What happened to 'nice' TV shows?

Sometimes, I just like to be a blob in front of the tele, I just want to put the brain in neutral and be entertained.

My go-to in recent years was Masterchef and The Block. Masterchef has become, quite frankly, ridiculous. You need to do three years at a cooking school just to get a foot in the door. You have to know how to temper chocolate and use a sous vide.

And then there's The Block. It used to be about renovating and building and styling. I was interested to see what's 'in' as I have no skills whatsoever in that field. This season, it's about creating conflict and discontent. I hate it. Surely the producers don't need to do that to get good ratings?

Thank God for The Crown. What is everyone watching? Suggestions please.

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I agree with all your comments Janelle. One show I won't watch is The Masked Singer,  I don't know why the "judges" have to shout and scream the way they do. The Block has gone down in my estimation, before it was about styling and the contestants, now all they seem to do is put each other down. I like the quieter shows, love to watch The Durrells on Saturday evenings and some cooking shows.  I like to watch also the English real life Police shows and how they try to solve murders and  trace missing people. I like to watch Secrets of the Museum and restoration shows., and Travel Documentries.

 

Never heard of it Hola   [The Masked Singer] but from what you say I would agree.

I like peaceful intelligent shows and they are far and few between in Australian TV these days.

I guess that indicates what sort of people like to watch screaming shows!  LOL

Like to see The Dog Show!

But more and more we both find we are not watching Australian TV it is pretty boring.

 

Oh so agree with you - good TV  has certainly taken a dive!   Just watching the promos gives me the irrits! Masked Singer - how stupid they look yelling and gesticulating and jumping up and down - ridiculous. The Block - is this scripted for them to be so nasty and rude to each other - if so sack the script writers!! It did used to be nice to see peoples innovative talents coming to the fore and watching the rooms blossom into such style and colour.  We do not want to relax in an evening and watch them pulling each other to bits.       I much prefer the good British shows The Coroner for instance.  Also like the Police shows love NCIS especially NCIS New Orleans, love Dwayne Pride, but have stopped watching NCIS Los Angeles - too much shooting and car chases and wrecks - its become a very noisy show.     Still miss our Saturday nights with Daryl Somers and Hey, Hey It's Saturday - surely they could bring a similar show back.   Also love Vet/Animal shows loving the British The Dogs House at present and so pleased to see we are getting an Aussie version.  Thank You to whoever suggested that,.

 

 

 

Celia, The Dog Show Australia is coming soon!

Troubador, Hey Hey Saturday 50 year special coming soon!

 

The only parts of the Block I watch is the finals of the different areas. CH9

Like Hola I find The British Mysteries  usually enjoyable CH72

A most enjoyable show on CH10 is 

The Dog House

where a team of devoted matchmakers pairing homeless dogs with hopeful companions and explore the magic that can occur between people and dogs. The Dog House is heart-warming TV at its furriest. 

Australian episodes are going to commence soon

 

Looking forward to the Australian Dog House.

I have been behind the scenes when a couple of TV shows were being filmed, so have seen firsthand the vast differences between genres.   One was a quiz show, and the other a short-lived drama.  I know which one had the most people involved (by miles) and took the most effort to bring to the small screen.   Also, only one of them was required to pay me.  You don't have to be a Rhodes Scholar to guess which one. LOL

Probably says it all.   Reality shows, quiz shows, and the like, are easier and less expensive to produce.

British comedies are the best "feel good" tonic available.  Most of the oldies like Are you being served, On the buses, Fawlty Towers, The vicar of Dibley etc etc. are excellent and guaranteed to make you laugh.

I've just recently watched the last episode of Rosehaven, an Australian comedy set in Tasmania starring Celia Pacquola and Luke Mcgregor.

Rosehaven is a very funny show with fast one liner and quips and after 5 seasons they have decided to call it quits.

Goggle box, the farmer wants a wife, and all those so called reality tv shows are all scripted and written by morons for morons, the lowest common denominator audiences thrive on these shows, sitting there while sniffing drugs and drinking alcohol is their entertainment.

The day when you can be a convicted drug courier and then be a star on one of these dumb shows was the day Australia went down the gurgler. The same as when the footbrawlers who are supposed to be role models for younger kids are being fools, drunks and druggies and sex maniacs in public, the day when footbrawl is banned from media, for the bad publicity they give, will be a good day.

Chineslanders and Anny Dollarcheck should be ashamed of themselves for condoning footbrawl before morals because of all the drug money they bring to their state, the same with that other country ? to our west that is still hooked up to the main land.

Anyone who get a thrill out of these shows need to have a good look at themselves, the same with the stupid footbrawl games, we are getting sick of the crap that is on tv, it's great that we can record shows we want to watch and fast forward the ads and if there is an add on a show that is crap we won't buy that product ever.

Tv should be for good entertainment not reducing the morals of the population, our government has no guts when it comes to mandating what can be seen on tv. 

all these ads for sport betting is a joke as well, try to put in a complaint to the overseers and see what you get, money talks in all cases , morals don't even have a place there.

Apart from some news shows we probably only watch about 5% of live tv, the rest is recorded and vetted.

