From BBC:
Is rewatching old TV good for the soul?QuoteOver the past year, when staying at home has been government mandated in many parts of the world, it has fortunately never been easier to find something new to watch on TV. Whether it is a talking-point reality series, a beloved and twisty crime thriller, or whatever new comedy or drama Netflix and Amazon with their multi-billion dollar budgets have added to the content abyss, viewers are spoiled for choice on the small screen. There are entire websites to help you navigate what's on all the different streaming platforms, while social media can often be indecipherable to those who haven't caught the latest episode of their favourite show.
Why, then, with so much fresh content, is there a growing trend for people brushing aside the glowing reviews and friends' recommendations and deciding to hit "repeat" on the shows they have watched time and time again? Certainly, the predilection for rewatching old series seems to have been spiking recently.
FULL ARTICLE HERE (https://markholtz.info/2d0)
Easy. A lot of older shows are better than what's out right now.
Quote from: kphoger on May 05, 2021, 01:21:05 PM
Easy. A lot of older shows are better than what's out right now.
Especially older sitcoms.
I sometimes rewatch old shows that I enjoyed. It's familiar and comforting a little. However, I want to wait for a little before rewatching so I can forget some details.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on May 05, 2021, 01:37:15 PM
Quote from: kphoger on May 05, 2021, 01:21:05 PM
Easy. A lot of older shows are better than what's out right now.
Especially older sitcoms.
Indeed. Older stuff is simply more appealing. Another reason is that people may want to re-watch programs they've already seen just for the comfort of watching something familiar. At some point, you don't really want to watch new content just because it's new.
As for "good for the
soul"? No. That's a stupid application of the word "soul".
Quote from: JoePCool14 on May 05, 2021, 01:49:14 PM
As for "good for the soul"? No. That's a stupid application of the word "soul".
Right. That's what chicken soup is for.
I've found watching (almost) no TV is better for my soul; your immaterial format, perceived immortality thereof, or general reception may vary.
I think people just want something predictable in seemingly unpredictable times.
I've long said that an oft-watched Law & Order rerun is better than most of the new stuff that's on TV these days.
We've discovered FeTV on DirecTV. There are a bunch of older comedies on in the mornings (Hazel, Father Knows Best, etc.) and then I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, Wild Wild West, Lone Ranger, Perry Mason, Matlock, TJ Hooker and Hart to Hart. Overnight I've seen Barney Miller, Maude, and One Day At A Time. At some point during the wee hours there's a religious program.
On the weekends they run a series I'd never heard of called The Saint that stars Roger Moore.
I mean if you like it, ig. But there are new tv shows that are too. Watching Big Sky is the highlight of my day.
A good alternative would be stocking up on DVD box sets. The Shout Factory is one source for these sets of older shows that have been remastered to the digital format, and then there's always the big-box stores (Walmart, Target, etc.). So far, I've seen copies of The Andy Griffith Show, Hogan's Heroes, WKRP in Cincinnati, Newhart, Sanford & Son and Full House, among others.
I just watched King of Queens. Been watching Car 54, Alias Smith & Jones, the A-Team, One Day at a Time.
Quote from: Henry on May 06, 2021, 10:39:43 AM
A good alternative would be stocking up on DVD box sets. The Shout Factory is one source for these sets of older shows that have been remastered to the digital format, and then there's always the big-box stores (Walmart, Target, etc.). So far, I've seen copies of The Andy Griffith Show, Hogan's Heroes, WKRP in Cincinnati, Newhart, Sanford & Son and Full House, among others.
Funny I've watched the first 4 of these every episode in the last few years, and every Fuller House.
Yes I don't know if its exactly for the soul though. I like old TV shows such as Perfect Strangers. I remember that show when I was a kid.
Quote from: kphoger on May 05, 2021, 01:57:34 PM
Quote from: JoePCool14 on May 05, 2021, 01:49:14 PM
As for "good for the soul"? No. That's a stupid application of the word "soul".
