[geeks] UK geeks with DVRs?

[Charles Shannon Hendrix]

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 @ 20:47 +0100, Mike Meredith said:

> On Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:24:54 -0400, Charles Shannon Hendrix wrote:
> > Were any of them funny?
> 
> Well different strokes for different folks (as I believe the saying
> goes), but ...
> 
> > I lump the UK and US versions of most such shows in pretty low
> > categories, somewhere below digging lint out of my pockets.
> 
> Yes, if it wasn't for News 24 and the occasional film (not so occasional
> now I get Film4) I'd probably resort to running a screen saver on the
> screen in the corner. Ok, there's an occasional programme I tune into
> ... perhaps 1 or 2 a week.

Even when I like a program, I often miss out because I have a hard time
sitting down to watch TV.  I always feel like I'm wasting time.

I used to watch more sitcoms, but my habits have changed and I also
don't like most current shows as much as the old ones.

> Of course we're a pretty weird collection of people here ... we're
> almost certainly brighter than the average TV viewer (look at how
> popular "reality TV" is), and have other more interesting things to do.

The irony is that "reality TV" really isn't real, or at least after the
initial few it hasn't been.  It is really an offshoot of things like
COPS, National Geographic, and other "camera follows team" type shows
that have been around for decades.

It was just never called "reality TV".

Now they put out something specifically called "reality TV", but it
is all staged and fabricated. Worse, the subject matter is completely
stupid. It's ether about fake stunts or eating bugs, or it is watching
someone else go about their daily lives. Why would I watch that?

I like watching someone climb a 20K foot mountain, or document some
part of history, because I don't get to do that, and I might also learn
something.

But why on Earth would anyone want to watch some mal-adjusted idiot
go grocery shopping for food that is bad for her?

Unfortunately, "reality TV" disease is even starting to creep into
other programs, including some that are actually good.

Sigh...

How low can the bar go?

-- 
shannon "AT" widomaker.com -- ["It's a damn poor mind that can only think
of one way to spell a word." -- Andrew Jackson]