Whoever says TV is better than going to the movies is RIGHT! (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

Let me tell you....

For the past 10-15 years I hardly ever
watched television.

This year, my Tivo is jockying positions
to record 24, The Shield, Lost, American
Idol and Invasion

In the last week, with the debut of 24
and The Shield, I have been watching
some of the best television EVER!

These shows are far mor eentertaining than
movies, and sitting home watching them
certainly beats all the negative things
associated with going to the theater.

My favorite show? Hands down it's this
newest season of 24 that already by
its fourth episode, seems to be the best
season thus far. Following right on its
tail is Lost, which still seems to
be keeping us guessing in mid-season 2.

I am very impressed as to how GOOD television
is these days -- especially important to the
studios banking on viewers purchasing the
DVD sets at the end of each season.

....oh, did I mention The Sopranos
starts in almost 7 weeks?!

 

[Linda Thompson]

I'm with you, Ron...

My current-broadcast hotlist: 24, Monk, and the Stargates.

Also, The Closer, but it's currently between seasons.

 

[mylan]

my wife and I can hardly squeeze a movie in nowadays, our current hotlist: 24, Lost, Invasion, Criminal Minds, CSI (the original), Desperate Housewives, House, Medium, Sopranos (can't wait!). I would really like to work "The Shield" in but need to get up to speed, have not watched it at all. There are some great shows that fall through the cracks. So much tv, so little time!

 

[RAF]

And I'm waiting for the return of The Dead Zone, and The 4400 (I assume it's coming back). And I've just gotten "hooked" on Boston Legal. What a great cast and what a funny show.

And Let's not forget Alias (ending), Weeds (hilarious), etc. etc. etc. With the ability to record 4 HD programs and 1 SD program on my DVRs, 24 hours a day is not enough time to watch "24" and company!

Remember, for every The Gottis there is a Sopranos to take away the bad taste (no pun intended).

 

[mylan]

Forgot about Boston Legal, watched last season but let it fall by the wayside this season.

 

[Hunter P]

OMG, no mention of Rollergirls?

 

[TheLongshot]

Glad you are enjoying TV Ron. Too bad I don't think likewise. Beyond "My Name Is Earl", "Lost", and BSG, there isn't too much I feel is "must see", and Lost is starting to wear a bit on me.

Jason

 

[Robert Ringwald]

Veronica Mars, Weeds, Arrested Development...

Need I say more?

 

[TravisR]

It's been a good week or two of TV for me as well. 24, The Shield, Lost, and CSI (although I'm not the rabid fan I am of the other shows).

And as Ron pointed out, The Sopranos is back soon!

 

[Jesse Skeen]

As bad as movie theaters have gotten, at least they don't put logos on the screen during the movies!

 

[Stephen Orr]

Our Fridays are filled with Sci-Fi (Stargates, BSG), Saturdays we catch up with Monk and Numbers, Sundays are football and the Lord's day, Monday Surface and CSI Miami, Tuesday, NCIS and House, Wednesday, Lost and Invasion, Thursday, Smallville, CSI and may CSI New York...

And in between, the odd- HGTV home improvement show....

Have I left anything out?

We hardly every see anything in theaters anymore....

 

[Phil Florian]

...which is why I love TV on DVD more than even movies on DVD. The logos are annoying but Arrested Development made fun of it well. There was a period of time that the Famiy Guy logo was literally hiding the action behind it. They had a wee bit to make fun of that a few episodes later (and nicely enough, the giant screen engulfing logos disappeared for the most part, too...along with, sadly, the show itself).

Yeah, TV has certainly been more rewarding but that has been the case for me for quite a while. When television shows became more cinematic and story/arc driving you were essentially getting something that looked almost as good as a movie (sometimes better) with just as good or better acting and up to 22 episodes to tell a story. You can't beat that. X-Files is what really got me back into series television (after giving up on Star Trek TNG after a few seasons). Since then we have had Buffy, Angel, Millenium (hey, I liked it!), BSG, Lost, and so on.

