Hello.

I have been a member of this message board for several years as an American living overseas in China. Yong Fang is my wife's name. I am from Memphis, Tennessee and I return home to visit my parents, well, only parent now, since my mother passed away. Thank you for the condolences, but I really wanted to complain again with television now.

In my opinion, television is really awful. Awful is really too mild. If and when I move back to the USA, I will not pay for any television package whatsoever. No DISH, Verizon ATT or any of that.

Two reasons.

First, of the television shows currently on, I watch very few shows.I am currently watching two sitcoms, Young Sheldon and Mom, and I am somewhat giving up on Mom slowly since the show is departing from its premise. I love Young Sheldon, although I quit watching Big Bang Theory several seasons back. The only hour long shows I watch currently is Law and Order SVU (sometimes), and Star Trek Discovery (now finished until 2019):( . I also watch Dr. Phil for the crazy people. I also like Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and Bill Maher's political show. So yes, I do like a few shows, but I can watch them online WITHOUT COMMERCIALS (see below).

One saving grace is that there are a lot of documentaries that I like. I also think there are a lack of reruns of older shows. Some of the stations like TV Land and similar stations show three or four hour blocks of one show instead of a variety of programming. There are about seventy years of televion shows now, but very little variety of older shows. Some Andy Griffith, Gunsmoke, other scattered things, but very limited, and it is difficult to follow when they will come on. Comedy Central shows "The Office" in the afternoons. I love that show (including the post Steve Carrell seasons) but it goes into my second complaint....

ALL THE COMMERCIALS! The commercial breaks are so looooooong, with so many commercials and all the same commercials day after day after day. Many more commercials now than before and it's ridiculous. The commercials are obnoxious for the most part (although I love the Geico commercial of the running of the Bulldogs, that's cute). Commercials that either show fattening food from crap chains (I officially hate the word "Burger" now), and medicine commercials, for example selling a prescription medicine for serious medical conditions like Crohn's Disease "ask your doctor of Lipator is right for you..." A new one now is a Liquid Plumber commercial with actors showing their butt cracks. I mean really? Flipping channels or trying to watch two things at once doesn't work either (maybe there is a documentary or an hour show I am watching, commercial comes on, and I will flip to Everybody Loves Raymond on TV Land for a minute, if I can avoid commercial hell.).

Too long, but jeesh, TV sucks now. If and when I return to the USA to live, I will get a computer, and hook it up to the television and watch shows over the Internet, or probably just have WIFI and watch my shows on my IPad. There is a website where I watch new content every week, and YouTube. Not big into movies, but movies are usually not that difficult to find either.

I say pull the plug, unless the format changes, which it won't. One suggestion is simply to sell us the TV shows we like "On Demand". Have an "ala carte" system where we can choose channels we want, and not have to wade through the garbage. Count me as someone who will not buy a subscription to this crap.

Opinions?

I don't watch network TV. I no longer watch sitcoms, dramas, any fictional TV at all. I'll occasionally watch reruns of old shows I watched years ago. The networks might as well not exist. I watch science show, non fiction documentaries, movies (mostly old), hockey, some soccer, and cable news, mostly Fox. I don't care what the networks do. I don't need their untalented writers spitting out recycled scripts that I know better than they do or trying to brainwash me with their liberal propaganda while flashing commercials on the screen on the rare occasions when the commercials aren't playing.

I plan on finally cancelling my Dish subscription today. I consider $95 a month to be entirely too much for what little variety of retro programming that they offer. From now on it's just Hulu and DVD's for me. If I ever miss Dish then I can go to my parents house and watch it.

I plan on finally cancelling my Dish subscription today. I consider $95 a month to be entirely too much for what little variety of retro programming that they offer. From now on it's just Hulu and DVD's for me. If I ever miss Dish then I can go to my parents house and watch it.
At least Dish offers Laff and Buzzr.

Directv doesn't offer these 2 channels.

More than 11 years have gone by since I "cut the cord" in 2007. I have an on-demand a-la-carte viewing I established by myself. No obnoxious commercials to cope with, just pure programming. As for "Appointment TV" may it rest in peace. :rip:

...I watch science show...

