• Welcome to BGO! We know you will have questions as you become familiar with the software. Please take a moment to read our New BGO User Guide which will give you a great start. If you have questions, post them in the Feedback and Tech Support Forum, or feel free to message any available Staff Member.

TV Snob Thread

I might have to get around to watching it at some point, because I've never once heard anyone say it sucked.

Once Lt Col. Henry Blake was killed off and Trapper John got shipped home, it started going down hill. After Frank Burns was gone, it was all over. After that it became political and the new characters were just not up to par. It had a long run, but really the 1st 3 seasons were the best, IMHO.

I agree. Do you see what I did there ;)

Stop the presses! :betterwink:

Ratings success is not a measure of whether a show is good or not. We have all seen a show or ten that we thought was one of the greatest ever put on tv, only to see it canceled due to a lack of ratings.

I am going to have to disagree with you to a degree. What the ratings told us for so many years about Cheers and Seinfeld is that they had a large following for a long time. This suggests quality. Unlike shows like the Simpsons or other long running series like AI or Survivior, Cheers broke barriers no other TV show had ever done to date. Shows like the Simpsons merely found a niche at a time slot that was not difficult to find that niche. Cheers broke barriers by taking down a top rated series on CBS on the coveted Thursday Night 9pm time slot, Magnum P.I.. No network was able to break the Must See TV barrier on Thursday nights because of the success Cheers had and then Seinfeld until well into the 21st Century.


I put the words "I think" in my post several times, isn't that the same thing?

Actually, this part I was directing my comments to my buddies Mike and Lanky.
 
What the ratings told us for so many years about Cheers and Seinfeld is that they had a large following for a long time. This suggests quality.
Here is my rebuttal.......

1. American Idol
2. The Jersey Shore
3. Survivor
4. 16 & Pregnant

Each show has an epic following. You could also argue that they are the 4 worst shows currently on television. You also cannot deny they are some of the biggest heavyweights as far as ratings go in recent history, if not all time. According to your formula, these are now automatically great shows.

These, and many shows like it, are why ratings and quality will never go hand in hand. I personally think two of the greatest shows of the last couple of years were Lonestar and Human Target. Both tanked in the ratings and got cut extremely prematurely, especially in the case of Lonestar. They proved to me it doesn't matter how good a show is or how bad it is. All you need is a way to suck enough Neilsen families in and you're golden. People like me and you make no difference in the ratings. I am sure you're aware of that, but my friend was clueless to this fact until I explained Neilsen ratings the other day. He never knew it existed. He thought they had some magic chip in cable boxes that tracked what everyone watches. If that was the way they really did it, I know a lot of shows that cut early would still be on.
 
Here is my rebuttal.......

1. American Idol
2. The Jersey Shore
3. Survivor
4. 16 & Pregnant

Each show has an epic following. You could also argue that they are the 4 worst shows currently on television. You also cannot deny they are some of the biggest heavyweights as far as ratings go in recent history, if not all time. According to your formula, these are now automatically great shows.

These, and many shows like it, are why ratings and quality will never go hand in hand. I personally think two of the greatest shows of the last couple of years were Lonestar and Human Target. Both tanked in the ratings and got cut extremely prematurely, especially in the case of Lonestar. They proved to me it doesn't matter how good a show is or how bad it is. All you need is a way to suck enough Neilsen families in and you're golden. People like me and you make no difference in the ratings. I am sure you're aware of that, but my friend was clueless to this fact until I explained Neilsen ratings the other day. He never knew it existed. He thought they had some magic chip in cable boxes that tracked what everyone watches. If that was the way they really did it, I know a lot of shows that cut early would still be on.

I see your point but American Idol, as much as we hate to admit, is good TV for many Americans, a very large portion. The numbers suggest it. You and I don't like it, but the shear number of people watching suggest it is quality...at least to them. Just because you and I know that American Idol is the worst example of television out there, doesn't mean the rest of America is smart enough to know that as well. :laugh:

Again, it's all about perspective. The thing is, with perspective...when many people agree it tends to support your's. It's your perspective that Idol sucks, mine as well, but the numbers show they don't. It has survived on air now for 10 years.

Oh yeah, of the 4 you listed, only Idol is a ratings bonanza. The others have market crowds that have enough support to be successful. Overall there ratings aren't that high. Survivor used to have high numbers, but Jersey Shore and 16 and Pregnant aren't even in the top 10 of Nielsen's Cable much less overall. Those two are cult favorites.
 
Last edited:
youre kidding, right? harry morgan was the **** as the no nonsense taking colonel sherman T potter!! charles emerson winchester the third was almost better than frank burns in his arrogance. and whenever the shrink would come in you knew it was going to be a good episode. or when they would have news cameras in and it would be in black and white. i think that was the first time i ever wanted to own a still too...lol


All horrible!
 
Here is my rebuttal.......

1. American Idol
2. The Jersey Shore
3. Survivor
4. 16 & Pregnant

Each show has an epic following. You could also argue that they are the 4 worst shows currently on television. You also cannot deny they are some of the biggest heavyweights as far as ratings go in recent history, if not all time. According to your formula, these are now automatically great shows.

All four of those are reality shows as well, a completely different and new genre; and as El said, only Survivor and Idol were/are ratings bonanza. I think a better argument for you would be Two and Half Men, Big Band Theory, My name is Earl (outside of the first season perhaps), etc. I don't remember reading many positive critic reviews (I certainly may have missed some), but the general populance loved/loves them.