And because of DVD, all the shows I missed when they first started (The Shield, 24, Veronica Mars) and now I don't want to start due to being so far behind...well, I can now easily catch them whenever I want. Bless you, compact storage medium.

Movies just can't compete with that. 2 good episodes of BSG are just as long, better written and better acted than most genre movies in the past...well, a long time.

And they blame illegal downloading/bootlegging on the movie business woes...

 

[DaveF]

No, they just splash red splotches across the image.

I was talking last night to my girlfriend about the remarkable profusion of good shows, those I watch:

Battlestar Galactica
Alias
Lost
Desparate Housewives
Grey's Anatomy

and those I don't have time / cable subscription to watch:

Stargate : SG-1
Stargate : Atlantis
Veronica Mars
Smallville
The 4400
House
Rescue Me
The Shield
Nip/Tuck
My Name is Earl
24
Charmed

And there are there are quality/interesting shows that I don't care for, that other people enjoy:

Gilmore Girls
American Idol
Top Model
Amazing Race
Beauty and the Geek
ER
Survivor


I've just listed 23 shows, many of which meet or exceed the best movies in quality. I don't see how anyone can seriously disparage the quality of TV over the past few years.

 

[Patrick Sun]

What's also been a good development is that "film" actors/actresses are now showing up with prominent roles on TV shows, so the quality of the acting is up to the material being written for the shows.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

there have been so many articles written
throughout 2005 regarding the demise of
the movie-going experience. Hollywood has
been scratchin' their noggin' trying to figure
out why box office tallies are near or at
all-time lows.

The answer is pretty obvious. Television
entertainment has gotten so much better that
it has become the obviouse family alternative
to shelling out megabucks at the local cineplex
for overpriced tickets and candy -- not to
mention rude audiances.

There isn't a movie I have seen this year
that has been as satisfying entertainment than
some of my favorite shows.

 

[Chuck Schick]

You know what looks good? "Thief" on F/X in March. Andre Braugher, Linda Hamilton, Michael Rooker and the girl who plays George Michael's girlfriend Ann on "Arrested Development".

 

[Jason Seaver]

The year's not even three weeks old!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Jason,

Change that to the past year.

As genuine as I am in what I am trying
to express, I sometimes fall into bad cliche's

 

[Brent Hutto]

I'd suggest a slight modification to Ron's statement. For viewers who prefer either:

a) long story arcs played out over numerous 30-60 minute episodes or

b) unscripted or semi-scripted "reality" entertainment

then we're in the midst of a golden age of television unmatched by any time in the history of that medium. What's more, the movie theater is faced with a very hard if not totally impossible task to deliver a product that those viewers would find as compelling.

I think a huge proportion of those of us who frequent Internet forums fall into one or both of these groups. However, there is still the great mass of TV viewers out there who find so-called unscripted programming inane and ugly and who lack the desire to follow every episode of long-form storytelling a la "Lost" or "24".

 

[Jason Seaver]

I'll go with part of this; I think the Internet does tend to cater to those who like long-form serials, whether it be scripted like 24 or unscripted like Survivor. Indeed, I suspect that being able to maintain a continual conversation about these shows between installments has made them more viable than they would have been before.

Less heralded online, except by people complaining, is how procedural mysteries dominate television as much as the buzzed-about genres. The CSIs, the Law & Orders, House, Without a Trace, etc., fill a LOT of the networks' schedule, and fill in even more while the serials are on vacation.

I don't know if I'd say TV is better than the movies; I do think that what we've seen over the past decade or so is TV really maturing as a medium: Cable has allowed the development of more adult-oriented series; time-shifting and an internet support structure has made it easier for genre shows to become a lot more serialized; a number of factors have made the unscripted shows a genuine innovation.

Film is still the best medium for telling one self-contained story, though; the frustrating thing is that film currently doesn't have the distribution system that TV does. The top 1% of features is just as good as the top 1% of television; getting that top 1% to an audience is a much more difficult proposition.