TV or not TV

[Liz4JC]

I watched about 30 minutes of T.V. this evening. For the better part of the day I listened to Christian radio.

Sermons from different Pastors and churchs. It was nice, peaceful and the message of God filled my ears. Awesome!!

Liz4JC

[MorningGlory]

I watched about 30 minutes of T.V. this evening. For the better part of the day I listened to Christian radio.

Sermons from different Pastors and churchs. It was nice, peaceful and the message of God filled my ears. Awesome!!

Liz4JC

I realized after reading this that I'm paying fifty dollars a month for 65 channels. I watch only about 5 of those. I am thinking seriously of dropping to only basic cable.

[Special Creation]

I watched about 30 minutes of T.V. this evening. For the better part of the day I listened to Christian radio.

Sermons from different Pastors and churchs. It was nice, peaceful and the message of God filled my ears. Awesome!!

Liz4JC

I realized after reading this that I'm paying fifty dollars a month for 65 channels. I watch only about 5 of those. I am thinking seriously of dropping to only basic cable.

That is all we have. My wife and I almost got that 'package' where you get TV/phone/internet all together. Comes with a lot of channels. We thought about it...we stuck with basic cable. The Christian station is usually what is on. If not we have a lot of tapes like Veggie Tales etc to watch. Do we slip occasionally and watch something secular? Yes, but more and more I start thinking to myself...'well this is kinda stupid, I'd be better off reading a book.'

[DarkNebulaWelder]

Oh, my goodness....don't even get me STARTED on television!!! Aside from the lack of morals and integrity evident in most programming, it is absolutely devoid of anything substantial, is unstimulating, and lacks anything of worth to the human psyche. TV has become dull and contrived, and for the most part, an unfulfilling viewing experience..

I never lived back in the 1950's, but I do notice that one of the big differences between TV back then, and now, are actual "family programs." Back in the 50's, and 60's, families used to sit around the television TOGETHER and receive mutual enjoyment from what was aired. TV time served more or less as a bonding time, where everyone could share the experience. This no longer exists. There are programs for every demographic and age group, but NONE sutable for the ENTIRE family. This travesty attests to the fact that families are so disjointed and un-unified these days, and that every member of the family is catered to AS A SEPERATE MARKET. It's pretty sad, if you ask me. Even in the 80's there were family-oriented shows...banal and insipid as they may have been, there was still that element there. I don't see it ANYWHERE anymore...and the family programs that DO exist are merely debacles of the family dynamic...i.e. THE OSBOURNES, HOGAN KNOWS BEST, GENE SIMMONS FAMILY JEWELS....NONE of these shows would I want to view with my young children. It's pretty sad, if you ask me.

Over the past few years, I have been just sickened by the whole crop of daytime "reality shows," the worst offender being that sleazeball Jerry Springer. I honestly DON'T KNOW HOW a person of the most limited intelligence could get ANYTHING out of this refuse!!! Everytime I watch him, or that horrid Jenny Jones, I find myself actually getting a little angry....angry, not only at Jerry Springer, but the idiots in his audience. It is the most contrived, poorly executed, and vapid JUNK I've ever seen. Oh, and I LOVE how he tries to tie it all together in some prolific fashion at the end with his lame bit of dime-store psychology "Final Thought" segment. HURL!!!!!! All in all, I'd say that TV is getting raunchier and raunchier...not only that, but they seem to be dumbing down the raunch to an all-time low. Are Americans really this pathetic?!

I still get cable TV, although I don't really watch it as much as I used to. I do love the Food Network, and enjoy most of the programming on National Geographic, E, TBS, TNT, CNN, and BRAVO (although some of the homosexual overtones drive me away..sometimes) . Yep, out of 70-some-odd stations, I regularly watch a whopping 5 or 6 (excluding the network and local channels).....not sure if it's worth it, but do realize that it's fairly inexpensive entertainment.

You can turn on any number of stations and witness the decline and moral depravity of society. Case in point is MTV, which someone mentioned earlier. The thing I hate about MTV is the marketing of lasciviousness and depravity to our youth. Have you guys SEEN some of the crap that gets put on here? Not only are there homosexual dating shows, and ones that encourage elicit sex, but you have the parents jumping on the bandwagon with their teens. There's this show called DATE MY MOM where the mother goes on a blind date with 4 guys and chooses which one will date her daughter. I SWEAR, some of these women act like they're still adolescents, talking to these guys about their daughter's body...her breasts and butt...or her sexuality...that is, if the woman isn't flirting with the young man herself...and the COMPLETE NARCISSISM of some of these women is just disturbing. Oh, Lord Jesus, I hope that this does not reflect on most women in society! THE REAL WORLD celebrates a lifestyle of drinking and promiscuity among teenagers, CRIBS celebrates materialism and egocentrism....and so much more quality programming I haven't mentioned.