One of the most interesting shows on TV is How It's Made, on the Science Channel. But even there, the commercials are extremely repetitive, and mostly obnoxious.

Commercials now are absolutely unbearable. Watch the digital channels like Antenna and you're bombarded with pleas for $19 a month for St. Jude, Shriners, ASPCA, UNICEF, etc. Evidently the more people send, the more ads they buy. So it would seem the money sent goes to buy more ads for more money to buy more ads. Rounding out the mess of ads are all the stupid products like Ronco used to sell, but now you can get a second one "free", but pay a separate fee (so this is free?), along with medicare scams, diet pills and programs, and attorney ads. Whatever happened to ads for normal products, like Tide, Crest, and Ivory?

And that commercial where the lady walks into the bathroom and says, I like you, downstairs bathroom, but you stink. And the animated bear that worries that the tissue didn't get him clean enough. Egad...is there nothing they won't talk about?

The commercials I'm most sick of are on MeTV:

Eva Marie climbing the cigarette hill
The hands free CPR with "Stayin' Alive" song
Monge & Associates with Rob & Gina
The diabetic commercial with the puppies
Pamela Anderson #metoo
Human trafficking the boys

These are the main ones that I'm so sick of seeing.

One of the most interesting shows on TV is How It's Made, on the Science Channel. But even there, the commercials are extremely repetitive, and mostly obnoxious.

I watch How It's Made too. The problem with it is that the individual segments stand on their own and they shuffle them around. This way you can't just skip the episodes you've seen because in any given show there are some segments you've seen and some you haven't.


Commercials now are absolutely unbearable. Watch the digital channels like Antenna and you're bombarded with pleas for $19 a month for St. Jude, Shriners, ASPCA, UNICEF, etc. Evidently the more people send, the more ads they buy. So it would seem the money sent goes to buy more ads for more money to buy more ads.


Those Shriners commercials are interminable. But it makes you feel so guilty to have animosity towards these poor crippled kids.

I do feel sorry for the kids, but I doubt that much of the money collected thru these horrid ads makes it to them. Those ASPCA one are even worse--they're so bad I have to mute them. Again, probably most of that money goes toward more of those shameful ads.

A lot of the ones tlc38 mentioned, I don't see on MeTV. Those are probably local cut-ins.

http://dwatchseries.to

I use this website to watch current shows. No commercials. Pick a player and go. If I want to watch news I watch YouTube or go to news sites. Not a big sports person except for NCAA Football so no biggie.

I just do not see the need to pay for any kind of TV package.

All I need is YouTube, Netflix, and Hulu.

I've seen more shows on them than I would if I had cable or satellite!

In a way...if I move back home or live with my brother...I'll have the converter box as well.

You should retitle this “The sad state of linear television in 2018”. There is more great television available right now than any time I can remember in my life. But it’s offered on premium cable or streaming services. If you’re waiting for the broadcast networks to be good again, forget it. All of the decent creative talent is going elsewhere. They don’t want to have to deal with dramas split up into five acts to allow for more commercials, or the content restrictions.

You should retitle this “The sad state of linear television in 2018”. There is more great television available right now than any time I can remember in my life. But it’s offered on premium cable or streaming services. If you’re waiting for the broadcast networks to be good again, forget it. All of the decent creative talent is going elsewhere. They don’t want to have to deal with dramas split up into five acts to allow for more commercials, or the content restrictions.
Agreed. There are so many options nowadays outside of the networks that you really can't complain too much about modern TV. Like with music, you may have to look a little harder, but good content is out there.

Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc. all offer original content that's entertaining and commercial-free. And honestly, I often find myself entertained with old shows on Youtube that came from someone's VHS tapes. Overwhelming as it may be, there are pros and cons to the current state of TV.

To TV Guy,

I can agree with this somewhat. There is actually good content, especially documentaries which I really enjoy. There are other what I call "limited run series" or what we used to call "mini series" which are good. There is a program called "Waco" about what happened there with the religious cult and the government. There is another show tomorrow about the People's Temple and the women who worked in that group. Another show I really liked was Fargo and hope they do another season of that. Looking forward to the Roseanne reboot.

There are a few things I do like which I stated in my OP.

