Ever watch TV? Bet you have. Man, do we have a podcast for you this week — one of those, “I can’t believe we haven’t done this one, yet!” shows. This week, we’re talking about that great American pass time: television!
We kick it off talking about the first TV show we remember watching, before jumping to how important TV was to us when we were young. How does TV from the past (we focused on 80s TV) compare to things today?
Somewhere along the way, the mini series became a popular thing. We discuss the first mini series programming we remember watching before moving to our all-time favorite mini series. Probably because the mini series at least shot for something more, we jump to talking about the shows that seemed to be forerunners to the more intricate story arcs, characterization, and chances taken with TV today. Also: the most out-of-the-box TV shows we’ve ever seen.
With the rise of cable, viewers (and creators) have more channels to choose from. Is this better or worse for creators? What TV shows do we feel have had strong writing? And you know you want to find out the most embarrassing shows we’ll admit to liking!
In the homestretch, we ask how relevant TV is to today’s culture…before calling out the best TV shows of all time (and the worst). We wrap it all up with this question: What is the future of television?
So grab that remote and flip to Men in Gorilla Suits. As always, we’d love to hear your feelings about anything discussed in the comments.
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(Wow, we succeeded going this entire description without saying boob tube! Huhuhuhuhuhuhuhuh…)
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Xena, Northern Exposure, The X-Files, STTNG. YES!
The Young Ones, Rising Damp, Keeping Up Appearances, Are You Being Served?
Going Great (Christopher Makepeace), In Search of… (Leonard Nimoy).
I got hooked on Days of Our Lives too. lol And I’ll still watch The Dukes of Hazzard if given the opportunity. 🙂 I went through a South Park and Beavis and Butthead period. 🙂
Also Frasier, Seinfeld, Cheers, Get a Life, Married with Children, Family Ties. All of Bob Newhart’s shows. Secret Girlfriend. Hello Ladies. I know I’m forgetting a ton . . BTW the future of TV is interactive.
I agree with Shawn about network execs not being too keen on change, but…I think as see blur the lines with TV and what we can now access through TV (Internet programming), once some startup figures it out and makes it a thing…I’m sure networks would follow. I think they are beginning to see that younger audiences consume things much differently. Like publishing, TV is slow to adapt to those changes because “We’re making money right now!” But behind it all, things are changing, and I hope something we may not have even thought off blows up into something big.
As I mentioned, we watch more YouTube streamed through a Roku box than actual TV. The big hurdle seems to be — as always — proprietary things. With the new Roku box, there’s no YouTube channel. Apple TV has one, though. But Apple TV doesn’t have an Amazon channel ’cause…competition! Kind of like how Netflix doesn’t run well on a Kindle Fire, but Amazon Prime shows do. I’ve considered an X-Box or another configuration, just to be able to pull things from our computers through the TV. There are so many ways of streaming content, and as things change…fave things can get better or drop out. We used to listen to podcasts through the iTune channel on Roku, but it no longer works. But…if we had Apple TV, it would. I can see why people just stream from their computers, but our old Roku box has served us well for years 🙂
I’m babbling. CMS: What do you think interactive TV will be like?
Remember the “choose your own adventure” books? Interactive TV will be like that, I predict (also similar to video games, in which you choose your own adventure). The technology is in place, and it’s already available on some formats, but I see it going mainstream. Also, integrating senses besides seeing and hearing. Interactive TV will have olfactory and tactile options, even gustatory. Again, this is all doable today. A number of tech companies are developing and improving these prototypes.
I’d like to see interactive TV. We’ve been hearing about it since the 80s, though, and we’ve had the technology for quite some time now. I think TV network heads are like the music industry: if they don’t have to change, they won’t.
Like Christopher wrote, some tech entrepreneur will develop interactive TV, make it available for the masses, and make billions.