I am afraid that is the choice I will make as well.Originally Posted by mozo-pg
I am afraid that is the choice I will make as well.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
Things like 'Survivor', 'The Bachelor', 'Hell's Kitchen', etc all just repulse me. The worst offenders, IMO, are the music competition shows...'The Voice', 'American Idol', 'The Masked Singer'....I have a pretty fiery hatred for that shit.
So, you are calling a show that you have never watched a piece of shit? My wife and I have watched every season. It has it’s flaws and has gone downhill a bit over the years, but I still find it somewhat of a microcosm of how humans interact in real life, and still enjoy it.
^^ But isn't your profession medical research? The idea of staging and televising psychological experiments never appealed to me. And for every hour they broadcast, there are hundreds of hours of unused raw footage. They choose the most salacious footage to broadcast. A more accurate case study would be watching the mundane, of which there is far more along with the sensational.
"Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama
Fiery hatred is pretty exteme for television you don't watch. I think the Voice is excellent - lots of raw talent. I tried The Mask Singer once, and decided to pass (no fiery hatred though)
What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)
I worked in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing so was never involved in research (my wife was the research person), but I did spend the last 15 years of my career as a supervisor of up to 50 people at times. Working in a manufacturing environment I saw interactions between employees not particularly different from what happens on Survivor. There was plenty of drama, infighting, relationships, all kinds of dysfunctional stuff that went on.
That being said, I agree Survivor is not any kind of scientific case study and yes they do pick out the spiciest footage from hours of the mundane to broadcast. But I think it is very well produced and we enjoy it. I just found it odd that you called a show a POS that you admit you have never actually watched.
I watched a few seasons of American Idol back in the day and used to enjoy it, but I kept seeing the people I thought were the most talented get voted off (Adam Lambert for example) so I eventually stopped watching it. I did watch the last two episodes of The Voice this year as we have some friends who are really into it and kept urging me to check it out. The contestants that made it to the finale were all quite talented, but the show is so hokey at times that it was hard to watch. I had DVR’d it so I could just skip through to the actual performances.
IMO, it greatly devalues music. Folks go on about streaming, downloading, "corporate" pop music, stuff like The Voice and American Idol are the foundations of it. It turns music into dramatic competition. Music isn't a sport. I concede that there is raw talent to be seen and heard on these shows. But, again IMO, it's the very real-world definition of 'selling out". "Please, sir...I can sing...make me famous!" These shows are not about music. They're about advertising and getting people to watch television.Fiery hatred is pretty exteme for television you don't watch. I think the Voice is excellent - lots of raw talent. I tried The Mask Singer once, and decided to pass (no fiery hatred though
Apologies if I come off rude. But I truly hate that garbage.
I do too and I'm not apologizing for it. It's trash.
As far as Survivor goes, there's nothing survival about it anymore (not that there ever really was)...it's all idols, game on right off the boat and annoying 15 minutes of famers with causes to find a way to preach about. "Come on in guys!" ...
"Who would have thought a whale would be so heavy?" - Moe Sizlak
Absolute trash.I do too and I'm not apologizing for it. It's trash.
Yet, talent contests / battle of the band type competitions has been around since rock n roll began. Even going back to Star Search in the 80’s. It was the prototype for all of today’s talent shows. If you look at the list of talent that came out of Star Search it is impressive. A few would be: Sam Harris, Brad Garret (Everybody Loves Raymond), LeeAnne Rymes, Sawyer Brown, Beth Hart, Billy Porter, Adam Sandler, Alanis Morrisette, The Backstreet Boys, Britny Spears, Connan Obrien, Dave Chappelle, Dennis Miller, Drew Carrey, Justin Timberlake, Norm Macdonald, Ray Ramono, Rosie O’Donnell, Sharon Stone, Usher, just to name a few.
Several prominent prog vocalists have come from talent shows too. Leslie Hunt from District 97 was on American Idol. Caleb Johnson from Trans-Siberian Orchestra won American Idol. Keith Semple from The Cyberiam was on both American Idol and The Voice, Maria Formica from Trans-Siberian Orchestra was on The Voice, Adam Lambert from Queen was on American Idol. Tony D’alessio from Banco was on the X-Factor, Pain Of Salvation was on the Eurovision song contest.
I too find these shows a grind to sit through, but there is no doubt that they have discovered a lot of talent over the years.
Several of those names you mentioned are just more examples of non-art. Not saying there's no talent. I just take exception to turning music into some sort of pageant.
Anyway, opinions vary. I am of the opinion that talent contests, televised or not, are garbage. Art is not a competition, IMO.
