Not only are the cable news networks pumping vitriol 24/7/365, but some of the most highly rated TV shows' storylines are taking the same path. I'm going to mention a few of the shows I've watched for several seasons without going to go into details concerning the storylines. Some of you may be familiar. Others not. It would take way too long to explain them.
Last night I felt totally left down by the ending of "Person Of Interest". Over the last several episodes the drama was focused on a bunch of bad cops instead of helping victims. This all came to a head last night with the killing of Detective Joss Carter. Looking ahead to the previews they indicated John Reese is going to go all Charlie Bronson and get revenge. Apparently writers have decided to take this show into a dark and hate filled place. Torture, killings and revenge have become common in each episode.
"Covert Affairs" is a ditto as well. The main character, Annie Walker has been pursuing Henry Wilcox to kill or capture. Everyone works for the CIA in this series. Henry is the ringleader for a bunch of corrupt high level CIA officials. And of course a lot of the blood of these corrupt CIA agents had to be spilled along the way. Again torture, killings and revenge have become the norm in each episode.
Storylines for "The Mentalist" either have the same writers or are mind melding with the writers of those others. Patrick Jane (the main character) has been in pursuit of 'Red John' over several years. In this season it was revealed the 'Red John' is part of an organization made up of a bunch of corrupt CSI agents, cops, jailhouse workers, judges and members of the FBI. Need I mention, once again torture, killings and revenge have now become a intricate part of this drama series too?
While "The Good Wife" doesn't feature torture and killings it certainly has it's own agenda when it comes to distrusting everyone the characters ever met. Alica Florrick, the good wife, it turns out isn't so good after all. She cheated on her husband with Will Gardner (one of the law partners in the firm she works at). Then after being made partner stabbed Will in the back by starting her own law firm. In doing so she and Carey stole a dozen lawyers from the firm she worked at, 'Lockhart & Gardner', along with a number of their clients.
Last Sunday night's storyline featured a federal prosecutor who cut a deal with an illegal Mexican immigrant to testy against a drug lord. It was inferred that the drug lord managed to slip back to Mexico (possibly) with the help of the federal prosecutor for the DEA. The prosecutor then canceled the deal and in so doing sent the witness back to Mexico which would mean he would get his throat slit and hung by the drug lord once he got there. Alica's group of lawyers tried to get this former witness off the bus before it would arrive 12 hours later in Mexico. They went through 2 judges, a immigration amnesty official and two agencies who couldn't give a hoot less. Once again making the government and it's officials out to be the bad guys.
Recognize A Recurring Theme Here?
Forget about 'waterboarding', characters in these shows make that look like a walk in the park.
In 'Person Of Interest' last night detective Lionel Fusco was duct taped, slapped around and had 4 of his fingers broken. He ended up getting loose and strangling his tormentor (a corrupt cop) with handcuffs in the most gruesome scene I've ever seen on TV.
Is it any wonder Americans don't trust their government or care about other people? TV shows portray that somehow every enforcement agency is full of graft, corruption and can't be trusted. The TV news networks hammer away 24 hours a day, 365 days a year how awful this or that person or the government is. For cable TV news hosts it's become a contest to see which politician or celebrity could ascend to the top of the list with the most outrageous asinine hateful statement.
The wife and I took stock last night. We asked ourselves do we feel pleasantly entertained at the end of the shows we've been watching? Do we instead feel stressed out by being drawn into these dark places the writers have taken us? The answer should be obvious. We plan or no longer watching the shows I've mentioned.
A couple more are on the bubble-- "Once Upon A Time" and it's spin-off "In Wonderland" has been wrecking nearly every good feeling growing up we had about our childhood characters. I am aware many of these originally were questionable characters, but Walt Disney'fied them for us as we grew up. And that's my whole point...
At one time TV and film brought us happy endings. After we left the movie theatre or turned off the TV we were made to feel better about our own lives and the people around us. No life wasn't fantastic back in merry old England like the BBC and PBS portrays. PBS's masterpiece series like 'Downton Abbey', 'The Paradise' and 'Mr. Selfridge' does however manage to show the warm and personal relationships that were possible under the harsh lives they were forced to endure.
The original 'NCIS' TV series is still fun to watch with it's quirky characters' personalities. It's nothing like it's spin-off 'NCIS-LA' who's writers can't come up with a decent storyline without machine guns blazing, bullet riddled enemies and explosions
Final Thoughts
About 100 to 200 million viewers tune in to watch the sport of football over the course of a week. Over 10x's that of the highest rated TV shows. It's reassuring for me to know the majority of people are far more interested in sports. This rather then the airwaves cluttered with the derogatory news commentary or the programs who's main agenda seems to be making people violent and distrustful of everyone else.
No my tastes in TV viewing hasn't changed, but TV programming sure has. All one need do is look back over THIS EXTENSIVE LIST of TV shows from the 50's, 60's and 70's. None of them featured graphic killings. Good guys always did good deeds. They didn't do good deeds sometimes and not others in order to justify a means to an end.
Nor did most have running storylines trying to suck people into wasting their time coming back week after week, year after year. Most of these shows wrapped up their stories at the end of an hour or half hour.
They also limited commercials to about 15 minutes out of the hour. They didn't use 3 minute intros and exits. Between the two I can zip through the commercials for these newly recorded one hour shows in less then 40 minutes.
One final criticism. Today there are 100's of shows featuring competitions between people of every kind. Yet another way which serves to divide people. ha ha.. your a loser!
No, it's not very gratifying for me to watch one person or group belittled and sent packing. Am I supposed to feel delighted about that somehow? Well I don't.
This is why I spend more time now more then ever away from the TV set. Either with family, friends or poking around the internet. TV producers who keep this crap up will one day find themselves in the same position as AM radio and the newspapers which once were the mainstays in or daily routines.
We no longer listen to AM radio or subscribe to the newspaper.
TV's now headed in that direction as well for this family.
I just read that 'Necessary Roughness' has now been cancelled. Yet one more reason and another step closer to unplugging the TV.
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments are under moderation. Meaning pending approval. If comments are disrespectful or do not address this specific topic they will not be published