Right. That's what chicken soup is for.
So you're saying that old TV is good for the soul?
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096556/ (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096556/)
New TV shows are all political!! At least older shows wasn't shoving agendas down our throats. I usually watch the news, I like watching my favorite personalities on my favorite news channel.
I think I've spotted the problem here ...
Quote from: Angelo71 on May 07, 2021, 10:52:41 PM
At least older shows wasn't shoving agendas down our throats.
Like M*A*S*H, Maude, All in the Family, ...
I consider episodes of M*A*S*H, Dragnet, Adam-12, I Love Lucy, Golden Girls, and Emergency to be "potato chip television". With the exception of the occasional two-parter, these series episodes tend to stand on their own and tend to be interchangeable, and like potato chips, you can't eat just one. These series were not serialized as well. And, the newest of these series, Golden Girls, ended in May, 1992... almost 30 years ago. Think about that... this was an era where the new shows aired on the three major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC), and if you missed an episode of that series, you had to wait for a rerun months later. Even in syndication, it was just one episode per day back then. It wasn't until the 1980s that the households had more than one television and a VCR to "time-shift" your program for later viewing. Before that, it was just a single expensive television, and it was what daddy wanted to watch, and the kid was the remote.
Another consideration.... for some of us during this Covid-crisis, we have been working longer work days, and really don't want to get vested in a newer television series on a week-to-week basis, and instead prefer to "binge-watch" a series. Some of us got burned watching a brand new series only to see it cancelled with unresolved storylines after the end of the first season. In some cases, we have the television on as a bit of noise to get through the day and occasional evening. In addition, some of us have some challenges with some of the "creative choices", which make some sense when you consider that 49.657% of the television households are in the top 25 television markets.
TGIF Primetime Lineup was big back in the 1990's when I was a kid. It worked back then on ABC but it won't work now due to Disney more interested in protecting Disney+ and Hulu.
I shudder when I think of TGIF. Horrible sitcoms that wasted too much of my childhood.
Quote from: Rothman on May 09, 2021, 12:11:55 AM
I shudder when I think of TGIF. Horrible sitcoms that wasted too much of my childhood.
I heard stuff shows Directed by Carsey-Werner were allegedly better sitcoms in the 1980's and 1990's than shows directed by Miller-Boyett allegedly in that era though. I knew they were rivals among sitcom directors at the time. If this is the direction you are going with. Or were more of a drama person when shows were directed by Steven Bochco at the time.
Note in 2010-2020's Chuck Lorre has been named as one of the Big Sitcom directors of the decade.
New sitcoms are so terrible. I don't understand why people think they are funny. Big Bang Theory is one of the few funny ones in years.
Quote from: texaskdog on May 09, 2021, 12:58:49 AM
New sitcoms are so terrible. I don't understand why people think they are funny. Big Bang Theory is one of the few funny ones in years.
I like it well enough, though I couldn't stand Bernadette in the later seasons where she just turned into a colossal bitch.
I also liked the first 8 seasons of
Two and a Half Men while Charlie Sheen was still in it. I tried to watch it after he got fired, but it wasn't the same and the show quickly went to shit long before it was finally put out of it's misery. Chuck Lorre apparently learned from that when the plug was pulled on TBBT after Jim Parsons decided to call it quits.
Because society and culture has been on the decline ever since the 80s :meh:
Quote from: TheGrassGuy on May 09, 2021, 05:32:56 PM
Because society and culture has been on the decline ever since the 80s :meh:
Try 1969.
Quote from: Rothman on May 09, 2021, 05:42:51 PM
Quote from: TheGrassGuy on May 09, 2021, 05:32:56 PM
Because society and culture has been on the decline ever since the 80s :meh:
Try 1969.
