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Topic: Nostalgia while entering old shows

3rd Dec 2015, 2:45 PM
	23skidoo Member since Jul 2014 4061 Points	I fully admit a lot of the shows I've been entering were no classics (though some were). But I can't help but feel nostalgic for a simpler time when you could turn on any TV show and not have to worry about the kids - or Grandma - seeing some explicit sex scene or a guy getting his head blown off in gory detail. I actually hit the "once too often" point earlier this year when I was watching a perfectly good sci-fi show but because it was made for cable they were obligated to stop the narrative for a pointless sex scene. I ended up losing interest in the show thereafter. Today you've got people advocating for this to be the norm for programming, even family shows (I wish I could say I was exaggerating, but I'm afraid I'm not). I miss the days when there was balance: if you wanted to see a show with sex and violence you could, but if you wanted something that didn't go to the extreme you weren't restricted to Caillou cartoons and Sesame Street. (Or reruns of old shows.) I know people who won't watch Doctor Who because it's "not adult enough" (codespeak for not enough sex and violence) even though on 3 occasions in the last month (out of 4 episodes - one was a dud) the show has done superior work to anything I've seen on Game of Thrones or Jessica Jones. And everyone kept their clothes on and except for a bit of blood no one's eyeballs got left on the pavement. Sometimes I feel as if I'm the only person who feels this way. Others tell me to grow up or get with 2015. They seem to have missed the point. I'm 46 and have seen my fair share of adult shows. And if done well they're really good. But it's become rote now to have sex and extreme violence simply because cable and streaming have no rules and US and UK networks seem to have fewer rules with every passing day (if I was in the UK paying the licence fee I'd much rather my money go towards supporting Doctor Who than some of the X-rated stuff the BBC airs in the name of art). And it's being used as a substitute for good storytelling in 99% of cases which is my biggest beef. Though if you want a laugh, if you have any DVDs with commentaries on them and you watch episodes with such scenes in them at times it's hilarious hearing the actors and writers trying to justify the scenes. Seriously; try it. Even more telling are those cases where no one says anything ... "no comment" can sometimes mean a lot by itself. Are there others who feel this way, especially as they revisit older shows in putting this index together?