(06-10-2014 08:10 AM)AngryAphid Wrote:  Real information is an enigma.

American entertainment has become relegated to a comic book genre with hashtags.

only when tried to impress upon others....

it stares people in the face every day....most choose to ignore

philosophy has many meanings....

(06-09-2014 09:12 PM)nomad2u2001 Wrote:  

(06-09-2014 05:17 PM)AngryAphid Wrote:  

(06-09-2014 04:54 PM)QuestionSocratic Wrote:  I think that virtually every post on this thread missed the point. Now that's bipartisan action at its finest.

First thing I thought of is how my Nephew thinks that
“That '70s Show” was a valid representation of that decade.

So I’m not as concerned about culture at the time as I am about the
supposititious culture of a different time.

I’m sure my Parents felt the same way about Happy Days.

I'd hate to see what the depictions of the 90's are. Big flannel shirts, high-top sneakers with the pumps, slow ass internet, etc.

But....but...that was the 90s.

My formative years were the '80s and '90s, so I got a huge dose of all of the shows of that era plus a lot of reruns of '70s shows.

Generally speaking, TV dramas today are better than ever. The Americans on FX is fantastic, Mad Men still packs a punch, and we just went through a decade with The Wire, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos and Lost. Netflix and Amazon are getting into the game, too (although I'll say that season 2 of House of Cards is disappointing - that show should really be better than it is with the quality of the people involved).

On the flip side, I feel like the children's shows from our generation were way better. (I've got twins that are almost 5 years old, so I've been forced to watch the full range of current kids' shows over the past few years.) Granted, part of this might be my personally-biased nostalgia, but I'm just not impressed with a lot of the kids' output. Where is this generation's Mr. Rogers, Electric Company or Square One where you'd actually unintentionally learn about something productive while being entertained? Even Sesame Street is much more infantile than in the past because it's so much more focused on Elmo (who didn't even exist when I grew up watching the show).

It's not just the PBS-type shows, either. The old Looney Tunes cartoons were ubiquitous when I was growing up, but they're impossible to find today. In all seriousness, my kids only know Bugs Bunny as the character from Space Jam and Six Flags rides as opposed to Looney Tunes, which makes me sad (albeit Space Jam is awesome). I don't know WTF Warner Bros. is doing with that property. At least Disney still does a great job ensuring that Mickey Mouse continues to be an icon. Speaking of Warner Bros., Pinky and the Brain, Animaniacs, Tiny Toons and Batman: The Animated Series were legitimately great cartoons. Disney had Duck Tales. Muppet Babies were hilarious. (I still remember the episode where all of the Muppet Babies reenacted Star Wars.) Plus, all of the reruns of the Hanna-Barbera cartoons (Tom & Jerry, Flinstones, Jetsons, Yogi Berra) and Rocky & Bullwinkle were still on. Man, listing all of those out makes me realize what our kids are missing these days.

The last sit com I watched very often was Cheers, lesser extent Seinfeld.
Got hooked on Law Order when it came out in 89-90 and have watched that often.
Have been into streaming for years, the only shows I watched "live" have been Mad Men and
Walking Dead. I like informational shows, like Air disasters, Dramas Action like "Rome" "Sopranos"
and some end of the world shows like Jericho. The BBC had one about just about everyone dying
from a virus, it was good.

(06-09-2014 11:26 AM)nomad2u2001 Wrote:  

(06-09-2014 10:33 AM)Doctor Krieger Wrote:  At this point, I really only watch AMC and HBO shows. Everything else generally blows.

BBC is pretty good. I think Netflix and Hulu are two of the best things to ever happen to entertainment.

Yeah BBC does have some good shows. The Brits/Irish have a ton of acting talent. The stage/theater/acting goes back a long way over there. You can live in the USA and never meet a professional actor, but in England everyone has a friend or relative in the business.

(06-10-2014 10:38 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  My formative years were the '80s and '90s, so I got a huge dose of all of the shows of that era plus a lot of reruns of '70s shows.

Generally speaking, TV dramas today are better than ever. The Americans on FX is fantastic, Mad Men still packs a punch, and we just went through a decade with The Wire, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos and Lost. Netflix and Amazon are getting into the game, too (although I'll say that season 2 of House of Cards is disappointing - that show should really be better than it is with the quality of the people involved).

On the flip side, I feel like the children's shows from our generation were way better. (I've got twins that are almost 5 years old, so I've been forced to watch the full range of current kids' shows over the past few years.) Granted, part of this might be my personally-biased nostalgia, but I'm just not impressed with a lot of the kids' output. Where is this generation's Mr. Rogers, Electric Company or Square One where you'd actually unintentionally learn about something productive while being entertained? Even Sesame Street is much more infantile than in the past because it's so much more focused on Elmo (who didn't even exist when I grew up watching the show).

It's not just the PBS-type shows, either. The old Looney Tunes cartoons were ubiquitous when I was growing up, but they're impossible to find today. In all seriousness, my kids only know Bugs Bunny as the character from Space Jam and Six Flags rides as opposed to Looney Tunes, which makes me sad (albeit Space Jam is awesome). I don't know WTF Warner Bros. is doing with that property. At least Disney still does a great job ensuring that Mickey Mouse continues to be an icon. Speaking of Warner Bros., Pinky and the Brain, Animaniacs, Tiny Toons and Batman: The Animated Series were legitimately great cartoons. Disney had Duck Tales. Muppet Babies were hilarious. (I still remember the episode where all of the Muppet Babies reenacted Star Wars.) Plus, all of the reruns of the Hanna-Barbera cartoons (Tom & Jerry, Flinstones, Jetsons, Yogi Berra) and Rocky & Bullwinkle were still on. Man, listing all of those out makes me realize what our kids are missing these days.

Cartoon Network Boomerang Channel still airs a lot of these shows.

Anyone remember Huggie Bear's shoes with fish in them on Starsky and Hutch?

(06-11-2014 11:35 AM)GoApps70 Wrote:  Anyone remember Huggie Bear's shoes with fish in them on Starsky and Hutch?

Wait, wasn't that also in I'm Gonna Get You Sucka?

(06-11-2014 12:03 PM)vandiver49 Wrote:  

(06-11-2014 11:35 AM)GoApps70 Wrote:  Anyone remember Huggie Bear's shoes with fish in them on Starsky and Hutch?

Wait, wasn't that also in I'm Gonna Get You Sucka?

There’s midgets in those hats!