Do you find any thing worth watching on TV?

  • Thread starter wolram
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In summary: I have to call back every day to make sure that nothing changed and I'm still getting the same package.In summary, Matthyaouw finds it difficult to find anything worth watching on TV, as the American television industry is filled with repeats and outdated programming.
  • #1
wolram
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I flick through the guide every now and then, but can never find any thing
interesting to watch, i do not know about other parts of the world, but the
british tv is all repeats, soaps other gunge, even the discovery channels are
show things years old.
Do you find any thing worth watching ?
 
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  • #2
The curse of sattelite TV. When you have 4 channels, you make do with what's on. When you have 867 channels, you become incredibly picky about what you watch.
 
  • #3
matthyaouw said:
The curse of sattelite TV. When you have 4 channels, you make do with what's on. When you have 867 channels, you become incredibly picky about what you watch.

What do you watch Matthyaouw ?
 
  • #4
The curse of sattelite TV. When you have 4 channels, you make do with what's on. When you have 867 channels, you become incredibly picky about what you watch.
that is so true. I always would watch something maybe half educational cause it was the only thing decent on. But now, with sattelite, you can almost always find an episode of friends or seinfeld or fraiser or simpsons to watch.
I don't even watch simpsons much anymore cause there is always a seinfeld on or something. And you can forget about anything educational! :smile:
 
  • #5
Since the cable company started filtering the tv out of my roadrunner internet some 4 years ago I have not watched tv even once. I have never seen a reality tv show, other than the real world series which started airing on MTV long ago. TV IMO has very little to offer other than commercials trying to sell you something. I do download some older tv shows that I enjoyed in the past and watch them on my computer, as I don't have to sit through the annoying people trying to tell me what I should be buying. I get my news and weather from the internet also, and I find it much more interesting to pick what I want to read rather than have it dictated to me in a contex that exploits my time with other information I am not interested in.

Paying for TV IMO is completely out of the question.
 
  • #6
wolram said:
What do you watch Matthyaouw ?

Mostly I watch the music channels, but other than that I like documentaries, Futurama, The Simpsons, Family guy, and Star Trek. Occasionally other things too if they take my fancy.
 
  • #7
matthyaouw said:
Mostly I watch the music channels, but other than that I like documentaries, Futurama, The Simpsons, Family guy, and Star Trek. Occasionally other things too if they take my fancy.

The simpsons are all repeats as are star trek, never watch futurama.

I did watch the pretender but that is all repeats now

Discovery is showing programmes i watched last year.
 
  • #8
mythbusters on discovery channel wed nights at 9. its the best show on tv hehe
 
  • #9
Well in many places, summer has all the reruns. Its the new seasons that come in late September.
 
  • #10
Simpsons reruns of course, I rarely watch the new episodes as they are crap imo. I also like: NCIS, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Two and a half Men, Fear Factor. Myth Busters is pretty cool too.
 
  • #11
Of course nothing good is on now. Why do you think all the networks are so desperate for the next big reality show? IPTV is the new wave of entertainment.
 
  • #12
matthyaouw said:
The curse of sattelite TV. When you have 4 channels, you make do with what's on. When you have 867 channels, you become incredibly picky about what you watch.
:rofl: True. I've only had cable when it came free with the apartment I was living in (that was for about 9 months a few years ago...there still wasn't anything on). Though, right now I have TWO channels. I can watch PBS, which is clear, but seems to have a lot of children's programming on during the hours I've flipped on the TV, or ABC, which comes in a bit fuzzy, and sometimes gets to snowy to watch at all. I had to have a friend of mine fill me in on the news about Katrina, because I kept missing the news while busy unpacking stuff and haven't been spending much time online other than to peek in here for some relaxation and to use online maps to find places I need to be. But, even ABC had all repeats on the other night (I gave up and put in a Harry Potter DVD to have something on while I was unpacking until I found the box with my radio).

So, I'm caving in and getting cable because even for me, 2 channels is a little bit too limited. The person who answered from the cable company was all sorts of apologetic that it'll be about 7-10 days until I can place an order because they need to do a site survey first (they do this for all residences that never had service before). I didn't care, but I guess for some people, the idea of not having TV for a week is like torture. :rolleyes:
 
  • #13
wolram said:
I flick through the guide every now and then, but can never find any thing
interesting to watch, i do not know about other parts of the world, but the
british tv is all repeats, soaps other gunge, even the discovery channels are
show things years old.
Do you find any thing worth watching ?
How do you expect to find anything good when you're in england??
 
  • #14
Well, I have two words for you: Arrested Development. It has the potential to be the best comedy ever created, assuming that it continues it run at its present quality. In addition to its hilarity, it's also extremely rewarding to the viewer in terms of detail. Many of the jokes on the show have not just two levels to them, but even three or four.