Another thing which I find annoying is that stations will show about three to four hours of the same sitcom or show. Instead of one or two episodes of the same show, it is six. Of the same thing, every single night. For example, TV Land shows basically Everybody Loves Raymond (which is OK, but not a favorite) and Mom, and with "Mom" episodes from last year. No variety whatsoever.

I timed a commercial break and it came in at five minutes. No wonder a half hour sitcom is something like 18 minutes long. I think that the streaming format might be where it is at. Like a show or series, just pay for it and watch it On Demand without the commercial BS. Netflix, HBO, Amazon, whoever. I am a Star Trek fan. Let me buy the six seasons of a Trek show, charge me $39.99 and be done with it. Simple.

Like I said, I am an American who comes home once a year, with a newly widowed 85 year old man who is increasingly frail and tired and TV keeps him company, and in my humble opinion, TV sucks! He ends up 95 percent of the time watching FOX news.....don't get me started on that crap on a stick.

Thank God for the Internet and Wifi. Seriously.

He ends up 95 percent of the time watching FOX news.....don't get me started on that crap on a stick.


You and me both-- FOX "News" stresses me out immensely (don't know why it does, but it does).

You and me both-- FOX "News" stresses me out immensely (don't know why it does, but it does).

I can't stand ANY News Station...they'll show 5% fact, 95% opinion anymore.

I don't even like local news...my city Cleveland acts self-centered for the most part!

Television is like Rock Music right now...it's rare that you see something good...

Do any of you who stream have a source of high speed internet that is not from the cable company? I live in a small town where they are the only game in town, so I can switch to internet only but the cost goes up vs. internet with some channels included. Plus if I stream too much I might get data charges, but I think Comcast has a 1TB cap right now.

Another question is do you see 3 commercials in a row with one repeated a lot? For example there will be an ad for McDonalds followed by one for a car or truck then the McDonalds ad repeats in the 3rd slot? This is not a literal example just explaining the concept. The same commercial that aired first also airs third.

Repeating the same commercial in the same set is big on the local channels, who also break in with their ads on Antenna, MeTV, etc. At least it's the thing to do around here.

Re the cable co: I've seen ads for Hughes net--I guess they're a satellite internet company. I imagine that would mean a dish.

You and me both-- FOX "News" stresses me out immensely (don't know why it does, but it does).

Yeah Fake "News" outlets like that just piss me off.

Yea Fake News like CNN and MSNBC pisses me off too.

Yeah Fake "News" outlets like that just piss me off.

Especially since our current President would likely call something like this "fake news":

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Let's face it--you can burn out on any of these channels that traffic in politics 24/7, left or right. They all recycle the same people arguing back and forth about the same stuff, all day long.

Another thing that relates to that KSTP Eyewitness News Update 10 P.M. broadcast from '85: way back in the day, that's how the news was presented-- no annoying whooshes or intrusive graphics, or even editorializing; just the news of the day (plus weather, sports and human interest), straight-up.

No offense to the original poster but it sounds like you have never heard of a DVR. Most of your complaints could be resolved by investing in one.

Or use a streaming service and go ad-free.

I don't think TV has gotten better or worse, if you don't like it, don't watch? If anything, there's more variety than there used to be, so simply change the channel or find something you do enjoy.

No offense to the original poster but it sounds like you have never heard of a DVR. Most of your complaints could be resolved by investing in one.

Or use a streaming service and go ad-free.

I don't think TV has gotten better or worse, if you don't like it, don't watch? If anything, there's more variety than there used to be, so simply change the channel or find something you do enjoy.
The state of television has definitely deteriorated since the 1970s. In fact there is nothing I would rush home for now. There may be repeats on other channels or I have to pay an arm and a leg for Eurosport, in addition to the £150 per year I pay to the BBC which is obligatory here to watch any live television channel. It's a combination of poor and uninspired writers, the quest for ratings at the cost of realism and political correctness which has killed off all comedy to satisfy any minority who may take offence on a whim.

