Bad TV is our own fault

Always full of spoilers! Beware!

August 8, 2006 - 1:12 pm | Blog, Rant | |

Bad TV is our own fault. As archaic as the Nielsen ratings system is, it decides what makes money and what ends up in the recycling bin.

As you watch what I watch, Nielsen is watching what Americans watch. The TV networks are paying attention. They can’t afford not to. The American consumer is their bread and butter. Without an audience, there is no advertising space to sell.

We have all the power we need to demand quality television. Instead of using that power, we squander it away while settling for the unimaginative regurgitation of television programs we have seen before.

We don’t love television, we have settled for television. We have settled for it because it is easy to access. The same thing would happen if you lived in a pool of chocolate pudding. You would keep eating chocolate pudding.

Why aren’t we pickier with our television? That would take effort on our part. When there were nothing good on TV we could actually have to do something constructive with our time. That is a lot harder than sitting around and passing the time away though.

I am not saying television is evil. It is something I enjoy quite a bit. But when brilliant shows like Arrested Development, Everwood, Futurama, and Invasion are cancelled, it isn’t the network’s fault. All they have to do is follow the numbers. The numbers don’t lie. America isn’t watching quality television.

If we keep eating slop, the farmer is going to keep feeding us slop. If we stop eating slop, the farmer will do what he must to keep us fat and happy. We must demand higher quality feed, my fellow swine!

Television doesn’t control us, we control television. The next time that you watch Two and a Half Men, Gilmore Girls, or What I Like About You just because it is on, think of what you are telling the networks. You are telling them that you are okay with mediocrity.

14 Comments »

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

You’re right, bad TV is our fault. This makes me feel concerned when I think about the state of our society which reflects the slop we keep on the tube.

It is even scarier to see what makes it on cable news channels (for example: http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/politics/loaded_questions_41620.asp). While I mention F-word Network here, it isn’t the only guilty party of harming the country through news on TV.

Comment by Steve — August 8, 2006 #
Im upset that Alias wasn’t on your list of Brilliant cancelled shows

Comment by Nikki — August 8, 2006 #
If you’re upset by that, prepare for a life full of disappointment.

Comment by Aric McKeown — August 8, 2006 #
Somehow Veronica Mars is hanging on, thank god. It’s one of the shows you want to hate but you can’t. I agree, Alias is a great show and it didn’t appear on your list.

Comment by lauren — August 8, 2006 #
Too true. Bad programs are what I see getting the top votes an awful lot of the time on your site. The shows that I pick out for you to watch do have other people voting for them as well but they are usually at the bottom or somewhere in the middle of the list you put up each day. I wonder how many people would vote or even start watching what you are made to watch if all you put up were “quality” shows instead of the mix of quality, inferior and popular programs you have us vote for. In fact having only quality programming put on the voting block might be a good experiment ever so often. Might makefor a nice change too from al the inferior shows that are the “givens” that people would vote for. There IS quality television around, it’s just sort of difficult to find sometimes.

Comment by Fawn — August 9, 2006 #
Go Aric!

Rage, Rage against the dying of the light, (and Veronica Mars).

Comment by Rob — August 9, 2006 #
Fawn: In fairness to the voters on this site, they don’t always choose bad shows because they like them. Sometimes they do it to torture Aric, which I am ashamed to say I have done myself… on several occasions.

Comment by John YC — August 9, 2006 #
gee Aric, why did you have to be so mean to me? I was just telling you. there was no resentment in that comment.

Comment by Nikki — August 9, 2006 #
That wasn’t mean, that was playful. I am like a curmudgeonly dolphin.

Comment by Aric McKeown — August 9, 2006 #
Yeah, most of time I vote for the [i]worst[/i] show, unless something awesome like Dr. Who is on. I like to see you suffer, Aric. It’s much funnier.

Comment by Phil — August 9, 2006 #
oh, okey dokey

Comment by Nikki — August 9, 2006 #
I am so totally stealing the phrase “curmudgeonly dolphin”. I’ll be a hit at parties with phrases like that, just like Aric!

Comment by Phil — August 9, 2006 #
(the “:P” means sarcasm, for all you humor impared people out there)

Comment by Phil — August 9, 2006 #
[...] Then today I came across this excellent post, bad TV is our own fault. Why aren’t we pickier with our television? That would take effort on our part. When there were nothing good on TV we could actually have to do something constructive with our time. That is a lot harder than sitting around and passing the time away though. [...]

Pingback by insights 2.0 » Blog Archive » Is market research ready for the future of TV? — August 21, 2006 #