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TV Show Evolution

grip

Slow 🅖 Hand
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Has anyone noticed how the older programs like Fantasy Island, Love Boat, Night Rider, Touched By An Angel, etc were more corn pone than the newer shows of the 2000s like Boston Legal, Ugly Betty, House, Sopranos, Breaking Bad, etc?
 
Me and the old man were talking about this the other day.

There was a sort of line that I think one of the primary drivers you could point to that changed the game was ultimately the Sopranos.

The sopranos showed that TV could be cinematic quality in every aspect, cinematography, acting and writing, you name it.

Things like Battlestar Galactica showed you could take a genre like science fiction and add a very distinct level of maturity that hadn’t really been done before.

Now that’s not to say that, there weren’t good shows prior to the TV Renaissance that began in the 90s, I mean I’m a massive Star Trek fan and I know it’s weird but I’ve decided to actually sit and watch the entire of DS9 my favourite which I haven’t done before and a lot of those guys would go on to write Carnivale and Battlestar Galactica and while they touched on things that were As mature, if not more, it’s still held back by that level of corn pone you referred to, especially the Hand to hand combat and how much they weren’t actually able to show, even at that time, everything that happened on screen always seemed rather tame compared to the mass murder, rape and violence that people often talked about on Deep Space Nine.

Some of the shows you mentioned were especially camp, like holy, but I think it’s just, audiences tastes evolved, they demanded higher quality programming, smarter stories and characters, I mean not always as the rise of Reality TV which generally I can’t stand suggests but ultimately it has allowed to see some pretty cracking content which is grand.

I mean, at least initially, such amazing series such as Sopranos, Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, The West Wing, House of Cards or Walking Dead just to name a few, I know there’s a absolute metric ton more out there but TVs general rise in quality is undeniable and thank god for that, while many older TV shows hold a ton of nostalgia and many still hold up today in certain aspects such as DS9 in terms of stories, something like Knight Rider would be pretty hard to watch these days unless you really liked it.

By the way grip, Boston Legal was awesome but brings back painful memories :(
 
Me and the old man were talking about this the other day.

There was a sort of line that I think one of the primary drivers you could point to that changed the game was ultimately the Sopranos.

The sopranos showed that TV could be cinematic quality in every aspect, cinematography, acting and writing, you name it.

Things like Battlestar Galactica showed you could take a genre like science fiction and add a very distinct level of maturity that hadn’t really been done before.

Now that’s not to say that, there weren’t good shows prior to the TV Renaissance that began in the 90s, I mean I’m a massive Star Trek fan and I know it’s weird but I’ve decided to actually sit and watch the entire of DS9 my favourite which I haven’t done before and a lot of those guys would go on to write Carnivale and Battlestar Galactica and while they touched on things that were As mature, if not more, it’s still held back by that level of corn pone you referred to, especially the Hand to hand combat and how much they weren’t actually able to show, even at that time, everything that happened on screen always seemed rather tame compared to the mass murder, rape and violence that people often talked about on Deep Space Nine.

Some of the shows you mentioned were especially camp, like holy, but I think it’s just, audiences tastes evolved, they demanded higher quality programming, smarter stories and characters, I mean not always as the rise of Reality TV which generally I can’t stand suggests but ultimately it has allowed to see some pretty cracking content which is grand.

I mean, at least initially, such amazing series such as Sopranos, Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, The West Wing, House of Cards or Walking Dead just to name a few, I know there’s a absolute metric ton more out there but TVs general rise in quality is undeniable and thank god for that, while many older TV shows hold a ton of nostalgia and many still hold up today in certain aspects such as DS9 in terms of stories, something like Knight Rider would be pretty hard to watch these days unless you really liked it.

By the way grip, Boston Legal was awesome but brings back painful memories :(

I almost included StarTrek: The Next Generation, my fav, but it was more of a 90's series. I think as the social culture became more sophisticated, so did the TV show quality. And the late '90s began to see some of the highest-paid actors of TV history. When sitcoms like Seinfield, Friends, and Everybody Loves Raymond brung in 7 figure salaries for the stars, the budgets got bigger. SciFi's were notoriously expensive and cost-prohibitive to make but became more feasible, popular, and higher-tech with the advancement of CGI.

I agree that Sopranos and cable channels brought a new level of acceptable viewing and maturity not seen before with the over air, big 3 Networks.
 
I decided during lockdown to educate myself on "Star Trek" and watch from the first two pilots of the original on. I'm now on Episode 19 of "Next Gen's" second season and am going to watch all the "Star Treks" in their correct sequence (and am building up to Kate Mulgrew as "Janeway"). Watching the original from a 2020 perspective was fun--e.g. how many times "Kirk" refers to a female, even an M.D. or Ph.D." as "the girl." :mrgreen:
 
I decided during lockdown to educate myself on "Star Trek" and watch from the first two pilots of the original on. I'm now on Episode 19 of "Next Gen's" second season and am going to watch all the "Star Treks" in their correct sequence (and am building up to Kate Mulgrew as "Janeway"). Watching the original from a 2020 perspective was fun--e.g. how many times "Kirk" refers to a female, even an M.D. or Ph.D." as "the girl." :mrgreen:

I thought John de Lancie as "Q", in TNG, brought some interesting perspective into an omnipotent being with a persnickety attitude.

'Janeway,' in Star Trek: Voyager, was one of the more enigmatic Starship Captains. I forgot how many spinoffs the original series created, not to mention the countless movies. 'Star Trek' was cancelled by NBC after only 3 seasons but later became a cult classic in broadcast syndication.