The state of television has definitely deteriorated since the 1970s. In fact there is nothing I would rush home for now. There may be repeats on other channels or I have to pay an arm and a leg for Eurosport, in addition to the £150 per year I pay to the BBC which is obligatory here to watch any live television channel. It's a combination of poor and uninspired writers, the quest for ratings at the cost of realism and political correctness which has killed off all comedy to satisfy any minority who may take offence on a whim.

This is true...even during the 1980's and 1990's, many people would rush home to see what the next ep would be...and if you had a VCR, you could program your show and once you got home, you can see if it recorded correctly.

Today, we have binge watching so there's NO point to rush and see what the next ep of your show will be.

I got rid of satellite/cable a year ago and I don't miss it at all.

For those who say that there are streaming services, etc., sure, but they are not free, right? Everything has to be WORTH it in order to justify me paying for it, and it's basically not. My g/f has Netflix and we rarely watch it. The comedies don't make me laugh, the drama is obvious and overblown (and overhyped), the horror movies are predictable and not scary, etc.

The biggest issue is the quality of writing. Everything is cliched or pushing some social agenda, all of which mitigates the purpose of art; which is communicating truth. The medium is controlled by the ad execs who just want to copy the latest "big thing" and never risk really offending anyone or making anyone think at all.

We were all so spoiled in the 60s and 70s (and to a lesser extent, the 80s and 90s). Creative people wrote from life experience, not just from watching other TV shows. Now everything is largely a ripoff, spinoff, remake, reboot, reimagining, sequel, prequel, etc.

I hate to say it but I think TV is pretty much a lost cause. As others have said, Youtube has a lot of good stuff and you can (usually) find your favorite shows on DVD somewhere. I wish I felt differently, but I don't.

I forgot to mention during my complaints about the commercials...

BURGERS!

I formally hate this word after watching six weeks of American television at my father's house. Every other commercial was for hamburgers, especially Applebees and Red Robin (Chili's gets an honorable mention for their obnoxious commercials too) I just came away just HATING this word BURGERS. I mean is this all Americans eat now?

BURGERS!

Burgers sounds like "booger" to me. Applebees (why does Applebees exist?This franchise is like the Radio Shack of restaurants) with all their obnoxious BURGERS, crap like BURGERS with fried egg, hash browns, nine kinds of condiments, 10,000 calories of garbage. Ugh. Or the Quassadilla BURGER, or any other design of two pieces of bread, hamburger (this is the correct name of this food by the way) meat and whatever they stick in it.

However, I will have to give ARBY'S some props (and this franchise seems to have turned around, this was the Radio Shack of fast food at one time). I love their tag line..ARBY's, WE HAVE THE MEATS!

Soooo nice to go to my website and watch Young Sheldon today without the commercials. Especially goddamned BURGERS!

Double Post!

I got rid of satellite/cable a year ago and I don't miss it at all.

For those who say that there are streaming services, etc., sure, but they are not free, right? Everything has to be WORTH it in order to justify me paying for it, and it's basically not. My g/f has Netflix and we rarely watch it. The comedies don't make me laugh, the drama is obvious and overblown (and overhyped), the horror movies are predictable and not scary, etc.

Well, yeah, but then how else would they make money? There's always YouTube and Daily Motion.

The biggest issue is the quality of writing. Everything is cliched or pushing some social agenda, all of which mitigates the purpose of art; which is communicating truth. The medium is controlled by the ad execs who just want to copy the latest "big thing" and never risk really offending anyone or making anyone think at all.

If you look at TV's history, it's always been like that. It was quite common, as early as the '50s, where complete storylines would be pushed around an advertiser's products. TV also had never shied away from social commentary. In fact, I think this was their way of communicating truth and advocating for change. It's how we evolve and grow as a society. Both of what you mentioned are not products of our time.

We were all so spoiled in the 60s and 70s (and to a lesser extent, the 80s and 90s). Creative people wrote from life experience, not just from watching other TV shows. Now everything is largely a ripoff, spinoff, remake, reboot, reimagining, sequel, prequel, etc.

There's a lot of quality original, writing that is present on TV. To say that "everything" is a rip-off or some re-imagining, is simply and completely not true. I would challenge you to give today's TV a greater chance.

Not liking a show =/= TV getting worse. There's good stuff out there, but you have to find it. Same goes for music.

