TV programs that you hate (or dislike) and programs you want shown

[Bijo]

Here where I live we got many programs that are just.... BAHHHH! But of course to each his taste.

[rant]For instance there's this show here called Dancing With The Stars or something. Oh please, can somebody SHOOT me?! It's about normal average people who get to learn to dance with really good (known) dancers who are also normal average people, and after practice and rehearsal they have to perform in front of an audience and such, making all those difficult moves and such.
It's really nice, isn't it - that some people actually care to watch his rubbish. And whaddaya know, occasionally when at some place I hear people talking about it. "Oh, it was so bad! How could they mess up that move? Still, I think they're really good, and I want them to win! OMG yeS! They'sgotta IWN!!21!!1"

Or how about that show Will & Grace or something? I don't know much about it, but I DO know it's a piece of crap. I don't understand how some people can watch this and enjoy it. Hell, it's not even funny (or let's say the humor is just silly and cheap).

Or a program like Temptation Island. Arrrgh! Gimme a cyanide pill! Couples who are being tested and tempted and they must be loyal to their partner. Pfff: horrible. People who have no control over their primitive instincts and emotions and are slaves to 'em.

And Friends: HAH!!! Silly, cheap, simple, and stupid humor. I could just KILL 'em!

Or you know about those "home videos" shows? Peh! All they do is show the same things over and over again, even if it's new(!) material, it's always the same kind of stuff. Like people falling, animals and people, babies, you name it. How can it be funny when a person falls hard and gets injured? It's so cheap and not funny at all. "Oh look, he/she fell. Hah hah hah." "Yeah, that's real funny, [you numpty-BKS]".
"Oooo, look! The child fell on its head! Hah hah hah." "Yeah, that's real funny, [you div-BKS]".

There's so much RUBBISH I don't even know where to go on, so I'll stop right here.[/rant]

What I would like to see on TV, is a program in the sense of... you could say it's "reality TV" but more controversial perhaps. Anyone ever seen The Truman Show? A child is set to Earth and is followed in a separate world created, with the use of many hidden cameras and actors. Now if somebody would do THAT in TV, pfff... heck he got my vote :P

Sorry for the long rant, but I just had to

[The_Doctor]

I agree with you completely.

I would love to see a series about the 30 years war. Or the rise of the Germany Empire and it is set from ~1810 to ~1900 and it follows the stories several generation of the same family, a bit like "Into the West".

[doc_bean]

I have to disagree, as a former TV addict, I think the quality of TV shows has rarely been this good. Ever since 24 raised the bar we've gotten movie quality (in the good way) shows.

There's 24, Lost if you still care for it, Heroes (though, sloppy writing occasionally), Prison Break is apparently pretty good, Rome was definitely popular with the Orgahs, Band of Brothers beats most war movies in terms of overall quality, acting and storytelling.

Yes, there's unbelievable crap being put on TV too, but so what, no one is forcing you to watch it, at least you get some great stuff occasionally. Will&Grace, Friends and the like are filler, brainless entertainment after a hard days' work (they tend to be programmed early, when people are still tired from work and not ready to start more engaging activities, or watch more 'challenging' programs). Reality shows like Temptation Island are just the continuation of soap opera style voyeurism that has always been popular. Arguably they're better than real soap operas (though I doubt you get belgian soaps, be grateful), at least they're funnier if you're with a bunch of friends and want to feel like a superior specimen of the human race.

Don't kid yourself, TV didn't used to be better, you've just become more spoiled with entertainment possibilities. Watch what you like and skip the rest. Rent a movie if you just want to lie down in front of the TV, or get a series on dvd.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Watch more hbo.

American Idol and it's ripoffs, Judge "whoever" shows, and brainless soap operas are really bad.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

I've never understood people who get irate about bad television. If you don't like it, don't watch it. It's not as if you have a god-given right to shows that are to your taste.

Seeing as there are so many different audiences, all of whom like different things, it stands to reason you're only going to enjoy a fraction of all the different series shown.

[seireikhaan]

Dislike pretty much all "reality" shows, ie Survivor and American Idol. Same crap repeated year after year. Dislike filler shows like Friends as well, they're utterly brainless. Also, the totaly absurd shows like soap operas are terrible as well. I don't watch too many shows on a regular basis. Digging for the Truth, Engineering an Empire, Family Guy, Samurai Champloo. I also watch baseball, basketball, and American football.