Even some network programming has me troubled. I've watched SUPERNANNY a few times, and on every occasion, the child is out-of-control; and the parent, totally oblivious to the situation. To me, this is inexcusable. To have to call in a nanny to help you with what is YOUR OWN God-given responsibility is a cop-out. Why is it that parents are too weak and lazy to discipline their children anymore? I say that the Nanny should come in and whip the PARENT every time the child acts up...I'll bet THAT would get these parents to show some backbone and do their duties.

Anyhow, as you can tell, for the most part, I am SEVERELY disillusioned with the current state of television....and it's not about to get any better!!

Edited May 22, 2007 by DarkNebulaWelder

[Axxman]

WoW DNW...you went on a diatribe there...lol

Sure theres lots on TV nowadays that isn't all that good to watch...mentally or spiritually. However, since this seems to have turned into a "bash the box" episode...I'd like to point out some of the things I like about TV.

Sometimes it feels good to just sit down and relax. I love to just sit and watch shows like "Mythbusters" or "Monster Shop." A little "Wheel of Fortune" or "Jeopardy." Its just entertaining.

In primetime, I like to watch American Idol, Survivor, Apprentice, Lost. I especially like to watch Hannity on FoxNews. I also watch sports. The Gospel Music Channel is great with all the videos...my kids love that.

If you have cable with 65+ channels there is plenty of things to watch that are not completely immoral, and can be relaxing entertainment.

And to address a point you made DarkNebulaWelder...My family does sit as a family together and watch certain shows like American Idol on a regular basis. As a family we enjoy that quite a bit.

[GeneV]

Hello Keygar welcome to WB.....yep I know what ya mean whatever happened to 'I love Lucy', 'Bonanza' & 'Kojak' Anyway there are a few show's I do enjoy and thats the weakest link although not the SA version I like the witch in UK., National geographic and the history channel

[Guest]

My take on TV?

DNW had a lot to say about some of the so-called programming on TV these days.

I've got the "basic" cable which here in Phoenix is about 23 channels. I used to have the extended version but money got disgustingly tight, so I turned that off. The basic is included in the rent from the apartment complex I live in. Mostly, I don't watch a lot of TV because I was spending so much time on the bus back and forth to work that I was never home to watch anything. That changed recently, but there's just not much on I want to watch anymore.

Every now and then I'll watch Nova on PBS and have a good laugh as they try to push evolution as the reason creation "just happened all by itself."

[dakota190]

i want to know where i can get dvds or tapes of "have gun will travel". i am really impressed that you have those, i mean really. i am not being facetious, i want them.

i know what you mean when you compare the old shows to the new ones. i think some of those here may misunderstand just how old you mean. when i say old shows. i am talking, wagontrain, the rebel, cheyenne, rin tin tin, have gun will travel, sky king, original little rascals (although the remake was pretty good) ed sullivan, i am talking really old stuff. petticoat junction, junk like that. stuff you could watch and you would NEVER hear bad language or real suggestive stuff. the dean martin show was the raciest thing on tv. we thought the smothers brothers were politically radical and daring back then. hee haw was hilarious. red skelton and jack benny were watched by the entire family together.

the kind of stuff the writers and producers put out today is trash, they don't even have a clue and the studios don't require them to. too many watch whatever is put in front of them. the thought of turning off the tv and playing a board game is not even remotely considered.

[MorningGlory]

i want to know where i can get dvds or tapes of "have gun will travel". i am really impressed that you have those, i mean really. i am not being facetious, i want them.

i know what you mean when you compare the old shows to the new ones. i think some of those here may misunderstand just how old you mean. when i say old shows. i am talking, wagontrain, the rebel, cheyenne, rin tin tin, have gun will travel, sky king, original little rascals (although the remake was pretty good) ed sullivan, i am talking really old stuff. petticoat junction, junk like that. stuff you could watch and you would NEVER hear bad language or real suggestive stuff. the dean martin show was the raciest thing on tv. we thought the smothers brothers were politically radical and daring back then. hee haw was hilarious. red skelton and jack benny were watched by the entire family together.

the kind of stuff the writers and producers put out today is trash, they don't even have a clue and the studios don't require them to. too many watch whatever is put in front of them. the thought of turning off the tv and playing a board game is not even remotely considered.

But.....those shows were on, what, 55 years ago? I read I Love Lucy came on in 1952! I didn't even know that stuff was on DVD. But....I've seen every episode of I Love Lucy about fifty times and they were old when I first started watching them. Some of the others are still on late night reruns but they're pretty vapid fare, to be honest. Still better than 'The Sopranos' or 'American Idol' though. And I've never watched either of those shows all the way through either. We need to protest with our wallets........that's how things are changed.

[Guest]

For those who remember the old radio shows, like the CBS Radio Mystery Theater and others I found a christian site that's good. Its the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago and they still make the "Unshackled" radio program with people's testimonies about how they got saved.

Unshackled.org

I know this doesn't really relate to TV -- except sometime the PC is a good alternative to the garbage on the tube. I used to listen to a lot of old shows like this on shortwave radio during my time in the military.