A lot of stuff is not my cup of tea nowadays, but I've found some good shows out there too, usually on streaming services. I don't get why people on this forum become such snobs about current television. I could say that a lot of shows from the 60s and 70s were pretty crummy too.

Not liking a show =/= TV getting worse. There's good stuff out there, but you have to find it. Same goes for music.

A lot of stuff is not my cup of tea nowadays, but I've found some good shows out there too, usually on streaming services. I don't get why people on this forum become such snobs about current television. I could say that a lot of shows from the 60s and 70s were pretty crummy too.

This. There were some terrible TV shows back in the 60s and 70s. Take for example The Flying Nun, It's About Time, and My Mother the Car. Some of the worst TV of all time right there.

This. There were some terrible TV shows back in the 60s and 70s. Take for example The Flying Nun, It's About Time, and My Mother the Car. Some of the worst TV of all time right there.

That, and McHale's Navy-- as I said before, quite an effort to get through the second season's worth, and couldn't even get into the third!

I'm sorry, but I cannot really watch any 1960's television, looking back on it for me, it was dreck. Interestingly, there were several 1960's shows as a child like The Beverly Hillbillies, The Munsters, and The Addams Family, I wouldn't watch today. Was never a big Bewitched fan either, just a husband get bullied by his mean mother in law who hates him who has superpowers. Paul Lynde made the show. Get Smart to me was really lame and now really dated.

The three shows I think were the hallmark shows were The Andy Griffith Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and Leave it to Beaver (and Gunsmoke, Star Trek, and The Twilight Zone....and Ed Sullivan is you liked his show). I rarely watch The Andy Griffith Show because I have seen all the episodes and now what is going to happen. MASH is the same way (although there are really wonderful episodes worth watching again).

The 1970's was TV's best decade, even as a child, I enjoyed most all the adult shows of the time and understood it on some level. TV "grew up" in the 1970's and stuff like sex, intimate relationships, drugs, divorce, problems in family life, got to shine through and got my real shows than what could be done in the 1960's.

LOL, The Flying Nun, It's About Time, and My Mother The Car aren't the greatest sitcoms, but they are classics when compared to the crap/garbage sitcoms of today.

I love 1960's TV. It's my favorite decade for TV shows. I don't like every single show from that time, but I like many of them. Sitcoms, dramas, variety shows, the 60's had it all. The shows had class and were well produced.

Get Smart can be silly at times but it's a fun show, a good spoof of the spy genre, I like it.

Moral decline began to appear on TV shows in the 1970's, due in part to Norman Lear, and it's been all downhill from there.

I agree about Norman Lear. He made screaming, loud, obnoxious, and flushing a supposedly necessary part of the modern sitcom. Every once in awhile one comes along that doesn't fit the mold...like The Middle.

I agree about Norman Lear. He made screaming, loud, obnoxious, and flushing a supposedly necessary part of the modern sitcom. Every once in awhile one comes along that doesn't fit the mold...like The Middle.

And, IMO, Diff'rent Strokes was one of the absolute worst of the Lear shows (and the Very Special Episodes didn't help matters)!

LOL, The Flying Nun, It's About Time, and My Mother The Car aren't the greatest sitcoms, but they are classics when compared to the crap/garbage sitcoms of today.
While a lot of modern sitcoms are garbage, that is not always true. The Middle is one of the best sitcoms ever made, and is better than all 3 of those shows combined. And 2000s Canadian sitcom Corner Gas has been in my overall top 10 since I first saw it.

I agree about Norman Lear. He made screaming, loud, obnoxious, and flushing a supposedly necessary part of the modern sitcom. Every once in awhile one comes along that doesn't fit the mold...like The Middle.

I must say that though TV Decline came in the 1970's...so did about everything else!

The rural purge came in 1971, so if the show has a rural feel...goodbye! The Midwest audience went to the syndication region...AITF was there as other 60's shows departed.

With music...1966-1972 was the most creative with Rock...the creativity started to decline later in the 70's as disco arrived. Punk gave Rock new breath, but the decline was on its way.

The world was insane by the 70's...Vietnam, Nixon, Roe v Wade, though the United States was celebrating its 200th Anniversary...USA too was feeling the decline.

