HEH! Work It's been Canceled!

[charlietheowl]

It almost seems like they are trying to make another black ish with the family wanting to be a different race.

I don't think Black-ish is about the family wanting to be a different race, I think it's partly about the father fearing the family is losing their "black" identity and then him trying to figure out what that exactly means, and then partly just a family sitcom.

 

[D'Snowth]

Though, this is the same network ripping off a really good show.

That's actually not uncommon either. Back in the early 70s, once M*A*S*H proved to be a hit, the networks turned to the creators and had them create another military sitcom to capitalize on M*A*S*H's success, to wit, the long-forgotten, one-season-wonder, ROLL OUT!, which was essentially a black M*A*S*H set in WW2.

 

[Drtooth]

So, this season's hottest new comedy is... an Asian family that desperately wants to be white to fit in with American society.

Here's the thing. You know when the last time Asian Americans had their own sitcom? American Girl back in the 90's, and that didn't even last that long, and the network was trying hard to pull them away from Korean culture.

Let's face it. The vast majority of sitcoms star white guys. They'll have a token something in there, sure. But it's not the same as having a show for a specific group of people. There's a huge Minority Show ghetto out there and few can actually break through it. I'm actually glad to see an all Asian cast for a change instead of the one random Asian woman that just so happens to be there, but feels tacked on. The most successful American series with an Asian lead is a cartoon about Jackie Chan! WOW!

 

[Muppet Master]

I don't think Black-ish is about the family wanting to be a different race, I think it's partly about the father fearing the family is losing their "black" identity and then him trying to figure out what that exactly means, and then partly just a family sitcom.

Yes, that was the point I made, I know that, I said that this new show is like black ish wit the family wanting to be a different race which is different from black ish, whatever the show is, people will like it, because it has a cast of asian actors, so even if it is bad, people will like it, though it looks good.

 

[D'Snowth]

Okay, I get that they'll give anybody a reality show, yeah-yeah-yeah, but is anyone else besides me a little bothered that morticians are being given a reality show? Sure, apparently the show's more about they really moonlight as amateur wrestlers (who writes this stuff), but still, it seems disrespectful to the deceased and their families to me.

Yeah, seeing the promos for the show are kind of irking me too, with one of the family's kids standing there in the receiving of friends handing out programs and saying in a really robotic voice, "Sorry for your loss, please come see my nana wrestle." Yeah, kid? These people just lost a relative, friend, loved one, they're grieving with loss, I think the last thing they want to do is see youe grandmother wrestling.

 

[FunnieGuy]

I just found out that The Golden Girls on TVLand is finally getting canceled. Could this be a sign that they're returning to classic television?

 

[Drtooth]

I just found out that The Golden Girls on TVLand is finally getting canceled. Could this be a sign that they're returning to classic television?

I don't think ceasing reruns is the same as cancelling. Besides, I've it on good authority Golden Girls is still on Hallmark.

 

[FunnieGuy]

I'm sorry, I meant Hot in Cleveland, not the Golden Girls. Must have been confused when I posted that. Sorry for the mixup.

 

[D'Snowth]

What I don't understand is why people all of the sudden, out of the clear blue, like HOT IN CLEVELAND now. Honestly, and it's not quite an exaggeration, but nobody liked that show, nobody: it was the first in a long line of shows that alienated TV Land's loyal viewers, and as such, it's always been met with nothing but negative reaction... people even took to Facebook telling TV Land how much they hated the show and how it didn't belong on their channel (along with all those other shows that followed, like RETIRED AT 35, THE EXES, HAPPILY DIVORCED, etc.), and TV Land's response was like, "Derp-derp, dem shows r makin us sum moneys, so we gonna keep makin em so we can keep makin da moneys." That, and TV Land even admitted that they no longer wish to cater to older audiences and classic TV junkies, they want to reel in the coveted younger audiences that network TV is always trying to lure in.

But, all of the sudden, TV Land announces they're canceling HOT IN CLEVELAND, and now people are crying and whining about it because they don't want it to end. I. Don't. Get. It.

On top of that, now, they're giving Hilary Duff a new show. What's this, like her third of fourth show?