I see The Voice is overproduced but I'd come back to raw talent. I love musical talent regardless of where it's coming from (rap, country, prog, reggae, jazz, etc.)
I like the introductory rounds prior to the finals because these early episodes reflect pure talent. The judges are excellent and offer support and encouragement to the contestants. i'm not ashamed to say I love the show.
What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)
The promos formulated to entice people to watch told me it wasn't worth my time. Likewise when testing a new guitar, I don't need to sit and perform a concert. Like those kids at Guitar Center. I know within a couple of minutes if a guitar plays well and sounds good.
I like Jimmy Kimmel's characterization of American Idol, and other talent shows: high stakes karaoke.
Last edited by progmatist; 01-03-2024 at 02:17 PM.
"Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama
That is a good description.
After this post, I added this show to my DVR recordings for my wife (she loves this kind of thing and hadn't heard of it before), who watched four episodes last night and surprised me with a beautifully made French omelette this morning! I said 'Wow! Where did you get this idea?' and she replied 'Selena and Chef.' I didn't - and won't - watch it myself but my wife said Selena Gomez indeed is very cute in a bumbling kind of way, trying to make these things without much culinary skill.
So thank you for that!
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 4 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
Watched the new Dave Chappell comedy special on Netflix last night. Not his best, but pretty good for the most part.
You are most welcome. She is indeed very cute on the show.After this post, I added this show to my DVR recordings for my wife (she loves this kind of thing and hadn't heard of it before), who watched four episodes last night and surprised me with a beautifully made French omelette this morning! I said 'Wow! Where did you get this idea?' and she replied 'Selena and Chef.' I didn't - and won't - watch it myself but my wife said Selena Gomez indeed is very cute in a bumbling kind of way, trying to make these things without much culinary skill.
So thank you for that!
My wife, playing catch up with Fargo, started season 3. I was hooked! I remember not caring for this season the way I did S1 & S2, but man oh man, the second viewing was superb. It is extremely surreal...think Twin Peaks surreal (including Leland Palmer (Ray Wise) himself in an other-worldy guardian angel type role [in my view anyway]). What I didn't catch the first time around was the recurring themes of technology vs anti-technology and "truth" vs fact (very apropos given our current information shithole). The final 5 minutes leaves the viewer to decide, but that didn't kick me in the ass like it did after my initial viewing (which I digested from week to week when it first aired). I think shows like this really benefit from a serious binge-watch.
"That gum you like is going to come back in style."
I think the current season of Fargo is brilliant. Very rich characters. fighting on the sides of good and evil. The station we watch it on has commercials. I hate commercials, totally impacts on the flow of the story. I signed up for the no commercial option on Amazon prime. I'm willing to pay to not watch them.
What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)
I have been DVR-ing this season and not watching it live so I can FF through the commercials.
We watched the latest Fargo episode last night and now I am jonesing for Tuesday night. It's difficult to watch some of violence against Dot but I know "consequences" will be coming. The Sheriff and his deputy son are in for a world of hurt.
We blew through the second season of Dark Winds. This is one incredible series. I read most of the Tony Hillerman books back in the day though I have forgotten most of it. It is exciting to see these characters come to life. The acting is first rate, the plot is tight, and the scenery is incredible.
My wife watches a shit-ton of reality TV though mostly crime shows. She's also fond of those medical oddities shows, the shows with morbidly obese people (You must lose thirty pound in one munt), and the hoarding shows. I can't stomach that stuff and it disturbs me that I know way more about the 1000 lb sisters than a sane man should.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
^^ And it's "set" in your back yard no less. Although the current season was filmed in Northern Alberta Canada.
"Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama
I have to admit that I'd almost forgotten how much Cosby was *everywhere* during my childhood TV viewing years. My family had a couple of his albums and I listened to them quite a bit. Those were some creepy thoughts he shoehorned into various routines and TV show bits, so maybe it's harder to separate art from artist here. It's all so messed up.We Need To Talk About Cosby. On Showtime. A four part docuseries, directed by W Kamau Bell, that explores Bill Cosby's descent from "America's Dad" to alleged sexual predator.
Each part was roughly an hour long but I never felt like it dragged.
I had heard all about the allegations and his arrest, of course, but I never realized the scope of it all. My reaction to the allegations – and to him and his legacy – after finishing the docuseries: I'm kinda dumbfounded. It's almost beyond words.
My reaction to the docuseries:
<sig out of order>
So good! I haven't ached for a next episode like this in a while.
"Who would have thought a whale would be so heavy?" - Moe Sizlak
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