Reminds me of a car insurance company that used to advertise around here (I haven’t seen the commercials for a long time so I don’t know if they’re still around). They would have a bunch of almost naked young women gyrating, like a music video, to variations of a jingle, “If you need insurance for your car, accidents tickets it doesn’t matter who you are. . . " and so on, I don’t really remember the whole thing. They used to advertise heavily during shows like Jerry Springer, in between the sell-us-your-structured-settlement commercials and the rent-to-own a 100” tv for only $19.99 a week people.
That’s why I watch PBS… and Memory Entertainment Television (oldies).
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When I find myself sitting in front of a television during the day I am amazed at what is being aired. PBS, METV and TCM do seem to be the only worthwhile offerings and there must be well over 100 stations on the basic CATV lineup.
As the years pass, I find that almost all of my viewing is via the various PBS channels and TCM.
The History Channel used to have interesting programming…at least on occasion…but almost everything on that channel is now unmitigated garbage. And, the same could be said for most of the programming on TLC and Discovery.
I do watch the Science Channel occasionally, and BBC America still has some decent programming.
I wholeheatedly concur with VDCdriver. It seems like all of the so-called educational channels related to Discovery have resorted to nothing but swill; and that’s being polite about it.
There are countless promos for something called Naked and Afraid and while I’m far from prudish, the premise of that show is disgusting. The only thing more disgusting are the people who shed their clothes in front of a camera and participate in it. Their family members should be ashamed to even stick their head out the door in daylight.
Being a dyed in the wool gearhead, I can’t even sit through any of the automotive themed shows due to the staged ridiculousness.
I’d shut the TV service clean off if it wasn’t for a few redeeming quality shows; mostly on PBS, AMC, and BBC.
How so many can sit there and soak in something like N & A, Honey Boo Boo, the Kardashians and so on without being ashamed to be a member of the human race is appalling.
Someone once said television was a “Waste Land.” For those who disagreed with that at the time great efforts have been made and continue to be made to make the statement unequivocal.
And to sooth Carolyn’s earnest desire to keep all things automotive here I will recall that some time ago an automotive “DIY” program was on one of the cable channels and they were showing how to replace the water pump on a 4 cylinder Ford Ranger. Of course that is one of the simplest and most fool proof pumps to replace on an engine with a timing belt and while I didn’t need a play by play of the job I was intrigued with their over the top efforts to do the job by the book but there was an obvious skip in the process and the mechanics mentioned that sometimes a broken bolt in close quarters can be difficult and require some special attention but they didn’t show that. Nor did they take the time to show DIYers without a lift and air compressor how to remove the crankshaft bolt. But just as planned in 15 minutes, Viola!!! the job was done and the truck was road ready.
"Someone once said television was a “Waste Land.”
That was actually Newton Minnow, who was the head of The FCC at the time.
IIRC, he made that statement (“TV is a vast waste land”) back in the '60s, and nothing on TV has changed for the better since then.
I am actually amazed at the lack of quality viewing on the rare occasion that I am at home all day on weekdays. ( a la ‘‘57 channels and nothin’ on’’ , Springsteen )
The only appointment viewing for me is Ellen, otherwise I default to the home improvement and car shows.
I actually can only stand a few minutes of Minnesota Public Radio at a time before I start to gag. Mostly British stuff now or high brow discussions with little discourse. I do like the old movie channels and like to see the cars of the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s. They are the actual daily drivers not the restored ones that you’ll see in the new movies. Some even have dents in them. I wish somehow we could explain to the current population how far we have come in the wrong direction but free speech and discussion is now prohibited.
The best thing on tv is the off button. Second best is PBS. Much more pleasurable is to read a book, take a walk, enjoy a scenic car drive in the countryside, and peruse this forum to learn an amazing variety of information on a wide array of topics both automotive and related non-automotive from an interesting, diverse group of contributors. :-))
…still reading, still learning
Wow, 150 posts and going strong. I love this place! Funny story but off topic: For a long time I didn’t know who the “Kardashians” were except for the fact that they were all over the tabloid covers I saw standing in line at the supermarket. To this day, nobody has been able to explain to me exactly why they are famous. I guess they are “famous for being famous”.
Agree that there is very little of quality on television today, but I think that I am more offended by the commercials than I am by the shows. The shows just suck, and I can change the channel to something else that sucks. Has anybody noticed that some of the cable channels don’t start their shows at the top or bottom of the hour anymore. One show runs from 7:00 to &7:37, the next one runs till 8:13, then 8:48 and so forth, so they can put in more commercials and make a half hour show run for almost 50 minutes (18 minutes of show 32 minutes of commercials).
Much more of a productive and learning experience to read and post on these forums. Also, I recently discovered that you can watch a lot of full documentaries and shows (and car repair demonstrations there I made it car related) on youtube. If I just get that wireless internet for my house I could probably cancel cable tv altogether.
I watch BBC news and sometimes nightly business report after that. Actually some of the financial news is car related!
As far as car shows, I like wheeler dealers, I can relate to it somehow I guess.
There is this other show on Velocity, “How its made” which could be good at times too.
No reality shows for me. I am thinking about cutting the cord completely, just have to get the rest of the family on board. Live sports is a problem though.
“One show runs from 7:00 to &7:37, the next one runs till 8:13, then 8:48 and so forth”
That’s actually very…European.
Years ago, when I was in Italy, it seemed that many TV shows began when the station was ready to air them, with no apparent set schedule.
However, the commercials on Italian TV made up for the lack of real scheduling. The commercials for “Bust Cream” were particularly memorable, due to the lack of censorship on Italian TV.
;-))
In my much younger days I caught a little grief for being a “library geek”. Many decades later I’m proud to say that I’m still one.
Even some of those DIY car repair shows are on shaky ground. One involved that lady Lauren Fix and a failed starter motor on a Ford Ranger. The truck appeared to be almost new. She slides underneath and a few minutes later pops out with a starter that looks like it had been lying out in a field for decades.
She then picks up a GM starter off the bench, slides underneath the truck, and voila; done.
Exactly what was that exercise supposed to teach anyone…
Used to love “Wings” on the Discovery channel,when they spun that off and killed it,I stopped watching,used to like “Hot Rod” and “HP” TV till I realized they were infomercials,in a Word TV sucks
Spike TV on Sunday mornings they have a series of car/truck shows that are supposedly geared toward the DIYer. But they are using tools that most mechanics or car body shops have. Some things they do - the average DIYer can do. The shows are basically advertising for the parts they buy and use on the build. A good third of the show is dedicated to telling you about car parts they are using or the compay that sells them.
Yeah like everyone has a hoist in their garage, 5 different welders, engine pullers, etc. and lots of storage space unclaimed. lol.
I don’t even have a single hoist in my garage
I have no welders in my garage
I have no cherry pickers in my garage
I don’t have any storage space to speak of
:grimace:
When I watched HP TV brag about how much gain they got on a Camaro,that was stock and in bad need of a simple tuneup,I gagged they were replacing the exhaust system with headrs and replaced the clogged up convertors etc,new everything else(they didnt break it down on a bang for buck basis(they acted like the big dollar,difficult to replace items were the only worthwhile additions)I quit watching after that when I realized it was a basic advertising,trumped up gig.