Has the Dumbing-down of British TV Become a Blight Upon the World? (Slow Decline Beginning c.1976?)

[thaibeachlovers]

16 hours ago, sqwakvfr said:

  I have never seen a single episode of Thrones

For anyone that likes fantasy and sword shows, IMO Game of Thrones series 1 to 7 could not be beat.

Pity about series 8. I really wanted to see Arya stick the pointy end of Needle into Cersi, but they gave Cersi a nicer ending- too woke by far.

[rickudon]

For me the golden age of TV was the 80's, Mainly BBC and channel 4. There is a limit to how many good programs are made, the advent of Sky and Freeview was the end - 95% garbage and the good stuff was like needle hunting in a haystack. I stopped watching TV about 20 years ago, except for news. The rare occasions when back in the UK i have only a TV to watch, sees me channel hopping for 15 minutes Then deciding to take a nap.

 

Can always find something to do on the computer. I do watch netflix sometimes, been some good films and series, and quick to browse and find some. But even there it is like one good one in a 100.

[brewsterbudgen]

On 7/20/2023 at 1:10 PM, BarraMarra said:

lol yes just like the Yanks tried to do Faulty Towers. Everything they have tried to copy from UK TV is abysmal and comes with a Cringe factor of 10. Id like to see the Yanks copying Benny Hill or Till Death us do part.

Yes, even The US Office wasn't a patch on the UK original.  However, original sitcoms like Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm knock the socks off most UK comedies.

[StreetCowboy]

On 7/18/2023 at 9:03 AM, JonnyF said:

Benny Hill is still doing great in Spain, they love it.

 

https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/world-news/959369/benny-hill-enjoys-a-revival-in-spain

 

The decline has happened in the last few years unfortunately, where political correctness has ruled out most forms of humour to the point that most re-runs need "trigger warnings" and comedians get cancelled or even assaulted on stage for telling jokes. More serious shows/series have also been affected, where historical figures have to be played by someone of the opposite sex, race etc. just so the producers can prove they are "right on".

 

 

You can kid yourself that things were better when you were young, but change is not a new thing. 
It is unfortunate that your prejudices and mine have passed their sell-by date, but young people can forge on ahead and make the world in their own ideal, not bound by the inherited stupidity of you and me.  The best that we can hope is that by pedagogy, we can inculcate our own prejudices in the youth of today, and maybe prolong the age of us dinosaurs a few years longer.

 

My children are too polite to say "...or not", and I am sure they view me in the same light as my mother, and as I view her late mother.

Old age is a terrible thing, though fortunately mostly for those around us, rather than ourselves.

[StreetCowboy]

I have some sympathy with the OP.

If we were to rank The Clangers, Star Trek and Star Wars, then there would be no argument bar placing for second and third.

[GinBoy2]

7 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Yes, even The US Office wasn't a patch on the UK original.  However, original sitcoms like Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm knock the socks off most UK comedies.

As an official American Anglophile, I love most UK drama, although sometimes I do wish they could pick up the pace a little.

Recent standout the final season of Endeavor

 

But, British comedy is always where I've had trouble liking a lot of it. Most of it seems totally idiotic, at least what PBS likes to import.

 

I didn't like Blackadder, except for the amazing final season set in WW1

Out on a limb here, but never really liked Monty Python, save for a few stand out sketches

Keeping Up Appearances, and all that ilk I just don't get.

 

When I was a kid I totally enthralled by anything British. Today I'm a lot more picky, and the offerings we now get from HBO and all the streaming services are for the most just as good, if not better.

 

Hard to imagine the UK producing Succession, Game of Thrones, Yellowstone, Deadwood, and just because i'm a SciFi guy all of the Star Trek incarnation's, excluding Enterprise of course, which was a howler

[Furioso]

It was all downhill for British TV after they forced Benny Hill(the worlds greatest comedian) to become pc and then they still sacked him.

 

What a load of rubbish! 

[TimeMachine]

Music too.  That Makeba song.  Ok its catchy but still dumbed down. 

 

It does seem humanity is changing its thought processes.  Im not agreeing much with what I'm hearing and seeing compared to 30,40 years ago. 

[nglodnig]

4 hours ago, StreetCowboy said:

I have some sympathy with the OP.

If we were to rank The Clangers, Star Trek and Star Wars

You're right Clangers beats the other two hands down. Classic!

[nglodnig]

1 hour ago, GinBoy2 said:

but never really liked Monty Python

Wash your mouth out with soap Sir please! This is RELIGION we're talking about - heresy! ???? 

[nglodnig]

8 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Yes, even The US Office wasn't a patch on the UK original.  However, original sitcoms like Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm knock the socks off most UK comedies.

Agree with you on all points.