(https://i.imgur.com/p1TTIgc.jpg)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witt/Thomas_Productions
Do shows directed by Witt Thomas Productions count as good places to watch sitcoms for the soul? I forgot to include this group given that it was a third team that was doing sitcom's in the 1980's and 1990's when they were competing against Carsey Wener and Miller Boyett for viewers and awards.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/robin-thede-london-hughes-perfect-strangers-reboot-hbo-max-1234967419/
Perfect Strangers is going to be rebooted on HBO Max but in this case it going to be with an entirely different crew.
Not sure if humans actually have a soul.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on May 05, 2021, 01:37:15 PM
Quote from: kphoger on May 05, 2021, 01:21:05 PM
Easy. A lot of older shows are better than what's out right now.
Especially older sitcoms.
Ain't that the truth.
Quote from: kphoger on May 05, 2021, 01:21:05 PM
Easy. A lot of older shows are better than what's out right now.
Agreed. Everything went down the tube after 2000.
Quote from: hbelkins on May 05, 2021, 08:26:41 PM
On the weekends they run a series I'd never heard of called The Saint that stars Roger Moore.
I've heard of it as well as another series Roger Moore co-starred with Tony Curtis known as the Persuaders aka "Amicalement Votre" in French.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA9CI4STxRk
There was also another good old British series who might be worth to check an eye, The Avengers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10QW3Az1FTw
And Canada got some classic tv as well like the Beachcombers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENMOwXwRTZU
Quote from: I-39 on June 16, 2021, 08:41:12 PM
Quote from: kphoger on May 05, 2021, 01:21:05 PM
Easy. A lot of older shows are better than what's out right now.
Agreed. Everything went down the tube after 2000.
Seinfeld was the last great sitcom.
Walker, Texas Ranger was the last good action crime drama.
Law & Order was the last good courtroom drama.
Quote from: roadman65 on June 16, 2021, 11:06:08 PM
Walker, Texas Ranger was the last good action crime drama.
Have you seen Longmire? My wife and I loved it, although it got pretty dark around the last season or so.
Quote from: Angelo71 on May 07, 2021, 10:52:41 PM
New TV shows are all political!! At least older shows wasn't shoving agendas down our throats. I usually watch the news, I like watching my favorite personalities on my favorite news channel.
I got to Season 6 of Superstore. It has swung so far to the left and all masks and environmentalism, not really escapism, so I turned on F Troop.
Quote from: I-39 on June 16, 2021, 08:41:12 PM
Quote from: kphoger on May 05, 2021, 01:21:05 PM
Easy. A lot of older shows are better than what's out right now.
Agreed. Everything went down the tube after 2000.
Only things I've watched since then: King of Queens, King of the Hill, Big Bang Theory, just watched Superstore. Network TV is out of ideas.
My "guilty pleasure" is tuning into "CHiPs" now and then. Although the plots are Cheesy Seventies, I love seeing good looking and easily recognizable cars driving on beautiful freeways.
Rick
Quote from: nexus73 on June 18, 2021, 10:15:02 AM
My "guilty pleasure" is tuning into "CHiPs" now and then. Although the plots are Cheesy Seventies, I love seeing good looking and easily recognizable cars driving on beautiful freeways.
Rick
Even the women then were nice. Not that they ever change, but seeing the women at the beach in the bikinis of the time and wore the perfect outfits revealing not too much but still attractive. Unlike today. Plus no woman then even heard of tattoos except for guys.
Quote from: Henry on May 06, 2021, 10:39:43 AM
A good alternative would be stocking up on DVD box sets. The Shout Factory is one source for these sets of older shows that have been remastered to the digital format, and then there's always the big-box stores (Walmart, Target, etc.). So far, I've seen copies of The Andy Griffith Show, Hogan's Heroes, WKRP in Cincinnati, Newhart, Sanford & Son and Full House, among others.
there's several pawnshops near me that i visit for movies and tv shows. generally movies are a buck apiece, series (box sets) are like $3. you have to check the discs tho, to make sure a) they are present and b) are playable.
currently working my way through the original 1978 battlestar galactica series.