[Caius]

Big Brother.

Thats a bad program.Its **** concentrated

[Moros]

Need Heroes episode 19...

NOW!!!!

It's not fair! They wait until the 23th, just at the biggest cliffhanger of the season!

[The_Doctor]

I've never understood people who get irate about bad television.

It is not the TV programs themselves, but what it says about the society that watches it.

[Kongamato]

I'm going to bring the generic detective/police shows into this. Every major network has about two to four of these shows, and it appears to be the only format that new ideas can be pitched in. Guy who sees dead people? Make him a detective. Guy with OCD? Make him a detective. You get the picture. Most of the time, I don't mind them and even enjoy them at times. The quantity is what I find disturbing. How many possible plots for one-hour detective shows can be created before the writers run out of ideas?

One thing I also find unnerving about these shows is that they always seem to show the police as an unstoppable force that always get the bad guys in a speedy fashion. The only thing stopping them from finding the criminals within 5 minutes are slimy lawyers, uncaring judges, and the law itself. I wonder if this kind of portrayal of the justice process appearing on every TV channel 7 nights a week is changing the country's mindset about how the law should be enforced.

This brings me to my favorite show right now, The Shield. What the cops get away with is totally unrealistic, but the drama in the show is original and interesting. Mistakes don't just disappear, they come back to haunt the characters. Constant cat-and-mouse games are being played over many different storylines that often intersect and are hard to predict. I also like the anti-gang strategies that are discussed.

[naut]

If you don't like it, don't watch it.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

If you don't like it, don't watch it.

Ever have a roomate?

[Csargo]

More Scrubs please

[Whacker]

I also hate "reality" TV. American Idol is a horrible, horrible show that teaches people to be competitive (the bad kind of competitive) and judgmental.

I'd like to see a season 3 of Rome, with a focus on the Punic Wars, or perhaps focusing on the founding of the city.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

Ever have a roomate?

I interview.

[Beirut]

I interview.

"Well, I'm a nice guy, I don't make much noise except really early in the morning. I'm in bed early and I don't like any noise at night so you have to be really quiet. I tend to leave things that smell like gasoline in the house, and I take forty minute showers, so there's no problem unless you actually wanted some hot water yourself. Should I come by around 6?"

[Bijo]

It is not the TV programs themselves, but what it says about the society that watches it.

Kind of hit the nail on the head.

To me it's just sort of sickening what I see, the mindless masses who actually care to get home quickly or something so they can watch some rubbish show. To hear people talk about cheap bad quality programs as if they're the best goddamned thing in the world. Heck, throw in TV commercials about hair and other nonsense that so carefully influences some people.
Sometimes I overhear two girls talking and complaining about their boyfriends, and this and that, and this and that, and what shampoo they use, and if they went to a barber lately, and that they saw this commercial with some new hair product or skin product, and badabing, badaBOOP! ARRGH! All these silly needs (like caring about the colour of your couch like a good boy, like a good citizen, etc., etc.), and all that bad kind of social competition you can see everywhere... YOU NAME IT!

As soon as I finish college I hit the army and I will specifically demand to be sent to war to fight and to lead men in battle, just so I don't have to be in this.... "beautiful society" <-- not sarcastic
Now that's something: war, where you shouldn't care about how good and expensive your meal is, whether you are in a restaurant, where you shouldn't care about silly unnecessary things like having a relationship, where you shouldn't care about what car you drive, how big your TV is, whether you remember to have bought condoms, or if your goddamned garden looks neat so the neighbours won't complain about you. War, where the only thing you care about is to stay alive and for your comrades to stay alive.
War, life and death, and not these silly things of small scale. It probably fits me more than to be a citizen and consumerist.

[/rant]

Again the rant, but I just had to. Sometimes it just gets to me, please understand

[Stig]

Everything which has "with the Stars" in it should stop immediatly.
Here in Holland it's so bad we have 2 rivaling Dancing with the Stars who do everything to get more viewers. Then you also get Singing with the Stars (2 shows), Icedancing with the Stars (2 shows), Idols (2 shows), etc etc. It's all overdone and I'm happy I don't watch them.

