Keeping it light -- what TV shows do you find unwatchable?

People contain multitudes. I can care about HoneyBooBoo and the melting arctic ice. I can remember the names of all the contestants on ANTM and I can also write my MP about the muslim ban. I can watch Chopped and also give to charity. People do not fit into these tiny categories, we are far more complex than that.

12 Likes

10 Likes

I have heard that many times, but psychology and biology tell us otherwise. People cannot multi-task. They think they can. Shallow understanding takes away resources from a deeper understanding. People can tell me all about the disposable shows that they watch, but have no idea who is their senator, the voting record, or the economic health of their region.

And it goes much, much deeper than that. So-called “reality shows” have given people a lot of bad habits, such as people thinking posting stuff on their social media feeds is akin to actually going out and voting.

Life is so short – and I resent that I actual know who Kardashian or Honey Boo-Boo are – they have no value to society, and I am forced to know about them? Forget it. People don’t know the name of the man who stood in front of a column of tanks at Tiananmen Square, but they know the name of every “real housewife.” Shame on them.

I would totally watch either of these.

Edit: well that was fast.

7 Likes

I’m not talking about multi-tasking… I’m talking about caring about many things at once.

Teenvogue is doing a bang up job of this.
Articles about the government and what the public needs to know, and reviews of lipgloss.
Because we can care about more than one thing. And I need to know if there is a good new gloss as well as what the scrotus is doing today!

You are disparaging anyone who watches reality TV as if they are stupid or uninformed, and maybe for some of them that is true, but its not for all of them. I watch reality TV. I am not stupid, or uninformed, and I am active in all branches of my government, city, provincial and federal. (these day’s they’re probably sick of my emails and calls) You cannot paint people with such a wide brush, that is all I’m saying.

Also, reality TV is dying. Has been for the past 3 years. I say that with insider knowledge. Producers are scrambling to figure out what to do next because big budget slick productions is what sells, but those cost 10x more than reality tv.

Lastly, HoneyBooBoo went off the air in 2014, lets leave the child in peace shall we? :wink:

17 Likes

Keeping it light … my wife enjoys watching The Goldbergs. I can deal with it. Dancing with the Stars is another family favorite. I now leave the house those nights.

6 Likes

Like, Bill Goldberg? The old dude who squashed Brockle Snar Bill Goldberg? :confused:

1 Like

And a guy who appeared on that is now in charge of the nation’s nuclear weapons. Obviously it’s relevant in this day and age.


We don’t have broadcast TV, so there isn’t a lot for me to make a point of avoiding, although my good lady wife did enjoy Gilmore Girls and Fuller House.

I can’t in all honesty claim that The Grand Tour or Robot Wars are any more highbrow.

Live and let live, I say. Nothing too wrong with watching some unchallenging TV as long as you stay informed on the important stuff too.

5 Likes

Neither does my computer, but it approximates multitasking really damn well.

If you mean that my enjoyment of fluffy topics takes away time that I could better spend becoming an impassive stoic world-changing machine, then… nah, still no. Sometimes I need a little time to recharge the batteries, or risk burnout, and boy am I ever at risk of burnout.

So, are you saying people like @Missy_Pants and myself don’t exist, or are you saying that our knowledge is not sufficient?

That’s quite a leap of logic there.

Regardless, I have voted in every national, state and local election since 1996, despite the many strangers on the internet who declare by fiat that I haven’t.

Nobody fucking does. Go trolley somewhere else.

That’s all I have to say on this matter, and I’m sorry I’ve even had to say this much.

Let’s all keep in mind the first three words of this thread title.

16 Likes

Maybe I needed to watch more of it, but I thought the real dynamic between them is that they’re in a co-emotionally-abusive relationship.

3 Likes

I noticed that too. In some ways, I’m glad that we don’t see more of their relationship, because from what I see on the surface, the deep-down stuff must be depressing.

1 Like

12 Likes

No, you are not!

6 Likes

Which came first?

Think of it this way: TV shows have to be thought up, paid for, and become popular quickly enough that they are renewed for more than the pilot and first few episodes.

TV shows are not the cause of our societal ills, they’re just the thermometer.

13 Likes

That’s WHY Roseanne was a great show, because it was very relatably for working class people.

11 Likes

So, Aqua Teen Hunger Force… in jail?

1 Like

Is psycho Freddy Mercury gone yet? I noped out on that one last season. I hate that character.

1 Like

Less plot than ATHF. And grosser, by a lot.

Cannot watch whoever those two older ladies are who get drunk on air most mornings.

3 Likes

5 Likes