Sunday, October 04, 2009

Nothing Worth Watching

Sunday morning and once again I found myself scrolling through the guide on the cable box searching in vain for something worth watching before finally settling on watching something that I had previously DVR'ed. (It's for this very reason that I don't automatically delete things after watching them). Now, weekend AM TV viewing is typically a crap shoot for finding anything to watch, but it seems as though even prime time television is getting that way as well. Is it just me, or is anyone else getting tired of the seeming onslaught of “Reality TV” crap that the so called major networks keep producing? I've found very few shows that I personally find worth watching and many of those are not on the networks, they're on cable. The Sci-Fi Channel's re-imagined “Battlestar Galactica” was quite well done and I was disappointed when it ended; but at least it ended well and wasn't dragged out ad nauseam like so many network sitcoms and dramas tend to be. The new show by Joss Whedon, “Dollhouse” is very good as most Whedon shows tend to be; I was glad to see Fox actually gave it a shot at a second season. “How I Met Your Mother” is another network show that is enjoyable and seems to break the old school sitcom model used for decades and I do enjoy “NCIS”. Beyond those I'd rather watch The Food Network or shows that are only available on HBO (“True Blood” and “Entourage”) or Showtime (“Penn & Teller's Bullshit!”).

What I'm saying is, it just seems like Hollywood has lost any creative spark. For example, “NCIS: Los Angeles” premiered last week, and while so far I find it to be a good show, it's still at its core a spinoff. Even beyond television is Hollywood's new trend toward making old 1980's TV programs, cartoons or video games into movies, usually badly. There have been exceptions, granted; “Transformers” was actually pretty good and I've heard that “G.I. Joe” wasn't that bad. I'm just tired of seeing things rehashed. Come up with something new already! And people wonder why I play “World of Warcraft” so much; really, what else is there to do?

~ JC