Though I was born in 1982, I felt that the 1980's and 1990's were trying to get that family orientation back and still have some excitement. Freedom and Responsibility was big at that time.

Television was no exception...by the 70's Norman Lear Shows were out the door for more family oriented shows like Family Ties, Gimme a Break!, The Cosby Show, Mr. Belvedere, Who's The Boss?, Newhart, and even Lear had Diff'rnt Strokes and though not credited...The Facts of Life became big in the 80's. There was some risque topics, but it never went over the top.

The 90's was when it declined a little more so...morality STILL existed then and family shows like Full House, Family Matters, and Home Improvement were popular...more adult shows like Seinfeld and Friends were starting to get on the Family Hour (8 p.m.-9 p.m.).

By the end of the 90's...Family Hour was practically non-existent! In My Opinion...morality anywhere practically disappeared by 2000-2001 with Reality Shows!

Yes...there's STILL good entertainment, but It's too few and far between!

While a lot of modern sitcoms are garbage, that is not always true. The Middle is one of the best sitcoms ever made.

LOL, not in my opinion. I avoid modern TV shows because I don't like the way they look and I don't like how the people act. To me it is all garbage/junk. The only current stuff I'll watch on TV are some sporting events, otherwise I stay with the old shows and movies that I like. My DVD's and video cassettes keep me entertained :lol:.

And 2000s Canadian sitcom Corner Gas has been in my overall top 10 since I first saw it.

I'm curious about Corner Gas, I haven't seen it but since it's from the modern era I probably wouldn't like it :lol:.

When "The Middle" goes off the air and "This Is Us" goes on hiatus, all I'll be watching on TV as far as scripted shows are concerned are old sitcoms from the 1970s!

I agree about Norman Lear. He made screaming, loud, obnoxious, and flushing a supposedly necessary part of the modern sitcom. Every once in awhile one comes along that doesn't fit the mold...like The Middle.
My biggest gripe about Norman Lear is that he went out of his way to make his 70s sitcoms so political. They were groundbreaking, but it got old really quickly hearing social commentary on every show. And I say this as someone who likely shares Norman's politics. At least his shows toned it down by the late-70s.

I mentioned this in the Roseanne reboot thread, but I don't care what side of the aisle you're on. Just entertain me...like Jerry Seinfeld said, "No hugging, no learning." :lol:

LOL, The Flying Nun, It's About Time, and My Mother The Car aren't the greatest sitcoms, but they are classics when compared to the crap/garbage sitcoms of today.

I love 1960's TV. It's my favorite decade for TV shows. I don't like every single show from that time, but I like many of them. Sitcoms, dramas, variety shows, the 60's had it all. The shows had class and were well produced.

Just because they’re classic doesn’t mean they’re somehow greater in quality than today’s TV. If you take the time period out of the equation, my bet is that If those series were pitched today they wouldn’t make it to air or even make it past episode 1. The bar must’ve have to have been set very low back in those days to have survived that long. And my guess is it survived that long because there was such little competition: three networks vs. hundreds today.

The 1960s is really no different from any other decade, each decade had their good and bad shows. There are still shows on today that have class, you just have to search through the clutter.

There are still shows on today that have class, you just have to search through the clutter.

Thanks for suggesting, but I'll stay with the old shows, I'm strictly retro when it comes to TV shows.

It's About Time and My Mother The Car are not great sitcoms by any means, I'm aware of that, but I watch them anyway because I enjoy most 1960's sitcoms. I have the retail DVD sets of both shows. It's About Time is a silly show, even sillier than Gilligan's Island. I like the episode when the astronauts return to modern times and bring the cave family along with them. That episode has some funny visual gags :lol:.

My Mother The Car is silly too, a silly fantasy sitcom, but I'll watch it anyway once in a while. A talking car? Really?? I guess they figured there is Mister Ed the talking horse, so why not a talking car. :crazy: :lol: But it's not really a bad show, fun to watch once in a while, good for a laugh or two.

