Why is TV programming such crap?

[TWork]

I know nothing about television programming -- how its determined what show ideas actually get produced, how the various networks decide when to show what and how often?

Why does it seem that 95% of the shows out there are complete crap? My tastes can't be that radically different than the average viewer, can they? I don't mind commercials. I have a DVR and I understand that the networks have to pay the bills. But, why is it that there seems to be so few quality programs out there? I'm not a Nascar fan, but at least I can understand why networks would show it. I'm not a huge watcher of football, baseball, etc, but I understand that there's a fan base for it.

Who watches shows like Millonaire Matchmaker, The Girls Next Door, Pimp My Ride, Snoop Dog's Fatherhood (or whatever it's called), Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader, Jon and Kate Plus Eight, Truck U, Bullrun, professional wrestling, etc? The list goes on and on and on.

And, assuming there's an audience for these shows, why are they repeated over and over again -- I don't mean a rerun on a different day. Some networks show the same episode 4 or 5 times in a single day and twice in a row in some cases. Some networks like Speed or Bravo may only show 6 or 8 different shows in a single 24 hour period. I don't mean different programs -- we're talking the exact same 6 or 8 episodes of the same programs. How can that be profitable?

I understand that the WRC might ask for too much money for some networks to show their races, but isn't there some middle ground between showing something with a limited audience like the WRC and the demolition derbies that Speed Channel plays over and over again? Back in the day you could turn on channels like MTV and Speed and actually see music videos or racing. How do these networks get so far away from their original charter?

There are hundreds of channels available these days, yet the programming is still so poor. Is the demand for Nascar so great and lucrative that it merits 12 hours of programming in a single day?

And, some shows seem like such overt advertisements for products, why not just drop the pretense and call it an infomercial? There are tons out there, but examples would be shows like Two Guys Garage, Truck U, or any of the "Test Drive" type shows like the ones with Tommy Kendal on Speed. These shows are so short on actual content and there's not even an attempt to be objective. God forbid there actually be a negative word about a product. We're not talking about 2 am programming, these are shows that are in prime TV watching time slots.

Sorry for the long post, but I'm hoping someone can educate me. What gives?

[Gogar]

I myself have always wondered if there's so many reality and/or game shows on because they don't have to deal with issues like . . . . i don't know . . . . ACTORS and their unions and the associated costs. AND, in the course of signing releases for those reality shows, the participants exempt themselves from residual payments, etc. It's only a guess, though, and maybe someone who actually knows will chime in.

[billyboy]

Why does it seem that 95% of the shows out there are complete crap? My tastes can't be that radically different than the average viewer, can they?

Yes. I'm afraid they are. What is the average IQ? It certainly has gone lower over the past 30 years or else people are numbed by their life situations and just want to sit in front of the box being hypnotized to take them away from their problems.I agree, no matter how many channels we get, there is nothing on 99% of them. If I am lucky, there will be something on the History channel or Discovery.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by TWork

Why does it seem that 95% of the shows out there are complete crap? My tastes can't be that radically different than the average viewer, can they?

Who watches shows like Millonaire Matchmaker, The Girls Next Door, Pimp My Ride, Snoop Dog's Fatherhood (or whatever it's called), Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader, Jon and Kate Plus Eight, Truck U, Bullrun, professional wrestling, etc? The list goes on and on and on.

Sorry for the long post, but I'm hoping someone can educate me. What gives?

THis is a really easy question to answer in two words.

General Public

The average viewer is an idiot. Yes, your taste can be that different from the average Joe.

Have you ever seen the movie Idiocracy? You should watch it. It's not that far off from the current state of the world.

[Rot 911]

I am absolutely stunned by the moronic "reality" shows that are main stream television. I understand the networks wanting them because they are cheap to produce, but how can a person sit there and watch that drivel week after week?

[CJFusco]

GOOD shows that are on TV right now:

Networks:
LOST
(and that's about it)

Cable:
Daily Show/Colbert
[adult swim]
Weeds
Breaking Bad (so I've heard)
The Wire (so I've heard)
Flight of the Conchords
Mad Men (so I've heard)

That's probably about it

[TerryH]

Originally Posted by billyboy

Yes. I'm afraid they are. What is the average IQ? It certainly has gone lower over the past 30 years or else people are numbed by their life situations and just want to sit in front of the box being hypnotized to take them away from their problems.I agree, no matter how many channels we get, there is nothing on 99% of them. If I am lucky, there will be something on the History channel or Discovery.

