Reply #22: You're not alone... [View All]

Comedy is no longer wit or nudging boundries and situations. Or even semi-crudeness mixed with wit. It's just outright vulgarity for the sake of it. (I'll admit I've occasionally crossed this line (e.g. a copycat thread I recently made that got locked, understandably so), but nowhere near to the extent of saying a bleeped word 50 times... and when the joke loses its value when the bleeps are removed in the "uncensrored" DVD release, you know something's not funny. The concept is key to comedy. Not taboo words without context. Indeed, a coworker watching "Planes Trains and Automobiles" was expecting a fart joke that never happened... why a far joke? "Family Guy", amongst other examples...)

Shows like Jerry Springer and Maury seem to fluorish and prosper and people cheer at the victims of the sleaze.

Many shows are also sopping in character drama. No drama is generated from situations; it's all about the characters and their malaise. Okay, the human race is being destroyed. Meanwhile we're supposed to cry because a high ranking official just announced she has cancer. Another spends more time worrying about mommy and a daddy that shouldn't exist over a situation that threatens the time/space continuum. Science and logic being pushed to the wayside. That or it's all preachy; telling us how to live rather than letting people decide for themselves a series of possibilities. Give me a break.

I don't do cable. My vice is the DVD player and shows made before 1990 (with the occasional exception).

And part of me thinks all of this is deliberate so people will avoid it. Social engineering. While another part thinks "Sleaze is profitable." The truth might be in the middle.