
--Most importantly you got great shows of the past for free, save a few minutes of commercials. Now you have to pay $100+ a month for most cable/satellite--and you have more commercials than ever!

I could spend hours on why the supposed "golden age" of TV is a crock (or for that matter the first golden age wasn't so hot either) but I'll just make a few points:
--The "quality shows" the critics moon about make up maybe 5% of total TV content. You never hear the critics mention all the horribly padded reality shows, infomercials (and infomercials posing as news programming), endless shouting on "news" programs; in short, what's actually on the rest of the time.
--Plus the shows the critics promote only focus on the most outlandish parts of society. They can show you endless shows about drug dealers, sex researchers, and torture-happy goverment agencies; but what about normal working class families, minority families, religious families, rural families, etc.? Why aren't they worthy of their time in the sun?
--Most importantly you got great shows of the past for free, save a few minutes of commercials. Now you have to pay $100+ a month for most cable/satellite--and you have more commercials than ever!

:angryfire SECONDED!!! :angryfire

Who started this absolute nonsense by calling modern tv and it's landscape the "Golden Age" or similair? I don't read them but they can write all the articles they want, and hype it all they can,but it's not going to make anything about modern TV look any better than the unwatchable mess most of it is.TV from 2000-present especially really can and should be called -The Golden Age of TERRIBLE TV.

This is more of The Clay Age of Television!

50's-60's...Golden Age of Television
70's-80's...Silver Age of Television
90's...Bronze Age of Television
2000's onward...Clay Age of Television!

Let's just stick to the so-called "quality show" (guessing they are referring to dramas).
"There hasn't been a more competitive, cut-throat, quality-saturated era in television ever." LOL

Shows written and produced with the autopilot just to pick-up awards: wannabe dark and adults, absolute priority is given to the dialogues and "cinematography" (as if we could care about it), but the ideas are none to be seen.
The freshness of the shows of the 80's and 90's were miles ahead. TV then was an amazing laboratory of ideas and talents; every show was different from the other, telling a new story and new characters in a new and compelling way.

We will forget about every show airing these days in less than 10 years; we will still remember "Miami Vice", "Hill Street Blues", "Twin Peaks", "The X-Files", "Ally McBeal", "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer", "Northern Exposure" etc.

And let's not talk about comedies and sitcoms, because the comparison is embarrassing.

If this is the Platinum Age it stinks. There is NOTHING on these days worth my time. Reality has taken over for the most part and I'd frankly rather chew glass. Little is left as far as sitcoms and the ones I've tried aren't worth my time either. My husband and I are in our 30's and watch DVD's most of the time. I think the days of TV are pretty much over which breaks my heart. I can remember a time when we looked forward to good entertainment back when writers and producers had talent and fresh idea's instead of doing remakes and reality and when a family could enjoy shows together without all the smut.
Agree!

I don't think so. There are only a handful of scripted shows that are critic and public viewers' darlings, and hardly any of those are family-friendly. I don't mind adult-oriented drama but at the same time, you cannot sustain a show with endless scenes and dialogue that is simply there for shock value and to be talked about on social media for a few days. The bulk of today's programming is tiresome reality/competition shows, and 24-hour news networks that compete to see whose "journalists" can be the most obnoxious.

We can be made fun of until the cows come home for waxing poetic about "the good old days" but there was a lot more variety and diversity in TV of the 50's through the 90's. There was room for everything. A lot of it was good, some of it was junk, but it appealed to a wide audience that included regular viewers and TV critics.

If this is the Platinum Age it stinks. when a family could enjoy shows together without all the smut.

Well, if you are going to take smut out of the equation then you are right, but what would TV be without a little smut?

I could see the argument being made for dramas, though I still think that would be a close call and a lot of them are garbage.

For sitcoms, though? No way.

Yea whoever wrote that is a idiot just because there's alot more new series on at once doesn't mean its great or better then the past my ass the stuff in the past can never and will never be worse and then anything today or nothing today can and will never better then the stuff from the past.

The assertion is so ludicrous that its not even worth delving into.

Yesterday Bloomberg reported that in the second quarter (That's April, May and June for those of you in Rio Linda!) of this year 625,000 households "cut the cord" (That's cancelled their subscriptions to pay-TV for those of you in Rio Linda!). :lol:

There's still good stuff out there...it's just with hundreds of cable channels and so many streaming options, you gotta look a little harder for it. Same goes for music. I find Orange is the New Black and House of Cards pretty enjoyable, but there's not too many new shows I'm watching regularly.

I do like that technology has made it so that talented writers and directors can get their content out there without worrying about the Hollywood system. Unfortunately, the Hollywood powers that be still have a tight rein on the mainstream stuff, even online. Still, there's stuff being put out there but lesser-known names that's worth watching.

I think I actually watch the digital subchannels more than anything. I cut the cord nearly four years ago, and don't really miss it.

Honestly, I don't believe there is such a thing as a "platinum age" of anything. Platinum is actually worth less than gold, as User:Alan Brady's Hair pointed out.

If anyone believes that all of today's scripted television shows are terrible (without exception), then I think today's music is far worse than those, and should de considered "boring". I tend to get bored with too much of any TV show produced prior to the 1970s. Also, it's the reality shows of today that should never be defended, and they should be considered "boring", also.

I agree with the general consensus about the deterioration of the quality of television and I was wondering if this reflected to some extent how society has moved on(or should we say degenerated) into a hedonistic compartmentalization which has thrown writers facing the changing role of women and ethnic minorities,mainly at the expense and to the detriment of middle class white males,who find it hardest to adjust to the new hierarchy,which if scrutinized is essentially self-appointed and illusory so that everyone save a few at the top have lost out,thereby making scriptwriting an even more difficult vehicle to reflect social change or conceal the malaise within through an attempted escapism,which more often than not backfires.

I agree with the general consensus about the deterioration of the quality of television and I was wondering if this reflected to some extent how society has moved on(or should we say degenerated) into a hedonistic compartmentalization which has thrown writers facing the changing role of women and ethnic minorities,mainly at the expense and to the detriment of middle class white males,who find it hardest to adjust to the new hierarchy,which if scrutinized is essentially self-appointed and illusory so that everyone save a few at the top have lost out,thereby making scriptwriting an even more difficult vehicle to reflect social change or conceal the malaise within through an attempted escapism,which more often than not backfires.

^^^This has to be the longest run-on sentence I've ever seen...

^^^This has to be the longest run-on sentence I've ever seen...
Well if I am forced to truncate could I just summarize by saying that a growing uneasiness has pervaded Western society over past decades from which the medium of television has not been immune.