When I was a lad (many years ago now), my Saturdays evenings would be ruled around watching TV. These were simple times, unless you tired to record a TV program. We had no "One Touch Record" or "Series Link". Life did become slightly more simple with the invention of Video Plus, but I digress. Our TV screens were a lot smaller than by today's standards and were a lot heavier. There was not such thing as HD, and we only had a choice of 3, and then eventually 4 TV channels.
Saturday evenings would be a time when the whole family could get together and watch TV. You had to all watch TV together as most house holds would only have one decent TV set. The shows I most remember were various Noel Edmonds efforts such as Noel's House Party. There was always the slight excitement with the NTV part of the show when a hidden camera would be put in a home of unsuspecting member of the public that it could be your home.... it never was ours.
The Generation Game and Big Break were 2 popular shows that were hosted by Jim Davidson. Now Jim Davidson and popular in the same sentence? The 90's were very different times! These shows were all on the BBC, after they finished we used to change over to ITV for programs such as You Bet!, Gladiators and Blind Date. Blind Date was always very disappointing when they used to put on old couples.
My point is you could enjoy a good few hours of family entertainment on a Saturday night... up until the point when Casualty would come on. So what are we left with these days? Endless reality TV shows: X-Factor / Dancing on Ice / Strictly Come Dancing / So You Think You Can Dance etc. Why are these shows so popular? Or is it just the fact they are forced onto the viewing public so we have all been brain washed into thinking this is entertainment?
I'm not saying we should bring back all the shows I used to watch when I was a kid, as I think these are best left to memory, you only have to watch at Sky's remake of Gladiators for proof of this. But I do think TV producers should be able to come up with something a bit more original than a reality singing or dancing show.
So what's your view? Is Saturday night TV really as bad as I think it is?
I have to admit I like and enjoy the dance shows, but I agree with you, it's not an all family entertainment. Luis, my partner, always disappears when they come on, to his computer.
ReplyDeleteI believe the reason behind so many reality shows is the money they make with people voting.
Sorry I seem to be a long number, I'm Susan Roberts
ReplyDeleteHey Susan, or should I call you "5c775442-6111-11e0-b269-000bcdcb471e"? ;o)
ReplyDeleteQuite agree with you the reason behind so many of these shows is the money they make from the phone votes.