I Just Watched...

[TikiSoo]

I've never seen an episode of MSW and I do like Angela.

Me too- I feel so left out!

Also in the camp of never seeing Big Bang Theory, Home Improvement, Raymond and very few Seinfelds, Simpsons and Golden Girls.
Obviously never been a TV sitcom gal.
Last one I watched episodes “as released” was BBC’s GHOSTS and can’t find the most recent Season 4.

I do think Lorna is correct, network TV is dead due to commercials. I tried watching the US version of GHOSTS on TV and could NOT EVEN FOLLOW the story line because of the interruptions that were longer than the actual scene!

[txfilmfan]

Most network shows now have about 9 minutes of breaks per half hour - ads, promotions for other shows, PSAs. That's nearly a third of the time slot wiped out. Older shows had about 5 minutes of breaks per half hour - even less in the 1950s.

The FCC doesn't regulate this, except for children's programming. Any restraint imposed on ads by US broadcasters was self-imposed by membership in the NAB. Unfortunately, the Justice Department sued the NAB in 1979, and as a result, in 1982, the NAB dropped ad restrictions. The old rules were:

- one product per 30 second ad
- no more than 5 consecutive ads
- no more than 8.5 minutes of ads per hour (Note that it's typically double this now).

There are now essentially no rules.

It's not much better for commercial TV in the UK these days. The more recent Britcom imports from ITV and Sky shown by my local PBS station run about 22 minutes without ads. Some recent commercial dramas (like Nolly) run about 45 minutes per episode.

[Hibi]

I don't watch any network shows, but the news shows (network and cable) are also awful. Many long commercial breaks. It seems there are more commercials than actual news stories. Often they'll come back from a commercial break, tell one news story and go on break again! I'm constantly switching stations as I refuse to watch commercials!

That Lume broad drives me crazy. It seems she's a sponsor in everything I watch. She's so disgusting! I run to the tv every time she pollutes it! It seemed for awhile her spots had died down, but she's worse than ever right now.

Hitch had the right idea.

[Hibi]

The CinemaInternational post brings back great memories.
I went to school in St. Helena, CA.
I've been to the Falcon Crest winery.
My first experience with Jane Wyman was long before this thing called TCM.
She was one of many fine looking ladies on the show.
I seem to recall she got her way and ruled the roost.
Being twice CinemaInternational's age, I knew some shows when they were new.
Dallas was too strange with the whole Patrick Duffy thing.
Jessica Fletcher and Ben Matlock both knew who the guilty one was but dragged it out until almost the end.
Jessica would need help to prove it sometimes.
Ben waited to prove it in the courtroom.

Most of the time Jessica doesn't come up with the solution until the 45 min mark. Then often she has to lay a trap for the killer to prove it. Then, of course, they break down and confess. (If they had kept their mouth shut and hired a lawyer some of them may have beat the rap in court). Once in awhile the killer doesn't confess but the evidence is enough for the police to cart the villain(s) away.....

[txfilmfan]

I don't watch any network shows, but the news shows (network and cable) are also awful. Many long commercial breaks. It seems there are more commercials than actual news stories. Often they'll come back from a commercial break, tell one news story and go on break again! I'm constantly switching stations as I refuse to watch commercials!

Takes a lot of ad revenue to pay the high salaries of stars (whether actors, news readers or athletes)

[kingrat]

IT'S FUNNY, there were a lot of MALE-ORIENTED sitcoms in the 1990s where the LEAD ACTOR is by far the least memorable or gifted performer among the cast- it's everyone else carrying the water. (see also: HOME IMPROVEMENT, EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND or MAD ABOUT YOU)

EDIT- I hate all three of those shows, but my point still stands.

I would never have cast Paul Reiser as a lead in a romantic comedy. He seems better suited for serial killer roles. However, I understand that Reiser developed MAD ABOUT YOU as a vehicle for himself, so that makes sense.

[Hibi]

I don't watch any network shows, but the news shows (network and cable) are also awful. Many long commercial breaks. It seems there are more commercials than actual news stories. Often they'll come back from a commercial break, tell one news story and go on break again! I'm constantly switching stations as I refuse to watch commercials!

Takes a lot of ad revenue to pay the high salaries of stars (whether actors, news readers or athletes)

YEP! Maybe if they lowered salaries........Nah!

[Hibi]

IT'S FUNNY, there were a lot of MALE-ORIENTED sitcoms in the 1990s where the LEAD ACTOR is by far the least memorable or gifted performer among the cast- it's everyone else carrying the water. (see also: HOME IMPROVEMENT, EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND or MAD ABOUT YOU)

EDIT- I hate all three of those shows, but my point still stands.

I would never have cast Paul Reiser as a lead in a romantic comedy. He seems better suited for serial killer roles. However, I understand that Reiser developed MAD ABOUT YOU as a vehicle for himself, so that makes sense.

HAHA!!! I'll always remember him as the creep in Aliens who got his just desserts! Enjoyed that.

[jimimac71]

IT'S FUNNY, there were a lot of MALE-ORIENTED sitcoms in the 1990s where the LEAD ACTOR is by far the least memorable or gifted performer among the cast- it's everyone else carrying the water. (see also: HOME IMPROVEMENT, EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND or MAD ABOUT YOU)

EDIT- I hate all three of those shows, but my point still stands.

