It could be the friends and acquaintances I keep. Like minds tend to attract like minds, and as such I guess its no surprise that not only do I not watch much TV these days, but neither do the people I spend my free time with. Sure, the kids have their TV shows – they’re kids. But most of my friends (and “peers”) don’t watch TV. At best, we all catch DVR/hulu/netflix/amazon prime streams of shows. Is it actually our fault there is nothing decent on any more? Is it because we don’t watch TV, so the producers had nothing to gauge good vs. bad with?
And before you think I’m crazy – name all of your favorite shows from the 80’s (assuming your in the right age bracket). Go on. Don’t forget your guilty pleasures, either – MacGuyver, Misfits of Science, Airhawk, A-Team, what else? Family Ties? I’m pretty sure we could go on for a long time doing this. I’m not saying these are quality shows – of my first three listed, only one of them was almost “decent.” But they entertained us in their day.
Now, same exercise – name your favorite TV shows of the 00’s. I’ll give you time to see if you can get anywhere near the list for the 80’s. And don’t give me that excuse, that you didn’t have a life in the 80’s, or responsibilities.
Of course, less memorable shows doesn’t mean that we are watching less, just that we aren’t being moved by it as much. But then I look around and I see folks using all manor of streaming – I’m a heavy hulu/netflix user myself – and very few people I know watch “in real time.” Our actual, physical TV is more a gateway for the x-box and roku than for receiving broadcast signals.
Which leaves me wondering – who’s still actually watching TV?