As good as History and Discovery channels are, they also repeat every 6 hours or so.

The bottom line is costs. Repetitive programming cost almost zero, while reality shows cost little in comparison to paying for actors, writers and hundreds that support them on a show. A reality show that ranks 40th might put more money in the networks pocket than a sitcom ranked 20th.... I'm only guessing here.

Viewers have hundreds of channels to choose from. The networks and sponsors realize we aren't going to stick to one channel for long. And obviously, the more channels there are the more the pool gets diluted.

When I was a kid, we only had 3 channels and actually played outside occasionally.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by TerryH

As good as History and Discovery channels are, they also repeat every 6 hours or so.

Yeah, the cable channels, pretty much all of them, are bad about repeating stuff. The reasoning is (I assume) that different people have different schedules. If a show is popular enough, they'll get two different audiences if they show something at 8pm and again at 11pm. Not only do they save money because they only need 1/3 or 1/2 as many shows, but they draw more folks in. It works for me. I sometimes miss one airing of something but catch a second or third.

When I was a kid, we only had 3 channels and actually played outside occasionally.

Sun up to sun down and often later. Even when I had an Atari or something, I was still outside 90% of the time. The Atari got used when it was raining or too late for me to be outside.

[Moses]

Originally Posted by billyboy

What is the average IQ?

100. (by definition)

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Moses

100. (by definition)

Hahah, yep, now, I wonder what sort of difference you'd find if any if you compared someone with a 100 IQ from today, to 100 years ago, to 300 years ago, to 500 years ago.

The knowledge that each had would certainly be different, but would the ability to learn and reason really be much different if they were all average? I doubt it.

[billyboy]

Originally Posted by Moses

100. (by definition)

Right, I understand, but that doesn't mean the the average IQ for all populations. Is the average IQ of doctors the same as the average IQ of gang bangers in South Central Los Angeles? That 100 is for the world's population as a whole, right?

[Moses]

I suspect that the average "knowledge base" has expanded tremendously. I doubt if the average "capacity for learning" has changed much at all.

[Moses]

Originally Posted by billyboy

That 100 is for the world's population as a whole, right?

Well, it's for the average tested population. Usually IQ refers to the U.S. population.

[TerryH]

Originally Posted by Moses

100. (by definition)

Must be a coincidence that there's also 100 reality shows that stink.

[billyboy]

Capacity and willingness are distinctly different also. Does the brain "atrophy" with lack of stimulation?

[The Gaijin]

Has evolutionary biology/psychology taught you nothing?

For eons we have sat around a flickering fire hearing the same old boring stories told and re-told endlessly.

Og and Kruk and fellow cavemen sitting around a fire 100,000 years ago, or you and the wife and brood sittting around the TV today.

We are hard wired for this S#*t.

[T77911S]

i would guess those shows are cheap to put on. people are beggin to get on TV so you dont have to pay them.
masraum said it best, the general public are idiots

[hardflex]

Do we really need to watch the crap that's out there in HD?

When did showing a decent movie become a special event?

We have about 75 channels on our Cable package. In reality, we only hit about 10 of them even looking any more. They are CNBC, MSNBC, Comedy Central(Daily, Colbert) , CNN, PBS(my wife) ,Spike (for CSI reruns) a couple of stations that do Seinfeld reruns, and the local stations for weather related programming.

But it's not just TV. Radio pretty much sucks too, Movies have comic book scripts filmed for 13 year olds and below. 5 minutes of plot and an hour and a half of fights/chase scenes.

I guess I'm old enough to know I've seen it all before.

But I have a question. Can anyone remember any of the commercials that brought the programming to us? I can't.

[TGTIW]

Well I can answer some of your questions.

[QUOTE]And, some shows seem like such overt advertisements for products, why not just drop the pretense and call it an infomercial?QUOTE]

Those products either pay for a portion of the shows budget, or provide free product for the production. So whatever product has been given to the produciton for free is suddenly the best thing out there. American TV is sponsor driven, so there's no way around that. Additionally, most people don't make the connection that they are in reality watching 30min commercials.

Never underestimate the stupidity of the general public.

[TerryH]

I remember watching vintage Let's Make A Deal with Monte Hall and wondering why they break for commercials when the entire show was a commercial. It was way more blatant than the current shows like Price Is Right.