I never enjoyed Home Improvement.
Last Man Standing before it went to Fox wasn't all that bad, but insulted even my intelligence.
Don't know Mad About You.
Lorna: Spot On! Everyone else in Everybody Loves Raymond was better than Raymond.
"It's a Man's World, but Women run it."
I was told that by an Old-Timer (a man) back in the 1970s.

[CinemaInternational]

the ONLY things I recall about SEINFELD all these years later are the episodes and moments that revolve around ELAINE BENES, honestly, it was really HER show.

people talk about "THE SEINFELD CURSE" and I sometimes wonder if maybe they just didn't see the obvious truth right in front of them the whole time: JERRY SEINFELD and MICHAEL RICHARDS are terrible actors with no charisma, and while JASON ALEXANDER is good- he REALLY needs THE RIGHT PART.

But JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUSS just has it- looks, timing, a gift for physical comedy: SHE is THE SHOW.

also, she's a better dancer than RUBY KEELER.

(edit- tried to post a GIF of her yelling at KRISTIN SCOTT-THOMAS to "JUST DIE ALREADY" in THE ONE ABOUT THE ENGLISH PATIENT, but I guess they're all copyrighted.

[CinemaInternational]

Most network shows now have about 9 minutes of breaks per half hour - ads, promotions for other shows, PSAs. That's nearly a third of the time slot wiped out. Older shows had about 5 minutes of breaks per half hour - even less in the 1950s.

The FCC doesn't regulate this, except for children's programming. Any restraint imposed on ads by US broadcasters was self-imposed by membership in the NAB. Unfortunately, the Justice Department sued the NAB in 1979, and as a result, in 1982, the NAB dropped ad restrictions. The old rules were:

- one product per 30 second ad
- no more than 5 consecutive ads
- no more than 8.5 minutes of ads per hour (Note that it's typically double this now).

There are now essentially no rules.

It's not much better for commercial TV in the UK these days. The more recent Britcom imports from ITV and Sky shown by my local PBS station run about 22 minutes without ads. Some recent commercial dramas (like Nolly) run about 45 minutes per episode.

I would not in addition that by the mid-80s, most hour-long shows were clocking in at 48 minutes and a few seconds, thus a little less than 12 minutes of commercials, but that changed. By the early 90s, episodes were often down to 46 minutes, and by the early 2000s, they were down to about 43. i think they are about 41 or 42 now, which means that almost a third of an hour on TV is made up of advertisements. One other thing that the shift has caused is the death of the opening credits montages on major network TV (although they still appear on HBO shows, and the one for The Gilded Age is a stunner). Murphy Brown was one of the first shows to not have traditional opening credits, and other sitcoms followed suit, but the dramas largely waited to abandon them until the mid-2000s.

[Lorna]

(IN RE: THE ELAINE GIFS)

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS!

I LIVE!!!!!!

PS- IS THERE A SINGLE PERSON WHO POSTS HERE WHO IS FAMILIAR WITH "THE ENGLISH PATIENT EPISODE" OF SEINFELD THAT HASN'T FELT THAT EXACT SAME WAY ABOUT SOME MOVIE EVERYONE WAS LOSING IT OVER COMPLETELY AT SOME TIME IN THE PAST????

(although I thought THE ENGLISH PATIENT was fine, even if JULIET BINOCHE was THE UNQUESTIONABLE LEAD and SCOTT-THOMAS's was clearly the supporting part)

[Hibi]

I loved that episode!!! YOU'RE FIRED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (She had to go to Morocco and live in a cave to get her job back!) I loved that Peterman actor.

[CinemaInternational]

(IN RE: THE ELAINE GIFS)

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS!

I LIVE!!!!!!

PS- IS THERE A SINGLE PERSON WHO POSTS HERE WHO IS FAMILIAR WITH "THE ENGLISH PATIENT EPISODE" THAT HASN'T FELT THAT WAY ABOUT SOME MOVIE EVERYONE WAS LOSING IT OVER COMPLETELY AT SOME TIME IN THE PAST????

(although I thought THE ENGLISH PATIENT was fine, even if JULIET BINOCHE was THE UNQUESTIONABLE LEAD and SCOTT-THOMAS's was clearly the supporting part)

Let's see. I was too young to have seen it at the time, but I felt that way when I caught up with American Beauty.


In times though of actually hating a film at the very moment it was the "it" film, there were the following:

Birdman/2014
The Revenant/2015
Moonlight/2016 (more like extreme indifference than hatred)
Elle/2016
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri/2017
The Florida Project/2017
Joker/2019
Promising Young Woman/2020
Don't Look Up/2021 (I actually used these GIFs of Elaine to voice how I felt about the film)
Spenser/2021
Barbie/2023

[Hibi]

(IN RE: THE ELAINE GIFS)

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS!

I LIVE!!!!!!

PS- IS THERE A SINGLE PERSON WHO POSTS HERE WHO IS FAMILIAR WITH "THE ENGLISH PATIENT EPISODE" OF SEINFELD THAT HASN'T FELT THAT EXACT SAME WAY ABOUT SOME MOVIE EVERYONE WAS LOSING IT OVER COMPLETELY AT SOME TIME IN THE PAST????

(although I thought THE ENGLISH PATIENT was fine, even if JULIET BINOCHE was THE UNQUESTIONABLE LEAD and SCOTT-THOMAS's was clearly the supporting part)

YEP. Everyone has a film everyone goes gaga over that they just can't stand personally.