The dumbing down of TV, what do you miss?

Does anyone remember "Gophers!"? it was a children's series but I watched one more recently and there are a lot of adult themes, the vegetable patch in the garden are constantly talking about rising up against their oppressors. There are also cockroaches in the house that are Mexican.
 
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If we go back to the past that's a lot less channels so by sheer volume difference there's a lot less content to not like.

I'm indifferent, the much lower choice of old meant a higher chance of finding nothing to interest you.
 
For years the BBC did weekly plays written especially and performed live. TV pprogrammes like the Great War and the World At War were ridiculously well made. But not everything was better. Modern TV has grown from the roots of the past and shows like GoT, The West Wing etc are so much more sophisticated than their predecessors but show like War and Peace are pretty but superficial compared to their 70's counterparts. The very best has maybe got better but some of the really bold things no longer take place would be my take.
 
PlacidCasual said:
For years the BBC did weekly plays written especially and performed live. TV pprogrammes like the Great War and the World At War were ridiculously well made. But not everything was better. Modern TV has grown from the roots of the past and shows like GoT, The West Wing etc are so much more sophisticated than their predecessors but show like War and Peace are pretty but superficial compared to their 70's counterparts. The very best has maybe got better but some of the really bold things no longer take place would be my take.
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I have the World at War on DVD. Amazing series. In fact most of my DVDs and Blu-rays I own is simply because you can't get them on streaming services these days.
 
[FnG]magnolia said:
Dempsey & Makepeace.
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i used to really like that. we do have some really good dramas nowadays (slow horses is right up there) but some of those 80s/90s cop shows were great...... Hunter and T.J Hooker were also good. whether they will have aged well am not so sure.

I relatively recently (re)watched the Sweeney, the Professionals and tales from the unexpected. Dated for sure but still some decent stories in there. (killing a man with a frozen leg of lamb then feeding it to the policeman investigating the murder on a date :D )
Dont forget Open All hrs........... its still great now, however its attempt to reboot was awful. some things are best left as is imo. (probably same with Fawlty Towers)

my claim to fame... i was on tomorrows world once.. it was one of the later episodes covering the human genome project
 
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Not really a specific thing I miss, but something which seems to have become significantly more prevalent over the past 5-10 years is the constant repetition, particularly in game/reality TV (it seems to be an influence from US shows as it is far more noticeable in those, but it's started affecting UK shows as well). The worst I've noticed recently is in Hell's Kitchen (not my choice, but the other half loves it).

Voiceover: "Lashawnda in the blue kitchen is about to serve her dish to chef Ramsay" *cue 5 minutes showing her dramatically walking the 3 metres to the table with her dish from 15 different angles*
*Gordon tastes the dish* "Lashawnda, your dish is..." *2 minute pause, 3 different close up shots of Gordon's face*
*10 minute commercial break*
Voiceover: "Lashawnda in the blue kitchen has just served her dish to chef Ramsay" *cue another 5 minutes showing her dramatically walking the 3 metres to the table with her dish from 15 different angles*
*Show the same shot of Gordon tasting the dish* "Lashawnda, your dish is..." *5 minute pause, close up shot of Gordon's face*
*close up shot of Lashawnda's face*
*Several rapid fire close up shots of other members of the blue kitchen*
*Wide sweeping shot of the Hell's Kitchen dining area and/or exterior*
*close up shot of Gordon's face*
*close up shot of Lashawnda's face*
*close up shot of Gordon's face* "...cooked perfectly, point to the blue team!"
Voiceover: "Chanice from the red kitchen...."

Etc. repeat for every single contestant, and you've managed to fill an hour episode with 10 minutes of "content" :rolleyes:
 
I miss the top tier highbrow programming for which Channel 4 was internationally respected and admired.
 
Haggisman said:
The worst I've noticed recently is in Hell's Kitchen
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original ramsey one was good as were apprentice/gbbo.

throws in Little Britain, Skins

I'm wondering if the likes of Open University returned with netflix content like Starmer accoladed Adolescence.
 
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