As I've said before, screw TV Land, they alienated us long ago, so I've alienated them, and haven't watched them in years. I'll stick with my DVDs of BEWITCHED, GREEN ACRES, HOGAN'S HEROES, I DREAM OF JEANNIE, M*A*S*H, SANFORD AND SON (all uncut and in superior quality), one of my local channels plays Andy Griffith all the time (hey, it's the south, Andy's an icon down here), plus my mom has old tapes of uncut episodes... and for anything else, there's MeTV for my fix of THE ODD COUPLE and whatever else crops up.

 

[Drtooth]

What I don't understand is why people all of the sudden, out of the clear blue, like HOT IN CLEVELAND now. Honestly, and it's not quite an exaggeration, but nobody liked that show, nobody: it was the first in a long line of shows that alienated TV Land's loyal viewers, and as such, it's always been met with nothing but negative reaction... people even took to Facebook telling TV Land how much they hated the show and how it didn't belong on their channel (along with all those other shows that followed, like RETIRED AT 35, THE EXES, HAPPILY DIVORCED, etc.), and TV Land's response was like, "Derp-derp, dem shows r makin us sum moneys, so we gonna keep makin em so we can keep makin da moneys." That, and TV Land even admitted that they no longer wish to cater to older audiences and classic TV junkies, they want to reel in the coveted younger audiences that network TV is always trying to lure in.

Here's what I don't get. The younger audience they're trying for aren't going to watch stuff like that anyway. They barely watch TV at all. Hot in Cleveland was only made to cash in off the Betty White meme that's long since died off. Now I'm sure the show had some fans at some point, but they're not going to be hip 20 somethings who are too busy watching anything else in the world besides Hot in Cleveland. I'll applaud the fact the show managed to hire women over 40 as main characters, even if it's a hypocritical move to, again, cash in off an at the moment internet meme. Other than that, what made it TVLand special? It could have been on any network and been the same show.

Now, I understand this... MTV runs garbage now because no one's buying albums so there's no point in airing music videos (yet Teen Nick manages to have a show that shows music videos...hmmmm) as they're advertisements for albums. Which also explains why the music videos that actually get made for consumption on Youtube need product placement to fund them. But the bottom line about MTV is, no one's buying albums, reality trash TV is cheap, easy, and gets an audience of ironic viewers (again, like book burning, you still buy the book. They don't care what you do with it) and cuz the president of Viacom has a creepy stalker crush on Rob Drydek. Which explains that Glob awful attempt at an animated series no one likes or watches.

But TV reruns are different. They're cheap. A crapload of channels have reruns. TBS is essentially nothing but reruns and a couple original shows. I'm sure there's more airings of the Waltons than there are hours in the day per day spread out over 2 channels (don't ask me how I know that). And you can't punt a football without hitting Bonanza or Friends somehow. While there are many alternatives for classic TV reruns, either they're not something you can get easily, or not really that good. I tend to like MeTV, but hate how Get Smart gets banished to the 2 Am on Sunday (or is it Monday) slot, Bosom Buddies and Laverne and Shirley are completely off the network, but they have endless hours a day of old cowboy shows. Sure, there's streaming... unless one of the copyright owners gets greedy and either pulls it from a site or makes them charge for it. And I'm sure that unless you really like a show or get them cheap, you're not going to want a HUGE DVD set library... especially if they cut you off due to low sales. I'd hate to think Robin Williams's death was the only reason they finished off Mork and Mindy. But other than the residuals, rerun TV is the cheapest stuff there is out there barring infomercials.

You know what the problem is? These companies bought the rights to air the shows back in the 90's so they were removed from syndication (still a cesspool of talk shows and small claims court shows). Now they don't even air the things. And yet, compared to the amount of money it takes for a new show to be produced, even a non-union sweatshop production like a reality show, old reruns of a TV show are a safer bet. Even then, they only get like the same 5 shows, leaving a lot of classics by the wayside That's where TV Land should have stepped in. Instead, they're catering to an imaginary group of young people who are willing to watch a niche network for a lame sitcom that doesn't even appeal to them.

Bottom line... the only people really watching TV are those who are either older, or set in their ways enough to not want to watch everything on a phone, and chances are, they're going to watch older things because nothing new really appeals to them. And while there certainly are a lot of options for classic television, they're not using their full potential.