Gonna throw up.....

sucks2beme

Reality shows for the most part aren't real. Poor quality entertainment on TV has always been the
norm. Nothing new there. Just more of it. Cable has 100's of stations to fill with fodder.
Who watches most of it? History, science, and a few others fill the void when I watch tv.
The wife watches HGTV, cooking, real estate shows, and Hoarding programs.
I watch one show on CBS, Big Bang Theory. Burn Notice on USA and a couple on Si fy.

EndersShadow

tonyb wrote: »

The wife, yes another story, is addicted to stupid reality TV shows. Housewives of Jersey, Orange County, New York, and buffu Iowa. Sister wives is another. She stumbled across the most idiotic show I have ever layed eyes on. You can actually feel the brain cells dieing as you watch this show. I'm totally ashamed that this is a part of america. Even though I've know it all along, having it played out infront of you just turns your stomache.

What show is it ? Honey Boo Boo....are you effin' kidding me ? Just a small rant guys, because I can't believe someone thought these people to be TV worthy.

Tony, our wives must share a brain.... Housewives.... grrr.... the only time she can watch those shows is either when I am on the forum and can ignore it, or when I am sleeping.

Otherwise I feel myself getting dumber and madder by the minute (how are these people rich when they are SOOOO DUMB?!?!?!?!)

read-alot

GlennDog wrote: »

Reality TV is another example of the US being dumbed-down. . . so sad

G

This

gdb

"Whalla" ????? That's pretty "dumb" ......

transmaster

Oh dear God Mama Corn Fed, and Honey B..............

cnh

nooshinjohn wrote: »

The baby boomer are the ones that messed things up to begin with... and VALUES, morals and personalities have all gone to hell in a hand-basket. I am all for changing with the times, but what is happening now is beyond stupid. I see more formerly atractive young women(and men, but I don't swing that way) that have given up their god-given looks to become Borneo Tribal wannabes than I care to count.

Society is coming apart at the seams.. these shows are not the disease, but rather the symptoms of much larger problems.

tonyb wrote: »

Exactly my good man. The children of the hippies have now grown up. Whats next ? The dumbing down of America continues at warp speed.
The lack of creativety astounds me at times in the TV world, much like the lack of talent in the music buisness these days. They give anyone with cleavage a microphone, barely dress them and let them hop around on stage and whalla....a new sensation is born. Actual singing talent is secondary and in some cases not even necessary.

Hollywood used to have some class to it, not anymore. It's a shame that such a powerfull medium as television has turned into a hodge podge of brain dead viewing.

I hate to break it to you guys but most of the hippies I grew up with are Harvard Lawyers, MBAs or Hedge fund Derivative guys on Wall Street these days! That hippie phase was never honest or authentic for the majority. They grew up and put on their "right" turn signal, they've been turning right ever since as though those years never existed. lol

And the real hippies! They're around, sort of, interesting creative fellows all over the place doing all kinds of things, even running small ma and pa businesses.

Reality TV is NOT geared toward those populations but toward people who are actually younger than John is! Not to the kids of hippies because there are not many of those around.

Poor hippies, they never did anything, but seem responsible for everything! Probably an "oversimplification". No?

cnh

transmaster

There are 2 reasons why reality TV is a going concern, cheap to produce, no writers, set workers, etc, and people who think the World Wrestling Federation is the real deal and think the moon landing was fake love it..

sucks2beme

Given the numbers, most people are watching reality shows.
Not just a few stupid people. MOST. So it looks like audio people
are the ones breaking from the pack.

BlueFox

cnh wrote: »

I hate to break it to you guys but most of the hippies I grew up with are Harvard Lawyers, MBAs or Hedge fund Derivative guys on Wall Street these days! That hippie phase was never honest or authentic for the majority. They grew up and put on their "right" turn signal, they've been turning right ever since as though those years never existed. lol

And the real hippies! They're around, sort of, interesting creative fellows all over the place doing all kinds of things, even running small ma and pa businesses.

Reality TV is NOT geared toward those populations but toward people who are actually younger than John is! Not to the kids of hippies because there are not many of those around.

Poor hippies, they never did anything, but seem responsible for everything! Probably an "oversimplification". No?

cnh

Please, don't confuse the target audience for these shows with the facts. It can give them a brain aneurism. :biggrin:

wayne3burk

transmaster wrote: »

There are 2 reasons why reality TV is a going concern, cheap to produce, no writers, set workers, etc, and people who think the World Wrestling Federation is the real deal and think the moon landing was fake love it..

It's the law of supply and demand - if there's enough audience for the advertisers to support it, and it's incredibly cheap to produce, then it's a profitable enough show and they tend to spawn one another. apparently honey boo boo is a spin off of some toddler beauty pageant show - toddlers in tiaras or some such crap.

obviously it's better to watch storage wars, american pickers, or pawn stars in my humble opinion

warren

Oh, how I remember... I really enjoyed reading this one, it brought a smile. Thanks for the write!
Hey ! How did that get in there?
Came home from work today and wife told me the toilet is clogged. She said she tried to plung it but can't get it.
Naturally with kids in the house I had to ask "DID ANYONE TOSS SOMETHING IN IT?"

She replied with "NO!" and that she was in their when they went ( potty training ) the 3 year olds she watches.

Well after about 20 minutes with plungger and no luck , I get out the shop vac to drain tank and bowl. IT is then
that I hear a "clank " and guess what I found?

It wasn't a toy or anything like that, it was my DEODORANT!!!!!


If wife was with kids every time they went then HOW DID IT GET THEIR?