This argument does come down to perspective, El, but also to how you define "quality". If you define quality by how much money the show makes, then that is kind of what I was referring to in the beginning of this thread. I think I read the other day that The Wire lost HBO quite a bit of money for a while until word got around, but it took a while.


These, and many shows like it, are why ratings and quality will never go hand in hand. I personally think two of the greatest shows of the last couple of years were Lonestar and Human Target. Both tanked in the ratings and got cut extremely prematurely, especially in the case of Lonestar. They proved to me it doesn't matter how good a show is or how bad it is. All you need is a way to suck enough Neilsen families in and you're golden. People like me and you make no difference in the ratings. I am sure you're aware of that, but my friend was clueless to this fact until I explained Neilsen ratings the other day. He never knew it existed. He thought they had some magic chip in cable boxes that tracked what everyone watches. If that was the way they really did it, I know a lot of shows that cut early would still be on.


No, I think El has a point. There is something about strength in numbers. We can deny it all we want, but the fact is that the guy who produces Two and a Half Men (too lazy to look it up and can't remember his name) is a major asshole by all accounts, but the man knows how to make money with a TV show. You can say he is selling out by pandering or whatever, but the fact is that show has consistently high ratings. And most TV critics will tell you it ain't because of its quality. So good for him, he has figured out how to appeal to most of America and get them to watch his show. "Quality" has to figure in there somewhere, doesn't it?

I personally can't stand that show, but apparently, I am in the minority.

Never saw Lonestar, heard it was good. Loved Human Target, was very upset when they canceled it, but that was not a great show. It was very fun to turn my brain off for an hour and not think about things, but outside of Jackie Earl Haley, it was not particularly well acted (the girl was awful) (Winson brought gravitas, but not a lot of depth) (Can I just keep putting parentheticals back to back to back?) (Guess so...), and I love Chance/Brad from Boston Legal. Wasn't surprised that it didn't mkae it, though I was rooting hard for it.
 
Lol, what has to happen to a show to make them go, "hey, maybe we should bring in Hasselhoff?"
 
I gotta agree with Elephant that MASH was best before Burns and Trapper left. The first few episodes with Winchester were OK, but the show was never as good or the same.

I get into a rut with what I watch and rarely watch sitcoms anymore. Mostly I watch Discovery Channel, History Channel, Food Network, Spike and Comedy Central. Shows like Pawn Stars, Deadliest Catch, Mythbusters, Bizarre Food, Iron Chef, Daily Show and UFC or whatever MMA I can find. When I'm slumming I'll watch Ninja Warrior. Sasuke! Lately I've been getting into It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia when I happen to catch it flipping channels. Oh and I like Holmes on Homes or his new show Holmes Inspection when it happens to be on.
 
I gotta agree with Elephant that MASH was best before Burns and Trapper left. The first few episodes with Winchester were OK, but the show was never as good or the same.

I get into a rut with what I watch and rarely watch sitcoms anymore. Mostly I watch Discovery Channel, History Channel, Food Network, Spike and Comedy Central. Shows like Pawn Stars, Deadliest Catch, Mythbusters, Bizarre Food, Iron Chef, Daily Show and UFC or whatever MMA I can find. When I'm slumming I'll watch Ninja Warrior. Sasuke! Lately I've been getting into It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia when I happen to catch it flipping channels. Oh and I like Holmes on Homes or his new show Holmes Inspection when it happens to be on.
I'd say probably 60% of what I watch is the History Channel, 39% of what I watch is Discovery/Investigation Discovery, and 1% on everything else. TruTV, although blatantly scripted, is quite entertaining sometimes. Operation Repo is a joke, but I like the Lizard Lick guys, and I like Hardcore Pawn.
 
My fiance finally talked me into putting a TV in the bedroom. I really don't think the bedroom is a place for a TV, but she can't fall asleep without one, so...
Anyway, we have the 1st 4 seasons of 30 Rock on disc so an episode of 30 Rock before bed is the norm now.

Oh yeah, here one that has not been mentioned: Tosh.O

http://tosh.comedycentral.com/video-clips/horse-ride-breakdown
 
My fiance finally talked me into putting a TV in the bedroom. I really don't think the bedroom is a place for a TV, but she can't fall asleep without one, so...
Anyway, we have the 1st 4 seasons of 30 Rock on disc so an episode of 30 Rock before bed is the norm now.

Oh yeah, here one that has not been mentioned: Tosh.O

http://tosh.comedycentral.com/video-clips/horse-ride-breakdown
I don't know why I forget this so often when I talk about it constantly to people and DVR every episode. This week's episode was one of the funniest there ever were. Every joke was perfect and delivered right on time, I love it.
 
Tosh.0 is great.

I also forgot about Its Always Sunny...another hilarious show. But it gets old sometimes, unfortunately.

Anyone seen the first two episodes of Wilfred? Its the new comedy on FX starring Elijah Wood; it has been hilarious so far.

And speaking of FX - how could I forget about Archer? One of the funniest shows on television hands down. HILARIOUS.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 1, Members: 0, Guests: 1)

Help Users
As we enjoy today's conversations, let's remember our dear friends 'Docsandy', Sandy Zier-Teitler, and 'Posse Lover', Michael Huffman, who would dearly love to be here with us today! We love and miss you guys ❤

You haven't joined any rooms.

    You haven't joined any rooms.
    Top