Dumbing Down of Media

[bartl]

I never particularly liked the TV show, THE JEFFERSONS. It was strange, because they had an excellent cast, and the situations lent themselves to humor. But there was something annoying about it. I finally realized what it was when some station had a marathon of repeats: They never let the audience get a joke. Whenever they told a joke, they then proceeded to explain to the audience why it was supposed to be funny.

On the other hand, one punch line that was COMPLETELY unexpected, but made so much sense in retrospect that it is generally considered to be one of the funniest moments in TV comedy (and recently mentioned as such by Mark Evanier) was the conclusion to the series, NEWHART.

[Steven Clubb]

There's always been a bit of dumbing down in the media.

When they replaced Sean Connery in the Bond series, the movie had not one, not two, but three references to this being a continuation of the previous Bond series (the opening credit montage of Bond moments, the "this never happened to the other guy" joke, and a scene where Bond pulls out various items from past adventures with musical cues). Dr. Strangelove began with a voice-over explaining our nuclear policy. I've rarely seen anything like that in today's media, where it's just assumed that people will figure this stuff out.

And here's one of my chuckle to myself moments, Edward R. Murrow, the most respected television reporter of all time... his most popular show, by far, was the 50s equavalent of "Cribs" where he toured celebrities homes.

I was thinking about the movie Network earlier tonight, and the supreme irony of that movie (and not completely lost on the movie) was that you had television reporters complaining about a decline in standards... because that's exactly the same argument that was used by the print reporters when television news began to rise. There was a certain Grumpy Old Man aspect to that movie, and there's a great scene where Faye Dunaway completely skewers the older reporters umbrage by pointing out that serious news has always included a certain amount of entertainment (such as, the horoscope is among the most popular columns in newspapers)... then the movie follows the farce of what might happen if the entertainment division completely took over the new division and they completely lost their journalistic intrigity. On the flip side of that, you have The Daily Show with Jon Stewart showing you how you can do it and still be as informative and as hard hitting as "serious" news.

People complain about reality TV today, but it's a cheap way to fill time on the bazillion cable channels that have sprung up. Someone pointed out somewhere or other that Reality TV really hasn't eroded regular TV series on network, but rather took the place of the movie of the week (along with providing original summer programming). Even on network television, there's still an awful lot of quality programming. Studio 60 complains about the dumbing down of America, but shows like Simpsons, Futurama, Buffy, Angel, Veronica Mars, House, CSI, and loads of others freely reference both high and low culture... and manage to do so without coming off as smug elitists in the process.

Ten years ago, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie (House) were complaining about hte destruction of British television by cable and such shows as "American Gladitors", yet there's still loads of quality British television being made. I think you just have to remember that the lows are always horribly low, but it's the highs that make it all worthwhile.

[Joe S. Walker]

"Someone pointed out somewhere or other that Reality TV really hasn't eroded regular TV series on network..."

Come and watch Britain's Channel 4 (the channel that introduced the reality genre to British TV with Big Brother) - that is exactly what's happened to it.

[TheTen-EyedMan]

Joe...didn't Endemol, the guys who do Big Brother, hire away the former head writer for the Bill...the guy that kill Derek Conway and set off three bombs in three years or something stupid like that?

On television, I too watched Network the other day and it's a documentary now.

Same as that George C Scott movie the Hospital.

[bartl]

"Someone pointed out somewhere or other that Reality TV really hasn't eroded regular TV series on network..."

Come and watch Britain's Channel 4 (the channel that introduced the reality genre to British TV with Big Brother) - that is exactly what's happened to it.

Game shows have existed for decades.

And it isn't reality TV; there's little real about it. I liked the term "unscripted TV" (which I believe I originally got from Grant, bringing things full circle), but it has been revealed that far more on the shows is scripted than what we thought (although it seemed that MOST of "Who Wants to be a Superhero" was scripted).

[Joe S. Walker]

Joe...didn't Endemol, the guys who do Big Brother, hire away the former head writer for the Bill...the guy that kill Derek Conway and set off three bombs in three years or something stupid like that?

Don't know to be honest. I genuinely loathe and despise BB too much to watch it. What's happened to The Bill is that a show that used to be a fairly realistic police series has been turned into a soap opera and jettisoned all connection with real life, especially working life. Why British soaps have gone that way is another story.

[curefreak]

I dont think there is an intentional dumbing down of america but the dumbest aspects usually tend to be the most popular.

[Inkthinker]

When they replaced Sean Connery in the Bond series, the movie had not one, not two, but three references to this being a continuation of the previous Bond series (the opening credit montage of Bond moments, the "this never happened to the other guy" joke, and a scene where Bond pulls out various items from past adventures with musical cues).

I always thought that one of the unmentioned aspects of the film series was that "James Bond" is as much of a code name as "007"... you get the name when you get the job. Each of the actors who's played the character represents a different person who's taken on the role of "James Bond" when the previous one either retired or died in the line of duty.

In fact, I'm hoping to see this re-emphasized in Casino Royale, what with all the teaser lines about him being a new double-0.

You wanna talk about DUMB television... what the hell is this game show which basically all boils down to "pick the box"? No questions, no intelligence or skill required... just pick the stupid box.

[Steven Grant]

As I understand it, CASINO ROYALE isn't a continuation of the Bond series but a reboot, so this is essentially James Bond's origin story, and he is Bond and there has never been another. Now.

- Grant

[NatGertler]

Actually, the game doesn't boil down to "pick the box"; it boils down to "play chicken with your money".

[bartl]

In fact, I'm hoping to see this re-emphasized in Casino Royale, what with all the teaser lines about him being a new double-0.

In the book, CASINO ROYALE, James Bond joins the "00" section of the British Secret Service, which was essentially their assassins (euphemistically called "a license to kill"). In the books, the only thing which separates James Bond from the other members of the section is an ability to take a LOT of punishment and keep going. However, I would rather argue the war in Iraq with Grant than the quality of the James Bond novels. At least with the former, I have a chance of winning the argument...

[Steven Grant]

What war in Iraq?

We won the war in Iraq, didn't we? I could swear I remember the Hand Puppet announcing that we had won.

- Grant

[Pinball]

You wanna talk about DUMB television... what the hell is this game show which basically all boils down to "pick the box"? No questions, no intelligence or skill required... just pick the stupid box.

Treasure Hunt.