If it would be up to me we would get a TV channel bringing proper old TV shows and series again.
In order we will get to see:
Monty Pythons Flying Circus
Some English Comedy (Dad's Army, Man about the house, George and Mildred, Are you being served, Porridge, and loads of others)
Mash
Some extremely old movie about Robin Hood or similiar, which is so bad you will die laughing when watching it. Preferably dubbed in German to make it extremely bad.
Some proper old movie from the seventies or eighties

[Ronin]

More Scrubs please

for the love of god NO!

I´m a big fan of the show but even I can see it´s going downhill....end it this season while it still has some credibility.

[Ronin]

all "reality-tv" should go out the freaking window right now.....big brother, survivor, dancing with the whatevers.....just quit it!!!

also soap operas suck the big one.

the rest of TV is actually quite good nowadays.

[doc_bean]

, whether you remember to have bought condoms,

Hey, a thing like that can ruin a perfectly good evening....

Not that I want to knock you down, but you sound like just about every other late teenager in our society, wondering what the point of it all is, since even if you don't perform well in society you can have a pretty comfortable life, so why even bother ? All the little things people seem to care about seem so insignificatn and you wonder why they don't realize it. You just want to find a reason in life, a goal, something to give meaning to your life. You're interested in the military or war in general because it seems so 'pure', every mistake can be the difference between life and death and you want to know whether you have what it takes to make it through. Or maybe you just have some sort of deathwish to proof your own freedom (how very Nietsche !).

Frankly, you'll grow out of it. You won't grow to like shampoo's or care about realitly TV, but you'll discover they have their place, you'll probably end up discovering that there is some depth to some of the shallow people too. You probably won't find that purpose in life, few of us ever do, but most likely you'll learn to except that sometimes the trip is worth it, even if you don't know the goal and might never reach it.

Or I could just have misjudged you

[Dutch_guy]

Everything which has "with the Stars" in it should stop immediatly.
Here in Holland it's so bad we have 2 rivaling Dancing with the Stars who do everything to get more viewers. Then you also get Singing with the Stars (2 shows), Icedancing with the Stars (2 shows), Idols (2 shows), etc etc. It's all overdone and I'm happy I don't watch them.

So true, but you forgot to add 'De Gouden Kooi' to your list...

That show takes bad television to a whole new level.

[caravel]

All those crappy reality shows need a new element added. Me and my camel warriors executing a precision flanking charge on the whole lot. That would fix it, and I bet the ratings would soar.

It's ok saying turn it off, or don't watch it, or whatever, because unless you live alone that's not quite as simple. Having to sit through big brother celebrity island and X Factor is sheer torture. They're just crap compulsion based TV produced exclusively to earn revenue from the premium rate phone ins. It's all about "phone and vote", and amazingly people fall for it and waste their time and money voting for some talentless manufactured pop star that will have one "hit" and then disappear, or some new rags to riches celebrity that will do nothing more than appear in tabloids and women's magazines ad nauseum.

Soap Operas are another waste of space. Sensationalist drivel aimed at indulging the masses "starring" wanabee actors portraying working class people and conforming to all of the usual stereotypes. Most of the characters have been married to each other at some period, every family is broken, 99% of their relationships are a disaster, the men are weak wimpy cheating no-hopers and the women are gold digging tarts. You can gain nothing from that kind of TV apart from killing some time. There is nothing positive about them, nothing enjoyable, no escapism - nada.

Then you have the equally sensationalist and biased TV news where every little event is blown up as much as possible. I notice that the newscasters now all stand up instead of sitting down and always have a backdrop of a huge LCD with some imagery relating to the story just in case you're too stupid to get it, then one will speak one sentence and the other will follow with the next and so on. This is what the TV news has become.

Then there are the documentaries which are also mostly speculative rubbish presented as fact about such subjects as aliens building the pyramids, the US not going to the moon or jesus having kids, or whatever.

