@PegasusActual93 Yeah, and that's my point: They seem unwilling to move away from the "quantity over quality" mindset and wants to continue to produce tons of (mostly mediocre) shows and when that inevitably stunts growing profit margins they try to find other ways to increase their income. And, yes, I'm perfectly aware that an overload of mediocrity is nothing new, but it was a more viable strategy back when the consumers had fewer options to choose from, I think
@PegasusActual93@FuriousMachine There may be some rose-tinted spectacle effect, but it does feel like the more recent output is of lesser quality. But I think it’s more likely that, as you say, there’s just such a higher volume of mediocre content available now versus early days, so finding the good stuff is more like a needle in the haystack. But the ratio of quality to garbage is probably the same.
I’ve heard people say the last decade has been the golden age of TV, and perhaps it has been, but are people going to be quoting Master of None, Veep, and I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson, with the same nostalgia as Friends, Seinfeld, South Park, The Office, or Frasier? Or rewatching The Leftovers, Succession, and True Detective as much as Breaking Bad, The Wire, or The Sopranos? Or are there current shows which will have the long lasting cultural impact like Twin Peaks, Twilight Zone, and Star Trek?
I don’t know the answer, mostly because I simply struggle to navigate through the sheer volume to be able experience the breadth of content. And in reality there’s just too large of a library to sift through, especially if you consider all the shows you’ve missed over the years. And perhaps that’s why this is the golden age of TV — not because the modern content is better, but because we now have access to all of the old content as well.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
I’ve heard people say the last decade has been the golden age of TV, and perhaps it has been, but are people going to be quoting Master of None, Veep, and I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson, with the same nostalgia as Friends, Seinfeld, South Park, The Office, or Frasier? Or rewatching The Leftovers, Succession, and True Detective as much as Breaking Bad, The Wire, or The Sopranos? Or are there current shows which will have the long lasting cultural impact like Twin Peaks, Twilight Zone, and Star Trek?
I think you touch on an interesting point here because no, I don't believe any of these modern shows will have anywhere near the same cultural impact. I don't think that has to do with quality (as personally I would consider a show like The Leftovers or Veep superior to those like Breaking Bad or South Park) and neither do I think it necessarily has to do with the volume of shows either.
I think what's changed is the way we consume media and how people as a whole are so much more divided now. Back then you would watch live TV or see one of a weekly movie in the cinema. And while there were less options at the time, there was ultimately plenty of choices nonetheless and it still took some special sauce to hit it big and break out into cultural phenomenon.
I think the difference now is that there's so much more choice in how you choose to entertain yourself. Whether it be through YouTube videos, livestreams, simple social media scrolling or actively engaging in discussion on platforms like Twitter, Reddit.. or even PushSquare. This takes up so much of our collective time nowadays that the temptation to watch a show or film is much less than it used to be in a time where the World Wide Web and its seductions weren't constantly eating away at us. Especially in a time where short form is king and there are so many different ways to look.
The "water cooler" show is practically dead and so goes the same for movies. We're so much quicker to move onto a different pastime nowadays, because we have so much more to move onto right in our fingertips. When something breaks into cultural phenomenon now, like say Squid Game, just watch at how quickly people moved past it as well compared to older shows where this was a year-round conversation. In part also because of the longer episode counts and weekly releases of course, but even a weekly release now wouldn't (and doesn't) come anywhere near that same level of zeitgeist. And without that same level of continued unified excitement, it's just impossible to reach that same level of cultural impact anymore.
It's fascinating to see how our entertainment culture keeps evolving, whether you believe it to be better or for the worse. I think both have their pros and cons in the end.
@MightyDemon82 I just finished Season 1 in a few days.... genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed it, considering it is absolutely not my 'usual' kind of show!
I'd probably describe it as 'big dumb fun', but in the best possible way. Reacher himself is an absolute riot, a testosterone-fuelled combination of Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, and Liam Neeson from Taken.
Some of his one-liners are remarkable as well.... "Reacher, how do you plan to take down this all-encompassing massively dangerous counterfeiting conspiracy?" "Painfully" !!!!
It is a great example of a show that 'knows what it is' and doesn't take itself too seriously. A really great time IMO. The dynamic between Reacher and his side-kick (Finlay?) is great too, with some genuinely great moments throughout the season.
@Tjuz I’m a little late responding to you but wanted to say I appreciate and agree with your insightful assessment. Well said. I do think the biggest difference is the change in entertainment at large, and as you say, how we consume it.
When Gen Alpha have their grandkids sitting on their knees talking about their “good ol’ days,” I doubt they talk about classic TV shows or movies of their youth, but rather the technological advancements in entertainment. They’ll say stuff like “Junior, I remember back when we had these devices in our pockets called iPhones. People would put videos on there about all kinds of things. And sometimes we’d sit down for two whole hours and actually watch a story on a bigger screen too, but not very often.” 😂
I've recently watched the first season of Ghosts (US version) which delivered a surprising amount of LOLs as well as being an overall pleasant show. Twisted Metal finally made its way to these shores, courtesy of Prime Video, and I've been having fun with the first four episodes so far. Stupid, cheesy fun with two very charming leads
A little surprised I've only just discovered this but I'm now aware Amazon has stopped it's coverage of Tennis and that Sky now has the rights to both tours this year. Absolutely gutted as the level of coverage in terms of the choice of what to watch and how is going to be dramatically reduced. Only found out as Sky just advertised their Tennis channel starting next weekend.
What with the ads starting in a couple of days my opinion of my Prime subscription has taken a dramatic plummet.
busy with watching episodes of UnXplained on Hulu and Netflix. Hulu has Season 5 which im watching some of the episodes. Even watched a few episodes of Season 1 on Hulu.
then watching Seasons 2-4 on Netflix then Ill be done with the show til Season 6 comes along
I borrowed my sister-in-law's mammoth (10 season) "Smallville" blu-ray set just after Christmas and just finished the first season. It's no "Buffy", that's for sure. Hopefully it gets better.
@XandertheWise Season One certainly wasn't great. I like the cast - especially Michael Rosenbaum (although I suspect that Pete Ross was the inspiration for Token on "South Park") but the villain of the week format was pretty played out, even back then. I'll give Season Two a watch but barring some significant improvements, I can't see myself sticking it out to the end.
@XandertheWise Season One certainly wasn't great. I like the cast - especially Michael Rosenbaum (although I suspect that Pete Ross was the inspiration for Token on "South Park") but the villain of the week format was pretty played out, even back then. I'll give Season Two a watch but barring some significant improvements, I can't see myself sticking it out to the end.
@XandertheWise Season 2 is kind of slow? Thanks for the heads up. I'll drop it now and give the set back to my sister-in-law. Definitely not the show for me.
@XandertheWise Season 2 is kind of slow? Thanks for the heads up. I'll drop it now and give the set back to my sister-in-law. Definitely not the show for me.
@XandertheWise That's fair enough but my problem is that if I already found Season One a slog to get through (it took me well over a month) and you (a big fan of the show) are telling me that Season Two is slow, then I've got no chance. It just seems like it will be a time sink when I've got other shows on my backlog that I might actually enjoy straight off the bat.
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