Why I hate commercial TV

[gunnergoz]

The other day I had to be up all through the night and having a PC nearby, I turned to Hulu.com to see if there was something on that would keep me awake. I'd already seen most of the worthwhile documentaries and then decided to see what was in the sci-fi section. I found a program called "Defying Gravity" which was a multi-part serial about a crew of astronauts who embark upon a six-year journey to Venus and presumably other planets.

Mind you, I never, ever watch commercial TV. We have satellite for Russian channels for the wife and mother in law and I have cable for a few HD documentary and news channels, but I never watch anything on the commercial side because it all seems to be crappy "reality" shows and similar tripe.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by what I saw on Defying Gravity. While it was not the greatest sci-fi I'd ever seen, I liked the cast and the premise and the segments kept my interest and got me wanting to see more.

Hulu said it only carried 5 of the 8 episodes. OK, I said, after watching what there was, I'm hooked, lets see when the rest of it airs.

That's when I discovered that ABC had canceled the show after the 8th episode, although Canadian TV aired the remaining 5 through episode 13. After that, the sets were destroyed.

It turns out that ABC, even with millions invested, did not really wish the show to succeed for some reason. It never advertised it, put it in a terrible time slot and did nothing to let even the sci-fi fans know about it. It was run for a few episodes and then yanked like some diseased thing that annoyed corporate.

I was pretty upset to read about how the show had been cut off at the knees. Mind you, it was not Oscar stuff, but it was pretty engaging and had nice sets and effects. Mostly I liked the main star, Ron Livingston, who had impressed me a lot when he played sidekick to the main character in the serial Band of Brothers.

So all I can say is, don't trust the commercial networks, because all they are interested in putting out there is crap, crap, crap. If a show has any signs of requiring an IQ above 90, it is bound to be treated as this one was.

No wonder we are raising a nation of idiots...

//Rant mode off// Thank you for putting up with this tirade my friends.

[JonS]

Hulu said it only carried 5 of the 8 episodes. OK, I said, after watching what there was, I'm hooked, lets see when the rest of it airs.

That's when I discovered that ABC had canceled the show after the 8th episode, although Canadian TV aired the remaining 5 through episode 13. After that, the sets were destroyed.

It turns out that ABC, even with millions invested, did not really wish the show to succeed for some reason. It never advertised it, put it in a terrible time slot and did nothing to let even the sci-fi fans know about it.

That sounds uncannily like what happened to Firefly.

[Elmar Bijlsma]

Having watched a few episodes, I find it not at all hard to believe why this show was put out of it's misery.

So aimless and dull, I couldn't make out what the show was trying to do to entertain me. It didn't tick any of the boxes that would make me watch a show, and worse, I don't think it even tried. No humour, no action, no suspense, no good dialogue, no likeable characters and no nekkid women. What did this show think I would watch it for?

Now, I didn't see all of them ( I think I caught episode three through seven, though the attention paid to it dropped off after episode four) so maybe it was a good show in the bits I didn't see, the bits I did see did nothing to motivate me to hang on in there.

One particularly dire moment was when the crew was explaining how their hair was behaving like normal. Some magnetic spray or such. I think I preferred my suspension of disbelief, but thank you very much for calling attention to the elephant in the room.

[gunnergoz]

Having watched a few episodes, I find it not at all hard to believe why this show was put out of it's misery.

So aimless and dull, I couldn't make out what the show was trying to do to entertain me. It didn't tick any of the boxes that would make me watch a show, and worse, I don't think it even tried. No humour, no action, no suspense, no good dialogue, no likeable characters and no nekkid women. What did this show think I would watch it for?

Now, I didn't see all of them ( I think I caught episode three through seven, though the attention paid to it dropped off after episode four) so maybe it was a good show in the bits I didn't see, the bits I did see did nothing to motivate me to hang on in there.

One particularly dire moment was when the crew was explaining how their hair was behaving like normal. Some magnetic spray or such. I think I preferred my suspension of disbelief, but thank you very much for calling attention to the elephant in the room.

So you didn't stick around for the bug-eyed monsters? That's when it got interesting, when they discovered they were being dispatched with an alien aboard one of the cargo canisters. Episode 8 ends on the discovery, but did not let me see the critter. I hope that someday they release the DVD of the entire series and I can finally see episodes 9-13.

I concur that it was not high art or high science, but I seldom see much sci-fi that appeals to me (Transformers? NOT) and this was at least moving in a promising direction. It's moot now, anyway.

[Michael Emrys]

That sounds uncannily like what happened to Firefly.

I was about to say the same thing.

Michael

[Other Means]

And lots of other shows. The BBC will stick with it for a couple of series until it gets shut. It often ends up with sleeper/cult hits on it's hands because of this.

Commercial TV just doesn't have the foresight.

[Tero]

And lots of other shows. The BBC will stick with it for a couple of series until it gets shut. It often ends up with sleeper/cult hits on it's hands because of this.

Commercial TV just doesn't have the foresight.

Wan't it Beeb who in their infinite wisdom shunned Enid Blythons books as garden variety garbage ?

[Sergei]

Wan't it Beeb who in their infinite wisdom shunned Enid Blythons books as garden variety garbage ?

And tremendously horrible garbage they were. I would like to think that even in children's books the contents should be worth the paper they're printed on.