[nglodnig]

10 hours ago, rickudon said:

For me the golden age of TV was the 80's,

BBC is repeating Hancocks Half Hour - classics - and filmed live (he occasionally fluffs his lines and recovers)

[nglodnig]

1 hour ago, GinBoy2 said:

Keeping Up Appearances

Brilliantly acted socially desperate jumped-up woman pretending to be what she is not,  illustrating perfectly people trying to "better" themselves. Quote: "She's the one with the Mercedes, sauna, and room for a pony!"

[nglodnig]

1 hour ago, GinBoy2 said:

Hard to imagine the UK producing ....., Game of Thrones,

Eh - it was produced in Northern Ireland with almost ALL actors being British or Irish (apart from the brilliant Peter Dinklage the token Yank)

[thaibeachlovers]

6 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

Hard to imagine the UK producing Succession, Game of Thrones, Yellowstone, Deadwood, and just because i'm a SciFi guy all of the Star Trek incarnation's, excluding Enterprise of course, which was a howler

Out of those I only watched GOT. Tried Yellowstone and too boring, never heard of succession.

 

I did like such as the Good wife, Nikita, Ally McBeal, Black list etc, but preferred older British tv series.

 

British and American humour really is different, and I'm not surprised an American didn't like Monty Python. I guess you wouldn't like The Goons either.

 

BTW, Star Trek was pretty good, because it started out small and grew, unlike the atrocious version with Captain Picard, which was IMO a woke monstrocity trying to use the original's reputation to gain viewers.

2004 version of Battlestar Galactica was far and away better than the Picard garbage.

[toofarnorth]

On 7/20/2023 at 3:59 PM, BarraMarra said:

Some Brit TV Shows can never be copied jor. There was a comedy in the 70s called Love thy Neighbour Hillariouse but in today's Snowflake culture it would not be allowed. 

 

What a good sitcom that was it even made me cringe at the time though. Living next door to a nig nog !  Excuse me but a slight get back as he had a gorgeous wife Samber Bayer Sago or something like that where as the white bloke's wife was grim.

[toofarnorth]

5 hours ago, nglodnig said:

Agree with you on all points.

I still watch Married with children , must have been in the '80s that I watched it in the UK. But still gives me a good larf today . As for Kelly ..................

[BarraMarra]

2 hours ago, toofarnorth said:

What a good sitcom that was it even made me cringe at the time though. Living next door to a nig nog !  Excuse me but a slight get back as he had a gorgeous wife Samber Bayer Sago or something like that where as the white bloke's wife was grim.

Nina Baden Semper was the black Actress toofarnorth. Giving blood was a brilliant episode where Eddie tried to explain why blacks couldn't donate blood,

[Fat is a type of crazy]

23 minutes ago, BarraMarra said:

Nina Baden Semper was the black Actress toofarnorth. Giving blood was a brilliant episode where Eddie tried to explain why blacks couldn't donate blood,

It was funny. In a funny way you could argue it was politically correct itself as, though they called each other Snowflake, Honky, Sambo, and Nig Nog the whole message was that we are all the same and it's a small world after all.

I think this post is a romantic vision of the past and good shows were few and far between. Give me Netflix etc in 2023 thanks. 

[BarraMarra]

7 minutes ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

It was funny. In a funny way you could argue it was politically correct itself as, though they called each other Snowflake, Honky, Sambo, and Nig Nog the whole message was that we are all the same and it's a small world after all.

I think this post is a romantic vision of the past and good shows were few and far between. Give me Netflix etc in 2023 thanks. 

Even Dads Army is still popular to the younger generation.

[thaibeachlovers]

20 hours ago, toofarnorth said:

I still watch Married with children , must have been in the '80s that I watched it in the UK. But still gives me a good larf today . As for Kelly ..................

That was a breath of fresh air for an American sitcom.

 

Christina Applegate turned out nice, didn't she? She was great in "the sweetest thing" movie.

[Fat is a type of crazy]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

That was a breath of fresh air for an American sitcom.

 

Christina Applegate turned out nice, didn't she? She was great in "the sweetest thing" movie.

Recently finished 3 series of Dead to me on Netflix. She is excellent in that. No dumb blonde that's for sure. 

[GinBoy2]

On 7/21/2023 at 9:12 PM, thaibeachlovers said:

Out of those I only watched GOT. Tried Yellowstone and too boring, never heard of succession.

 

I did like such as the Good wife, Nikita, Ally McBeal, Black list etc, but preferred older British tv series.

 

British and American humour really is different, and I'm not surprised an American didn't like Monty Python. I guess you wouldn't like The Goons either.

 

BTW, Star Trek was pretty good, because it started out small and grew, unlike the atrocious version with Captain Picard, which was IMO a woke monstrocity trying to use the original's reputation to gain viewers.

2004 version of Battlestar Galactica was far and away better than the Picard garbage.

Well I totally agree about BSG remake.

 

Gritty, edgy totally loved it.

 

Still one of my goto shows when I want to watch something where I can just drop in on an episode I've watched multiple times and still be thoroughly entertained