The 1960's has it's share of fantasy sitcoms, there are several of them. Rural sitcoms too. Also the traditional family sitcom. For me, watching 1960's sitcoms is comfort TV. Takes me back to a happier time :).

more adult shows like Seinfeld and Friends were starting to get on the Family Hour (8 p.m.-9 p.m.).
Seinfeld never aired in the 8PM eastern hour. Its 4 timeslots for originals were Wednesday at 9:00 and 9:30, and Thursday at 9:00 (most of its run) and 9:30.

Seinfeld never aired in the 8PM eastern hour. Its 4 timeslots for originals were Wednesday at 9:00 and 9:30, and Thursday at 9:00 (most of its run) and 9:30.

I only used Seinfeld as an example since nothing was sandwiched at 8:30.

But because of Friends, the family hour started to disappear...but some children go to bed at 8...I went to bed at 9.

I watched an episode of Perry Mason and the episode lasted 52 1/2 minutes. :eek: That amounts to 7 1/2 minutes per hour. Today's TV shows often have three as much commercials per hour. :angryfire And they wonder why they're losing viewers. :crazy:

And, IMO, Diff'rent Strokes was one of the absolute worst of the Lear shows (and the Very Special Episodes didn't help matters)!
Your'e right on Diff rant Strokes. Can't stand it now and if I could go back, I avoid watching it.

I watched an episode of Perry Mason and the episode lasted 52 1/2 minutes. :eek: That amounts to 7 1/2 minutes per hour. Today's TV shows often have three as much commercials per hour. :angryfire And they wonder why they're losing viewers. :crazy:

That first outing, "The Case of the Restless Redhead" (OAD 9/21/57 on CBS) went 52:55 (basically 53 min.) on the first-season, first-volume DVD. Plenty of value for the money where that's concerned!

Your'e right on Diff rant Strokes. Can't stand it now and if I could go back, I avoid watching it.

I appreciate that validation and agreement, and I wouldn't buy that Norman Lear "comedy" on DVD even if I had the money, it was that bad!

Diff'rent Strokes is easily better than the comedies Norman Lear actually created.

Diff'rent Strokes is easily better than the comedies Norman Lear actually created.

If you like it, have up-- all I'm saying is that the Very Special Episodes were a big turn-off for me to that NBC/ABC comedy as a whole.

I watched an episode of Perry Mason and the episode lasted 52 1/2 minutes. :eek: That amounts to 7 1/2 minutes per hour. Today's TV shows often have three as much commercials per hour. :angryfire And they wonder why they're losing viewers. :crazy:

True, the classic shows from yesteryear had longer run times because there were fewer commercials. I think it was around the late 1970's or early 1980's when networks started reducing the program times and adding more commercials. The amount of commercials nowadays is ridiculous. Another reason to avoid current TV shows, along with all the other reasons. Foul language, unnecessary gore and violence, it's all garbage.

Foul language, unnecessary gore and violence, it's all garbage.

Too much violence and not enough sex is what's wrong with today's TV.

Not enough violence and not enough sex is what's wrong with today's TV.

Fixed it.

Too much violence and not enough sex is what's wrong with today's TV.

LOL, yep, can never have enough sex. :happyface :lol:

Fixed it.

:lol:

Diffrent Strokes was good its first season or two when Gary Coleman was young and was a star. It was basically a show that went on way too long.

I watched an episode of Perry Mason and the episode lasted 52 1/2 minutes. :eek: That amounts to 7 1/2 minutes per hour. Today's TV shows often have three as much commercials per hour. :angryfire And they wonder why they're losing viewers. :crazy:
While recording current episodes of "Days of our Lives", I noticed that they all run approximately 36 1/2 minutes. Commercials take up 23 1/2 minutes of the hour soap.

While recording current episodes of "Days of our Lives", I noticed that they all run approximately 36 1/2 minutes. Commercials take up 23 1/2 minutes of the hour soap.

I heard something about commercials being cut down - maybe it was by 20% at NBC? I don't remember details.

I know I've mentioned this in the past.Maybe in different words.Television in the 21st century, almost everything about it is a cesspool.A commercial filled sewer.It's totally the opposite of what it used to be decades ago.

I love Diff’rent Strokes. And it wasn’t actually a Norman Lear show, as his name is not credited in it, although it did have many of the same writers and producers from his other shows and was produced by one his production companies Tandem.