[tooz]

For me, the worst thing about commercial TV is, well, the commercials! I will never eat at McDonalds (never will) drink Coors beer (Football coaches with young stupid kids asking annoying questions), Miller Lite (greatness does NOT have a taste!) or these new infomercials that try to imitate news broadcast (credit card debts etc).

Every now and then Geico Insurance puts out a funny ad--lately their "pothole commercial" is cute.

Getting back to the thread (sorry) I wonder how long commercial TV will last. I find it annoying that I pay the cable guys over $100 a month and STILL get bombarded with ads. However, some channels--such as Smithsonian and Military History seem to show the fewest commercials-which probably explains why I watch these two stations most.

Watching a sporting event nowadays makes me wonder if the time spent actually viewing a game equals the commercial time.

I was watching "V" for a few episodes but lost interest because of all of the ads. Here in America it seems one half of commercials are about food and drink, one quarter about cars and a small percentage about fitness centers (eat! drink! watch this, watch that! and then GET OFF YOUR LAZY BUTT AND GET TO A GYM!).

My joke is that the reason why I drink so much beer is because "my TV tells me to!"

[Stalins Organ]

Of course "Commercial TV" only cancelled a show that "Commercial TV" started in the first place........how much TV is not "Commercial"?

[Merkin Muffley]

Wan't it Beeb who in their infinite wisdom shunned Enid Blythons books as garden variety garbage ?

My favourite is where The Famous Five meet the Spanish Inquisition and they end up singing the Lumberjack Song with Noddy.

[mike_the_wino]

I will never...drink Coors beer (Football coaches with young stupid kids asking annoying questions),...

Um, those are Coors 'Light' commercials. You live in Wisconsin, who are you to be so high and mighty as to knock Coors, the original banquet beer?

[Other Means]

For me, the worst thing about commercial TV is, well, the commercials! I will never eat at McDonalds (never will) drink Coors beer (Football coaches with young stupid kids asking annoying questions), Miller Lite (greatness does NOT have a taste!) or these new infomercials that try to imitate news broadcast (credit card debts etc).

Every now and then Geico Insurance puts out a funny ad--lately their "pothole commercial" is cute.

Getting back to the thread (sorry) I wonder how long commercial TV will last. I find it annoying that I pay the cable guys over $100 a month and STILL get bombarded with ads. However, some channels--such as Smithsonian and Military History seem to show the fewest commercials-which probably explains why I watch these two stations most.

Watching a sporting event nowadays makes me wonder if the time spent actually viewing a game equals the commercial time.

I was watching "V" for a few episodes but lost interest because of all of the ads. Here in America it seems one half of commercials are about food and drink, one quarter about cars and a small percentage about fitness centers (eat! drink! watch this, watch that! and then GET OFF YOUR LAZY BUTT AND GET TO A GYM!).

My joke is that the reason why I drink so much beer is because "my TV tells me to!"

American hour long shows in the UK tend to last 50 minutes, if that.

Not to worry though, in 10 years there will be no adverts, just product placement. HDD recorders, TiVo and the like, will see to that.

[tooz]

"Um, those are Coors 'Light' commercials. You live in Wisconsin, who are you to be so high and mighty as to knock Coors, the original banquet beer?" Mike the Wino

Simple, I am an old overweight microbrewery beer swilling fool. Come to think of it, I used to love Coors when I was younger and the beer was not mass produced. Now Miller and Coors merged to make a lousy mass produced beer.

Oh yeah, I just live in Wisconsin, I'm from Philadelphia. I am never mighty but often high.

[tooz]

Getting back to the topic...I wonder now if we actually see more commercials on cable/satellite TV than we did back in the days of broadcast. Over time some channels that started commercial free (AMC, IFC and Bravo come to mind) now have plenty of ads. In the old days sponsors paid for the shows. So now, who pays more? The viewer or the sponsors?

[Wilhammer]

The show was EXTREMELY boring. I tried; really, really hard. Watched them all.

[Michael Emrys]

American hour long shows in the UK tend to last 50 minutes, if that.

Less, actually. The last few months I've been watching a few of my favorite shows from the networks' websites and they all have times marked. These mostly run from a bit over 42 to a bit under 45 minutes. The remainder of the hour is given over advertising and station identification.

But that's not as bad as commercial radio. My local classical station runs at least 20 minutes of ads every hour. I'd guess that pop stations run more than that. And nearly all of them are offensive and in very poor taste. If it weren't for the mute button, I might not listen to radio at all.

Michael

[MeatEtr]

Only things I watch on commercial TV our Red Wings hockey games(NHL Center Ice package), movies on HBO/Starz/Encore/IFC, or episodes of Family Guy. The rest of commercial TV f*cking sucks, IMO of course. On occasion I'll throw in a DVD/Blue Ray. But I'm a hardcore gamer, so the TV always takes a back seat for my free time.

[costard]

But that's not as bad as commercial radio. My local classical station runs at least 20 minutes of ads every hour. I'd guess that pop stations run more than that. And nearly all of them are offensive and in very poor taste. If it weren't for the mute button, I might not listen to radio at all.

Michael

Get a digital set and tune to ABC FM. No ads. Sometimes you have to listen to challenging music, but it's all part of the experience.