Shatner had 3 different decades where he was in a starring TV role. Kirk in Star Trek '60s, TJ Hooker '80s, and Crane in Boston Legal '00s.
 
I thought John de Lancie as "Q", in TNG, brought some interesting perspective into an omnipotent being with a persnickety attitude.

'Janeway,' in Star Trek: Voyager, was one of the more enigmatic Starship Captains. I forgot how many spinoffs the original series created, not to mention the countless movies. 'Star Trek' was cancelled by NBC after only 3 seasons but later became a cult classic in broadcast syndication.

Shatner had 3 different decades where he was in a starring TV role. Kirk in Star Trek '60s, TJ Hooker '80s, and Crane in Boston Legal '00s.

One fact I find fascinating is that the original pilot didn't attract interest. I'd never seen this pilot and loved seeing a competent woman in charge, but women didn't like the character. Saw her assertiveness and leadership as too much. Thank goodness the writers did, and she became Nurse Chapel and then Dr. Chapel. For almost every ideation of "Star Trek," Majel Barrett was the voice of the computer. And she also became Rodenberry's wife.
 
Has anyone noticed how the older programs like Fantasy Island, Love Boat, Night Rider, Touched By An Angel, etc were more corn pone than the newer shows of the 2000s like Boston Legal, Ugly Betty, House, Sopranos, Breaking Bad, etc?

A lot of these new cable series have insanely short seasons now
 
A lot of these new cable series have insanely short seasons now

Yeah, they're either 8 or 10 episodes. Barely enough viewing to establish a plot and storyline.
 
Yeah, they're either 8 or 10 episodes. Barely enough viewing to establish a plot and storyline.

Other than the PBS ones I usually don't bother for that reason. Heard a piece on NPR one time that basically said this was a calculated move to maximize their profit as long as they did short seasons cheaper and spaced them right, the viewers would just keep watching reruns on their network until the new really half seasons came out.
 
I decided during lockdown to educate myself on "Star Trek" and watch from the first two pilots of the original on. I'm now on Episode 19 of "Next Gen's" second season and am going to watch all the "Star Treks" in their correct sequence (and am building up to Kate Mulgrew as "Janeway"). Watching the original from a 2020 perspective was fun--e.g. how many times "Kirk" refers to a female, even an M.D. or Ph.D." as "the girl." :mrgreen:

Since I watched them all, one a week, I wonder if the new binge watching is detrimental to the experience, or negligible.

That goes for any series.
 
Since I watched them all, one a week, I wonder if the new binge watching is detrimental to the experience, or negligible.

That goes for any series.

You watched ALL the versions of "Star Trek"? Every episode of every season of every one of them? How is this possible?

I have never been much of a TV watcher but was given a Roku for Mother's Day last year and introduced to Netflix, and when season 6 of "The Blacklist" dropped, I watched all six seasons over the course of about 3 weeks, so it was pretty much an electronics orgy of boob-tubing for me.
 
You watched ALL the versions of "Star Trek"? Every episode of every season of every one of them? How is this possible?

I have never been much of a TV watcher but was given a Roku for Mother's Day last year and introduced to Netflix, and when season 6 of "The Blacklist" dropped, I watched all six seasons over the course of about 3 weeks, so it was pretty much an electronics orgy of boob-tubing for me.

I might have missed one. It was my Dad's favorite show and I liked it too.
 
Has anyone noticed how the older programs like Fantasy Island, Love Boat, Night Rider, Touched By An Angel, etc were more corn pone than the newer shows of the 2000s like Boston Legal, Ugly Betty, House, Sopranos, Breaking Bad, etc?

They are more of a type of corn bread?

corn pone - Google Search
 
I might have missed one. It was my Dad's favorite show and I liked it too.

Oh, I LOVE "The Blacklist." Have you seen its last episode, the one filmed at the beginning of COVID and completed with animation? I think this was a fantastically cool solution.
 
Oh, I LOVE "The Blacklist." Have you seen its last episode, the one filmed at the beginning of COVID and completed with animation? I think this was a fantastically cool solution.

Sorry, I've never watched it. I had to look it up to see what it's about. It does sound like something that I would like. I'm a big James Spader fan.
 
Sorry, I've never watched it. I had to look it up to see what it's about. It does sound like something that I would like. I'm a big James Spader fan.

Oh! You were talking about "Star Trek." I misunderstood. I'm taking a scholarly, methodical approach and will watch the movies in order too. I'd seen Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, of course, but I'd never seen the original "Trek" episode in which he was introduced. Oh, my, Ricardo Montalban was built!

As for "The Blacklist," I love the genre but would watch even if I weren't just for James Spader's delicious performances. Trust.
 
Oh! You were talking about "Star Trek." I misunderstood. I'm taking a scholarly, methodical approach and will watch the movies in order too. I'd seen Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, of course, but I'd never seen the original "Trek" episode in which he was introduced. Oh, my, Ricardo Montalban was built!

As for "The Blacklist," I love the genre but would watch even if I weren't just for James Spader's delicious performances. Trust.

Ricardo was cool in Fantasy Island, but the "rich Corinthian leather" that he pushed for the Chrysler Corporation was made in Newark, New Jersey and didn't come from cows.

He was built taller than Tattoo (Hervé Villechaize).
 
Star Trek: TNG was the best show ever made.

It's not a debate it's just a stone cold fact!
 
Star Trek: TNG was the best show ever made.

It's not a debate it's just a stone cold fact!

Well, no, it's an opinion. I may end up agreeing with it because I'm just loving "Next Gen," but I'm not sure I've seen any episodes ever of "Deep Space 9" and know I've seen none of "Enterprise."
 
AFAIK, most under 35 don't have TV. They have Netflix.
 
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