EDIT: By the way, you have to watch the show in order from the beginning, or else you won't fully understand the idiosyncrasies of the characters. Season 1 is on DVD, and Season 2 should be coming out shortly. Season 3 will be premiering in a month.
 
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  • #15
Manchot said:
Well, I have two words for you: Arrested Development. It has the potential to be the best comedy ever created, assuming that it continues it run at its present quality. In addition to its hilarity, it's also extremely rewarding to the viewer in terms of detail. Many of the jokes on the show have not just two levels to them, but even three or four.
Seconded!

We don't have cable or satellite, and FOX is beyond our reception. We rented the first season of A.D. on DVD and I have never, EVER laughed so hard the first time watching a "new" show. The DVD has an extended, uncensored version of the pilot which is nearly twice as long as the aired version, and more than twice as good. We are waiting for the 2nd season to be released in October.
 
  • #16
I like to watch billiards and poker tournaments. I hear that they very often air snooker tournaments over there.
And you can always watch Red Dwarf reruns right?
 
  • #17
In addition to what's already been mentioned, the History Channel has some really interesting shows. There's a lot more variety than you might expect. There seems to be a lot of WWII stuff on in the afternoon though - it's all just the same stuff over and over. (How many shows can they make about one war??) You might like Mail Call, if you get the History Channel. The National Geographic Channel has some good stuff too. We have two PBS stations here (national and local) that occasionally have something good on.

My usual flipping goes PBS, PBS, TLC, Discovery, Bravo, History, National Geographic. If nothing is on those, I watch CNN or CSPAN or turn it off.

You may not get this news show in the UK, but if you do, check out Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC. He's hysterical. :!)
 
  • #18
TheStatutoryApe said:
I like to watch billiards and poker tournaments. I hear that they very often air snooker tournaments over there.
And you can always watch Red Dwarf reruns right?

Ah yes snooker that is one thing i do watch, I am not sure if red dwarf is on
any more, but i think i have seen every one twice all ready :grumpy:
 
  • #19
What's Red Dwarf about?
 
  • #20
yomamma said:
How do you expect to find anything good when you're in england??

We start by watching American channels, and then become infinately more appreciative of what we have here.
 
  • #21
honestrosewater said:
What's Red Dwarf about?
A radiation leak wipes out the crew of the mining ship Red Dwarf, leaving only one survivor - chicken soup machine repair man, Dave Lister. After three million years in suspended animation, Lister emerges to find he is the last human being in the universe. But he is not alone.
That is the summary for the first episode.
They're coming out with a movie at some point it seems but it doesn't look like they are sticking with the original story line too closely.
 
  • #22
I adore the Science Channel. I think the Discovery Channel has really gone downhill since the Science Channel split off from it, though I do like "Mythbusters" a lot.

Adding to honestrosewater's list, IFC, Ovation, and Trio sometimes have quite good programming. For music, VH1 Classic is surprisingly good although often cheesey. (They actually play music videos!)
 
  • #23
I try and make myself watch TV, its very hard for me unless its a movie.
 
  • #24
matthyaouw said:
We start by watching American channels, and then become infinately more appreciative of what we have here.
well, us over here with cable get some of your crap! how do you live?!
 
  • #25
hypnagogue said:
I adore the Science Channel.
Ooh, I think that's where Connections aired. It was the coolest show. :!) Did anyone else watch it?

For some reason, we don't get the Science Channel anymore. :frown:
 
  • #26
honestrosewater said:
Ooh, I think that's where Connections aired. It was the coolest show. :!) Did anyone else watch it?

For some reason, we don't get the Science Channel anymore. :frown:
Qwest gave it to us for free for a few months, we pay for it now :grumpy:

I've never heard of 'connections'. I like understanding
 
  • #27
honestrosewater said:
Ooh, I think that's where Connections aired. It was the coolest show. :!) Did anyone else watch it?

Yeah, the Connections series are great. I think the Science Channel aired them a while back, and before that it was carried by another channel (Discovery or PBS I think, not sure).
 
  • #28
hypnagogue said:
Yeah, the Connections series are great. I think the Science Channel aired them a while back, and before that it was carried by another channel (Discovery or PBS I think, not sure).

What is it all about ? whatever it is we do not get it in the uk.
 
  • #29
wolram said:
What is it all about ? whatever it is we do not get it in the uk.

Are you sure you didn't get it in the UK at some point? The original series was created in 1979, so it's fairly old by now, and the creator, James Burke, is British. (More recently, Connections 2 was created in 1994, and Connections 3 in 2003.)

For a brief description of the series and links to other resources about it, see the Wikipedia entry.
 
  • #30
yomamma said:
well, us over here with cable get some of your crap! how do you live?!

By keeping the good stuff, of course!
 
  • #31
I remember James Burk and the name Connections but can not remember the
show.
 

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