DVD TV Tells all (1 Viewer)

[Regulus]

I'm talking about the so-called "Basic" Cable Channels that have got themselves in a Horrific "Rut" and seem to show the Same Shows Over and Over Again, with a seemingly endless array of Commercials to Boot. I'm not too fond of the "Premium" Channels either. The Quality of todays Movies seems to get worse each year. Many of these channels also show the same stuff endlessly. The last time I subscribed to a Premium Channel (I had to subscribe to HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, The Movie Channel and Flix in order to get "Free" Installation of Satellite TV -Either way you spend $250.00) I found myself watching only a Movie or Two Each Month! All the other times they showed stuff I wasn't interested in or already had on Home Video! It just wasn't worth it! For a while I could rely on The History Channel, the Discovery Channel and The Learning Channel to show SOMETHING worth watching but in the last year or two those have also gone downhill. I finally decided "Why should I spend $60 a Month when they no longer show what interests me? I now use the money I used to spend on cable to buy DVD Box Sets, and I actually ENJOY what I watch on TV. NO Monthly Fees , NO Schedule to adhere to, NO Nights of "Nothing worth Watching" and, Best of All,
NO COMMERCIALS!!!

 

[DanMel]

I only watch Turner Classic Movies as they don't run ANY commercials during the movie. I wish someday there would be a Turner Classic TV shows.

 

[Bonnie*F]

The one thing that really pushes a button is that they cut into the show every five minutes to air the exact same commcercials they aired on the previous break. Or worse yet, the fifth commercial is the same as the first one during the break.
Personally, I watch an episode here and there of a variety of shows. That way I know whether I want to purchase the DVD set when it comes out or not. Most of my "live" TV viewing is on the Discovery/History/Court(good mysteries) Channels with A&E and BBCAmerica thrown in. Oh, and the Weather Channel

 

[Tony J Case]

Just last week, I picked up in trade the first 4 hours of M-TV ever broadcast, from waaaaaaay back in August 1981. Now, putting aside the cheap "MTV used to play music videos" mentions, I find it mind blowing that they run ONE commercial every break (about every 3 videos apart). Some of the other vintage shows I have on DVD are like this too. 3 commercials every break with just two per half hour.

Heh - makes me chuckle at an old strip that Mad did once upon a time, about a Rube Goldberg like machine that got you beer, made you a sandwich and let you go to the john all in the brief space of a commercial break, and get back to the show to the second. Nowendays, I could get some monks to illuminate a freakin' bible by hand in the time it takes for some commercials to run.

 

[paste]

One of the reasons there were so few commercials was that they had a hard time finding sponsors prior to going on the air. The concept of a cable station devoted to 24 hours of music videos was something that a lot of advertisers couldn't understand at the time.

 

[Corey3rd]

The first day of MTV was seen on one cable system. By the time MTV made it to our town in NC, they had a lot of ads between the videos.

VH1Classic used to be ad free until about a year ago when they decided to stop going 24/7 weird videos and start running music shows that used to air on VH1.

 

[paste]

Similar thing happened to me, I saw it in Buffalo during MTV's first month and there were very few commercials and by the time it got to Texas in 82/83, there were a ton.

 

[Anthony Hom]

Is there some arrangement with Hollywood where the first commercial at every break is a movie trailer?

 

[Marty M]

Not only were each episode longer, but there were more episodes per season. A normal season would be 30-32 episodes in the late 50s, early 60s.

 

[Regulus]

I noticed that, Marty. My first Three Seasons of Bewitched total More than 100 Episodes, while a Modern Series (Example: Smallville) takes FIVE seasons to get to 100 episodes!

My Motto: Grow Old? Maybe, Grow Up? NEVER!

 

[Corey3rd]

look at the first season of Perry Mason with 39 hour long episodes. That's three seasons of the Sopranos being cranked out by Raymond Burr and company. This is probably why back in the early days of TV, actors had to decide if they were going to work in movies or TV since there was little time off.