Basically TV is crap, and I don't watch it now, unless there happens to be a movie on that I want to see, or unless my wife is watching it, otherwise it stays off.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

"Well, I'm a nice guy, I don't make much noise except really early in the morning. I'm in bed early and I don't like any noise at night so you have to be really quiet. I tend to leave things that smell like gasoline in the house, and I take forty minute showers, so there's no problem unless you actually wanted some hot water yourself. Should I come by around 6?"

Bring a Hi-Fi and some bourbon and you've got a deal.

[AntiochusIII]

Samurai Champloo

Antiochus approves heartily.

This one piece of animation shows what good integration between hip-hop and show is all about, a worthy successor to the very embodiment of Jazz, Snazz, and utter coolness that was Cowboy Bebop.

About the topic of this thread: I don't very much find much fault in the old Reality TV-sitcoms-soaps routine as they have their audiences and those clearly aren't for me. I do, however, have a lot of gripes about how Discovery Channel and History Channel nowadays translates into home improvement lameness and Modern Marvels blasphemy. Those are not what the channels are for for the love of all things sacred!

[Marshal Murat]

I think that the serious shows, that have compelling characters, etc. etc. are mostly on HBO, and cable channels.
Sopranos, Rome. Serious.

I actually think that a 30 Years War series would be AMAZING. I mean, it's the glory, thunder, violence, rape, murder, plunder, heroes, villains, Catholics, Protestants, camels! I mean, what isn't to like?

A poor German farmer, who joins the Imperial Army under Wallenstein or Tilly, fight some battles, then devolve into a personal conflict between himself and an Austrian, polar opposites. Amazing series.

[seireikhaan]

I do, however, have a lot of gripes about how Discovery Channel and History Channel nowadays translates into home improvement lameness and Modern Marvels blasphemy. Those are not what the channels are for for the love of all things sacred!

Indeed. I used to watch Dicovery a lot, now I almost never watch it because I dislike the new shows they have. Dirty Jobs is terrible. I also agree, though to a lesser extent, about History Channel. They still have some quality shows, such as Engineering an Empire, and Digging for the Truth is usually good as well. Unfortunately, that is the only consistent entertainment I can rely on, as they show Modern Marvels about 40 times per week! However, the usually seem to pull about one good documentary per week out as well. Sometimes more, sometimes none, but about one per week is a good average.

[lars573]

The one real TV show (reality TV doesn't count) that I hate is 24. Most preposterous BS ever purpetrated on the TV viewing audience. Prison break took a sharp nose dive when it turned into a fugitive clone this season.

It's funny how the new Battlestar Galactica does everything that Lost and Prison Break do. But better and consistantly. Yet it's ratings have slipped this season.

[doc_bean]

The one real TV show (reality TV doesn't count) that I hate is 24. Most preposterous BS ever purpetrated on the TV viewing audience. Prison break took a sharp nose dive when it turned into a fugitive clone this season.

It's funny how the new Battlestar Galactica does everything that Lost and Prison Break do. But better and consistantly. Yet it's ratings have slipped this season.

I think the problem with TV shows is that they have a limited 'life span' in which they remain interesting to the audience. The producers always try to cram in as many seasons as they can to get the money, but often the quality suffers. 24 has become to repetitive and formulaic, Lost just became too slow and boring in the second season, Buffy had 'the college years', Prison Break stops being about a prison etc.

It would be better if they made shows with an explicit idea of the amount of episodes/seasons they would have to do, quality would certainly improve.

[Ronin]

Indeed. I used to watch Dicovery a lot, now I almost never watch it because I dislike the new shows they have. Dirty Jobs is terrible. I also agree, though to a lesser extent, about History Channel. They still have some quality shows, such as Engineering an Empire, and Digging for the Truth is usually good as well. Unfortunately, that is the only consistent entertainment I can rely on, as they show Modern Marvels about 40 times per week! However, the usually seem to pull about one good documentary per week out as well. Sometimes more, sometimes none, but about one per week is a good average.

To me the problem with the Discovery and History Channel´s is that they went gear-head on us about 2 years ago....I mean 2 out of every 3 shows are about cars or bikes....

I mean...I like cars and bikes...but now that much dammit!

It seems every time I turn to the discovery channel and a show is starting I hear something like "well in today´s show we´re gonna be taking apart this ´67 chevy gearbox".....well pray do tell who the hell cares about that?