Must of been the NOT ME kid from FAMILY CIRCUS right?

tonyb

So, if I understand this correctly, it's ok for Hollywood to be profit minded with no moral base, but when Wall street does it they are the evil ones ? Gotcha....

[Deleted User]

The fact that the Baby Boomer age gave rise to self empowerment. The transition of women into the workforce, the pursuit of higher education, the ability to step beyond the confines of a housewife and so much more. If you have free time, do a research of glass ceilings that could parallel my own, and we will talk further on that.

Today's show on television? I will be honest, I do not watch any of it, so my drama is limited to sports. What I do know? I cant not stand any of this reality stuff, but I ask you, what is driving this?

Let me give you a real world example of something that relates to what is happening.

I decided to go to graduate school, years ago. We have group projects that simulated real world experiences. I called a group member, no answer. Several seconds later, I receive a text from that person. I called another group member, same thing.. This occured not only for this group but every group from all my semesters. So. Was this a random enough observation? My classmates are much younger than I, mid twenties... They live behind a screen.. Party Hermits with no experience or lack of, true old school communications. If I want to tell you something, I will say it to your face. That my friend is today's society and it is the central driving factor that dictates all things you see. Hollywood and Wallstreet are merely capitalizing on trends.

Dont get me wrong, I actually felt that calculators were the detriment to man kind. Did you know, the education system is doing away with "Cursive Writing" in schools?

Anyhow, it is a market driven society, un effin fortunately.

gdb

tonyb wrote: »

So, if I understand this correctly, it's ok for Hollywood to be profit minded with no moral base, but when Wall street does it they are the evil ones ? Gotcha....

Ummmm, people can always turn off or dissociate themselves from Hollywood.....having the option to actually separate their economic fate from Wall Street's shenanigans ? Not nearly as "do-able", IMO, there is a huge difference between them apples and oranges.

tonyb

gdb wrote: »

Ummmm, people can always turn off or dissociate themselves from Hollywood.....having the option to actually separate their economic fate from Wall Street's shenanigans ? Not nearly as "do-able", IMO, there is a huge difference between them apples and oranges.

Point taken, but in todays world of instant flow information, kids with cell phones hooked up to the internet, not so easy to turn off Hollywoods influences. You can always stash your hard earned cash under the mattress instead of handing it over to wall street if you so desire. No risk no reward as the saying goes. Hypocracy is the foundational rock of these people in Hollywood.

Wall street is evil, so they say, yet everyone likes the benefits of wall street. Ever put money into a 401k, pay into a pension fund ? Where do you think that money goes ? Yet take away someones pension and you'll get an uproar like crazy. You don't really think thats all your money you put in personally do you ?

Not really looking to turn this into a wall street thread, just an observation on how low we have sunk for quality TV viewing. Though some would argue that TV shows are a reflection of a society......and I would personally agree to that.

cnh

I agree with tonyb about the "interconnected" nature of investment, 401Ks and the economy. The fact is that "we" are all guilty for the heinous acts those boys and girls commit. We are "enablers" to their "gambling" addictions. If you want to see how a small misstep can turn into a full blown murder. Read Tolstoy's "Forged Coupon". An innocent petty crime perpetrated on a store owner who is losing his eyesight. Something that "would" surely harm no one, ends up in a bloody murder.

Those of us who are pragmatists, realists, look at the market and our own profits from it as though because this is the way THINGS are somehow that is the "only way they could ever be". We accept things the way they are, apologize for them and continue with no reform, no responsibility and NO moral qualms for how Capital operates in our REAL world. The world "we" help create and sustain.

Others, like Dostoyevsky suggested that we make ourselves "responsible" to all for all. Rise to a higher moral calling, a more spiritual one. Now, regardless of what you're going to say; one thing you can't say is that "economic" principles are informed by a deep spiritual concern for humankind, their well being and health. They are NOT. Ask any Economics student what he is taught as Gospel in his Introductory course. Again the pragmatist/realists will argue, as THEY always do, how else can one "profit" and make money and expand an economy unless you do it "our" way. And this simply shows a lack of responsibility and refusal to think outside the current box. To accept things as they are, is NOT a difficult thing to do, now is it? How many great men/women did that? And would we consider them "great" if that is all the did (accept the status quo).

People like MLK Jr. cared to "dream" what was not so that it could "be". Economists haven't the "faintest" idea this is even possible. Yet, imagine what worldwide economics might look like in a 1000 years? Will they be as they NOW are? Not likely!

cnh

tonyb

I hear ya man, my simple point was to the hypocracy of the finger pointers. There are some who do make money and still try at least to hold some moral responsability bet even then, they take their knocks too for doing so. I guess we are moving in the direction of a moral-less society.

B Run

http://www.buzzfeed.com/whitneyjefferson/honey-boo-boos-sister-had-a-baby-with-two-thumbs

This.

edwardm10

Didn't Pink Floyd say there were "13 channels of crap on the TV to choose from" back in the late 70's???

mhardy6647

I dunno, but the Boss had a song with the refrain "Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on" back in the 80s...

Willow

D'OH!.....and we cancelled cable 3 months ago!!!......wait.....please hold I'm on the phone with them now. must..get...cable...back. What's that cable company? you have surpassed your quota on people watching stupid shows?... so I can't get them anymore?

Since I don't have cable I wanted to see what this show was, so I googled it and came accross wiki (I know everything on wiki is real :rolleyes: ) it seems they will now be some of the wealthiest people in their town. People love to be peeping Toms, watching other families in their lowest of lows makes some feel better about their own families. Crap like this plus cable companies charging us exuberant amounts for the "priviledge" of being able to watch this crap are the reasons we ditched cable.