Adds a are ignored, more ads than shows most of the time.

 

 

I agree with you Ox.

Is there anything worse than reality shows? It's definitely not reality as it's all scripted to try and lure braindead people to watch. 

Totally agree with you Oxleigh. What really annoyed me when they started was all those wretched betting ads, encouraging  mostly men to waste their money in those companies using money they shouldn't be, causing depletion of family finances and  possible family breakups.. And the reality shows, what a waste of time they are. We never watch them, the ads for them are enough to put you off . We used to watch 'House Rules', that was interesting, and then came 'My Kitchen rules" the first season was  enjoyable, then there came all the bickering and slandering, which was encouraged , apparently by the producer, as one contestant stated, to increase viewers interest and following. How can you enjoy a meal sitting there under those conditions. Anything for the ratings !!

Don't hold back, Oxleigh, tell us what you really think. I can't see any TV shows that you have missed so we can safely assume that anyone who watches any TV is a moron, according to you.

Haha Sue, good observation!

I don't sit in front of the box a lot, but I enjoy many shows on catch up. Two of my favourites this year are The Durrels and Back to Nature.

Don't watch the "unreality" reality shows but love my British whodunnits and some of the DIY and home shows.

reality tv is a joke. to put it mildly , whose reality ?? 

all you do is download two programs onto your computer ,have computer hooked up to tv with hdmi cable and then you can download what ever you want when ever you want and watch  when ever you want, its so so simple, i never watch tv now only what i download for free, some great series out there.

The best show on tv this year is Back to Nature on channel 2.

It is such a calming show as well as being interesting and informative.

The only problem is that tomorrow night,s show is number 8 and the final in the series.

Last week,s show on The Hawkesbury River and The Great North Road was especially interesting.

I had never heard of The Great North Road before.

This show has as the human stars Aaron Pederson and Holly but the true star is the beauty of Australia.

Why travel overseas when there is so much to explore here in Australia.

Everyone who has commented has made valid points - mostly pointing out the decline of quality programs, the lack of any decent morality in the content, and the complete disregard for the viewers who want something really worth watching. Let's not mention the participants in shows who hope to get rich quickly by subjecting themselves to inane and demeaning tasks and activities allegedly in the guise of Entertainment.

Although there are repeated programs, I happily forego several other things to keep my Foxtel sub current with its huge variety of programs to interest me. I especially enjoy the choices in documentaries and lifestyle shows which bring the world into my home, especially in this time of Covid. SBS has much to recommend it as well, even more so than the ABC.

The hold that AFL football in particular has over several commercial channels, especially Ch. 7, is frightening. Granted many people love their footy, but the money involved and the freedom given to players in these times of isolation, makes a mockery of what most medical experts stand for.

The whole scenario is a window and a blanket comment on the slow decline of our supposedly advanced society. Don't even think of the future...

I can't stand any of these so-called "reality" shows involving cooking, building, music, etc. Most of my old-time favourite crime shows have turned away from free-to-air to pay tv, and I object to paying for any of that. What has happened to all the good old sci-fi series, and the new ones we've never seen? Dr Who isn't what it used to be. The latest "War of the Worlds" is almost incomprehensible. I'm mostly stuck with rail, road and travel documentaries, not to mention multiple repeats of NCIS and the like. I'm not a prude, but I detest all the swearing f... words where they are totally inappropriate. No wonder I have a large DVD collection!

I watch almost no television now as there is nothing to watch that I enjoy other than Vera, The Good Karma Hospital, Grantchester, Father Brown, Grand Designs UK, Restoration Australia, Who Do You Think You Are, Every Family Has A Secret, and Midsommer Murders.  Thankfully Grantchester is back next Saturday and a new series of Restoration Australia started last night.  I used to love Brit crime shows like The Bill, Dalziel and Pascoe, Inspector Morse, Touch of Frost, Rosemary and Thyme, etc, but now the crime shows are so dark and frightening, I just cannot watch them anymore.  Don't watch any American stuff, doesn't interest me in the slightest.  Never really liked it from early on, though I did enjoy Will and Grace, The Golden Girls, and the first few seasons of Greys Anatomy - I was working in a hospital when that first came on here.  Most of the good stuff from the BBC is only shown on Foxtel etc, and under no circumstances ever will I pay money to watch TV nor will I ever give that odious Rupert Murdoch one cent of my money.  I have plenty of other things to do than watch TV.

Well, good for you, but if you have to deprive yourself of some good and interesting shows just because you would have to pay a couple of dollars a day for them, I guess your life is relatively prescribed. Whatever you think, I doubt whether Rupert is seriously worried by your opinion of him.

It's a pity we have to pay for so many things that make life interesting and worthwhile, but that's how it is.


Actually, most of us love the shows you've mentioned, but we cannot wear blinkers and we can always learn, enjoy new things and keep an open mind within the bounds of common decency.  This is where so many younger people missed out during their formative years. Poor role models and unrealistic societal expectations.

Watch "The Capture" 6 episodes, on ABC Iview. British and very well done. Series 2 next year. Also "Money Heist" on Netflix

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