Why older TV is better than newer TV

As you can imagine, and as I’ve said before, I’ve been watching a lot of television lately since I’ve been on parental leave. And, in my boredom, I’ve concluded that older TV shows are way better than newer TV shows, and I’ll explain why.

Now, when I say “older TV shows” I’m talking 80’s, 90’s, early 2000’s and 2010 – 2018ish. Things were just so much better on television. Don’t get me wrong, there are still great shows coming out today, but none of them compare, in my opinion, to the older shows.

I feel this way because I think the older shows (such as Cheers, Seinfeld, Frasier, The Sopranos, The Office, Psych, New Girl, etc.) had very good writing and more episodes to work with. Back then, and still today in some cases, shows were given 15 to 20+ episodes each season. This gave the writers time to do many things. For example, they were able to create captivating storylines. They were also able to give their characters some depth in their backstories which made the shows more entertaining. The shows also went on for 5-10 seasons. Talk about room for character growth!

Today everything has to be “binge worthy”. Which means the series’ have to be shorter (in most cases). Look at Netflix shows for example. The writers are only given eight to ten episodes and three seasons to work with. Some of these newer shows that I’ve watched all seem rushed and don’t’ capture my attention like the shows listed in the example above. Now I’m not saying these new shows are bad, I just don’t think they compare to the older ones. They’re not as good. But that is just my opinion!

Another reason I believe the older shows are better is the humor. It’s no secret humor has changed within the last five or six years. Everyone tries to be politically correct all the time these days, and humor has taken a big hit from that. I’m not saying you have to be offensive, but the best humor in TV shows are the risky ones that make you gasp first then laugh – because it’s a joke! When did humor become so “evil’ ? Why don’t people laugh anymore? It just doesn’t make sense to me. A joke is a joke!

My last reason why newer shows aren’t as good is because of the current political climate. At least here in the USA, there’s been a huge divide in political views, and I’m sure the rest of the world can tell. This has not only hurt our countries unity, it’s hurting our culture, and for this post I will use the example of our television shows. In today’s TV culture, there is too much political dialogue. Too many shows are trying to make a statement in just about every series. Whether is virtue signaling from the right or from the left, it’s hard to turn your TV on today and not have politics shoved in your face. You’d think you were watching the news! Shows back in the day had some political dialogue, but it was always humorous. Today, both sides are trying too hard to make each other look evil and it’s sad. Not to mention, it’s ruining television.

Is good, quality television too much to ask for these days? It seems like it is, but hopefully that will change soon. Just give me good writing and a great story. Sheesh!

Well, that’s my rant. What do you think? Let me know in the comments!

Peter

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