Decline of entertainment?

[ryhoyarbie]

I feel Real Ghostbusters is the best cartoon adaption/Spinoff of a movie of all time. In fact, I think the cartoon sort of eclipsed the popularity of the movie. At least to the point that there was a large scale RGB toyline, while it took 20 something years for the movie to get one. I mean, I like Beetlejuice, Men in Black, and a couple of the Disney movie spinoff shows (especially Buzz Lightyear and Timon and Pumbaa)... but I don't think any movie spin off has been as good as RGB.

I think The Real Ghostbusters spunned the table around to different types of stories one can do with that cartoon show, and they turned out to be good.

I also enjoyed Aladdin on the old Disney Afternoon. I think that was a successful cartoon from a movie. Still wished Disney did a Darkwing Duck movie as a feature film though back in the day.

 

[Yorick]

I love new wave. 80's music was the last decade to give good music.

RIGHT ON!

i was listening to several songs from Talking Heads this morning while running. Great band.

Indeed! I remember after a band's show, telling them my favorite song of their set was "Love For Sale" (I could tell that was the title) - I didn't know it was a Talking Heads cover, so they said to me, "Sadly, your favorite song of our show is the only cover we do. But yes, it's a great song!"

 

[RedPiggy]

I love new wave. 80's music was the last decade to give good music.

LOL, yeah, even Chucky brought it up.

 

[Drtooth]

I also enjoyed Aladdin on the old Disney Afternoon. I think that was a successful cartoon from a movie. Still wished Disney did a Darkwing Duck movie as a feature film though back in the day.

Disney didn't want anything to do with movies based on TV shows after Ducktales didn't do well. There indeed was a Rescue Rangers movie planned, but it was scrapped. It wasn't until much later when they discovered the February vacation release date that they started doing that sort of thing again. I'm sure we'd at least have had something if they stumbled onto the DTV market sooner.


I'm surprised there are hardly ANY references to reality Television here.... Now THERE'S something I feel ruined TV for good. We have so much unintellectual garbage on in that aspect. And the worst part is that there's so many of them because they have to copy each and every single one. You know, because if you have something that's a surprise hit, you laboriously have to copy it several times. And we got blanketed with ripoffs of something that was garbage to begin with.

When they came up with "Coneyer Belt of Love" that was the last straw. Thankfully it bombed. But even if it did, it was such a moronic idea. And they make so many of these patterned for depressed single women. There is no call for The Bachelor to be popular again. We almost got rid of it. Then there was a spike in ratings for some reason, and it came back.

 

[ryhoyarbie]

I'm surprised there are hardly ANY references to reality Television here.... Now THERE'S something I feel ruined TV for good. We have so much unintellectual garbage on in that aspect. And the worst part is that there's so many of them because they have to copy each and every single one. You know, because if you have something that's a surprise hit, you laboriously have to copy it several times. And we got blanketed with ripoffs of something that was garbage to begin with.

Reality tv sucks big time....er I mean stinks big time (gotta keep this g rated). I am sick to death of American Idol and wish the show would just go away. The host and the judges make too much money, in the millions, for that stupid show while average joes out there are out of work or are doing menial jobs.

These shows aren't going away anytime soon because so many clueless people watch these shows and think they're good even though the quality is horrible. Networks know these shows bring in a lot of viewers, which brings in ratings for them, which brings in money, and these shows don't cost anything to produce. So it's a win for the networks.

I really wish quality program would come back, mainly sitcoms that are funny like The Cosby Show, Cheers, or Perfect Strangers type shows. Sadly they're not though.

 

[Super Scooter]

I think American Idol could be a lot better if they made it more about the contest and less about the drama. Contest shows and game shows are "okay" by me, but it's things like Survivor and The Bachelor that I don't understand. Dating shows tend to be cruel, and they steal time away from good shows that should be on instead.

Another issue I see is that studio executives have way too much control over what is in shows, making most of them un-funny. CBS seems to allow a bit of freedom for some of their shows, but most are just retreads of what "worked" once. NBC tried to force every show that came on the air during the 90s to be more like Cheers, then they wanted everything to be like Friends. The Muppet Show was great because the studio wasn't breathing down its neck. Arrested Development was great because, again, the studio didn't force them to do anything (though it was their fault it got cancelled). With NewsRadio, one of the most underrated shows ever, NBC tried to force them to do things a certain way, but once they gave up and basically ignored the show completely, it became great!

I don't see why executives don't trust creative people to deliver quality. Artists are the most critical of themselves. If they know what they have is good, you should trust them to give the best they've got.

 

[Drtooth]

Reality tv sucks big time....er I mean stinks big time (gotta keep this g rated). I am sick to death of American Idol and wish the show would just go away. The host and the judges make too much money, in the millions, for that stupid show while average joes out there are out of work or are doing menial jobs.

These shows aren't going away anytime soon because so many clueless people watch these shows and think they're good even though the quality is horrible. Networks know these shows bring in a lot of viewers, which brings in ratings for them, which brings in money, and these shows don't cost anything to produce. So it's a win for the networks.

Firstly, sucks is not a swear, and I hate when people consider it one. It's only offensive if you follow it with a forbidden piece of anatomy. Sucks eggs? Perfectly g-rated.

And yes. Even if the ratings are bad, they seem to do well, those reality shows. They are just so cheap to produce and non-union (the WGA tried to put their writers into the guild, but that was one of the reasons the strike lasted so long years ago). And when television execs are running around like chickens with their heads cut off because people aren't watching the restrictive time slots of prime time shows, they're blanketing their line ups with this garbage. And horrid game shows that make the 1970's blush.

I will say, sitcoms are better now than they were at the start of this decade. ABC FINALLY has a decent line up of these shows (though Modern Family is the only one I really watch) on their network. Remember those GHASTLY shows like My Wife and Kids and According to Jim they used to have? Bleh. Heck, I'm a pretty big fan of Married with Children, and I think Ed O'Neil's funnier in Modern Family. Office, I admit, that's an acquired taste. I didn't really enjoy it until the Halloween episode where Kevin was dressed as Mr. Incredible. But there's just something about it. The fact that there's just as much drama as their is laughter. it's REAL. it's more real than reality TV shows. The characters seem to grow and change. That's... that's something you rarely saw, even with better sitcoms. Even the Seinfeld characters really didn't change all that much, and that's my top favorite show of all time.

 

[D'Snowth]

Firstly, sucks is not a swear, and I hate when people consider it one. It's only offensive if you follow it with a forbidden piece of anatomy. Sucks eggs? Perfectly g-rated.

Some people feel the same way about the word "fart", I kid you not.

 

[Skekayuk]

To find the decent stuff on just has to look that much harder.

Incidentally, if you find your taste in music does tend to the older, sort of mid twentieth century, then one contemporary composer whose work you may like to check out, is that of Jason Carr (also known as an orchestrator of various Broadway musicals). Have a look at Jason's own songs though, you can find some details on his website: http://www.jasoncarr.org.uk/index.html I think you'll find some good old fashioned quality there.

 

[Drtooth]

To find the decent stuff on just has to look that much harder.

All I'm sayin'. And with cartoons you REALLY have to look hard. But enough about that.

Hey... I found out something that disproves this entire thread. Apparently CBS is canceling New Adventures of Old Christine and the "Knocked Up" ripoff Accidentally on Purpose. Hah. That just proves there's improvement in entertainment going on.