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DiscussionAnyone getting exhausted by tv?
Posted August 18, 2024 by ToNorth in Television

This is a rant post, and this is for a multitude of reasons.

I actually don't watch as much tv anymore, I have my reading and some nice scenic vlogs and I'm good.

I do miss how tv used to be, I always find myself stumped for choice. When I want to watch something, I actively have to screen past all these options and eventually just pick something. It feels like a chore, so I don't do it as often.

I've gotten to the point where I'll save some titles on my phone and just watch from that list. And only watch what I like, I have no time for homework catchup to be in the know culture wise.

I'm also extremely exhausted with actually enjoying a show, being invested in it and then it goes to absolute shit. Why can shows never end well anymore? Why does the writing tank by the second season, or it gets cancelled?? It's like everything of worth, the very reasons you became invested get removed by the second season.

Why is there always so much gay baiting, and I don't want people to tell me they're not and they're "just friends". It's become truly egregious, just have your characters get together or not, stop being cheap just to get the fandom views. It's more frustrating then inviting. Especially since the only time anything becomes canon is when it's some TQ crap. God forbid we have some fr LGB stories, heavy on the L because those seem to disappear FAST.

I'm also tired of binging culture. It's made people unable to appreciate waiting for new content. And there's always an excess of content now, so much to wade through it's ridiculous. Everything has to be now now now, if it's not 100% perfect (by whatever arbitrary standard the internet has decide dit must be perfect) then it's mid, which might s well mean it's trash. Not every piece of television has to be peak. You can like a show simply because it entertains you, it doesn't actually have to hit every box on your list, damn.

I'm also so fucking tired with all these fucks always coming out of every dirty corner with their quasi feminist take on the new show to hate. Hint, the show is about women or has a female main character or some other thing like that. Fuck y'all fr. You don't give a single shit about what you're saying, there is no perfect way to depict women to you, the only way is if she's the romantic lead and doesn't talk much. That's your perfect, or if she's a caricature of a man, a cool girl you can jack off to or pretend you are. Women centered shows don't have to be perfect to exist. Male mediocrity is all we have to choke down most days, don't act like their stuff is any better.

And lastly oh absolutely fuck you butter fucks who make fandom exhausting. You are bitter, cynical, pathetic complainers who don't find genuine joy in the piece of work you claim to love. Like the star wars fandom which sucks out every bit of joy just by virtue of their lameness. Noone hates star wars more then a star wars fans. Holy shit "Rey destroyed Star wars!" "The acolyte is the worst etching to happen to star wars". All mixed in with pathetic right wing click bait videos, AI generated pics for extra outrage. And it's about every piece of media outside if the three original films. Like damn, fuck if you can enjoy anything without these people coming down like locusts to destroy your crops.

Unfortunately they can come out of nowhere for any piece of work targeted towards women or including women. Nobody actually cares about a Snow white live action, been so many it's ridiculous to. But the actress says one thing(and she wasn't wrong!) and everyone is acting like it's gonna ruin cinema. It's just a movie! Damn!

That's all I got so far, rant over.

24 comments

pennygadgetAugust 18, 2024

I prefer older stuff nowadays. No woke crap. And its already finished.

And you're so right about fandoms. I miss the days when fandom was an ESCAPE from real world bullshit

YarrowheartAugust 18, 2024

This. I gave up TV (and then 99.999% of new movies)... 20ish years ago now?

If I want the TV on for background noise, like if I am quilting or something, I will pop in an old classic series or movie from my small collection. Or otherwise just put on music.

PerenelleFlamelAugust 18, 2024

What I want out of a TV show is to lose my mind for a minute in ridiculous fantasy - NOT to be preached at and told how I'm inherently evil because of my sexual orientation and skin color.

wildclovrAugust 18, 2024

TV used to be, you turned it on, after work maybe, and watched whatever was on. Maybe it was a half hour sitcom. You could just turn your brain off and veg out and watch some 'tube.

Now, with the "binge watching", it's all these very convoluted plots and you're expected to remember a whole bunch of details from one episode to the next, and it doesn't even really work any more to try to just watch a little TV to unwind.

So yeah. It's changed.

questioningtwSeptember 13, 2024

Adam Conover has a really good video about how Streaming ruined TV, and i agree with every word he said. TV shows used to be things people watched and bonded over. We don't have that anymore really. Shows also more and more seem to want to be everything for everyone, which just makes them boring.

kuzcos_poisonAugust 18, 2024

Yes! I'm used to series being the UK length: six to ten episodes a season, 30 mins each episode. US ones are so freaking long, some episodes are 30 minutes too (or longer) but each season will have like 20 episodes. A friend of mine is into K-dramas, and those are even worse, 20+ episodes at 1h each. That's a lot of time to spend on TV.

The streaming services produce a lot of crap TV and movies that don't really go anywhere or get creative. If I want background noise, I'll stick a reality TV show in the background, nothing that I really care about. If I want to pay attention and be invested in a show, I have to choose carefully. After all, this is a real time investment, and time is one thing we can't get more of.

It's a documented phenomenon that too many choices result in unhappy people; they're always unhappy with their choice because the other options seem better. Fewer options mean a higher likelihood of being happy with your choice. This feeds into it as well, too much choice on the platforms.

I dislike the lack of critical thinking in fandom spaces and online as well. "This character is bad, omg all the problematic behaviour, how could anyone watch past the first ten minutes" : well, it's called character development. In order for there to be a plot, conflict, and general interest in a show, the characters have to grow and change from the beginning state. So if they start off bad, maybe they end up good. Maybe they get worse. Who knows? It's called a story, watch it and see what happens! Things can't and shouldn't be perfect from the beginning, otherwise what's the point of watching it??

CharliXXAugust 18, 2024(Edited August 18, 2024)

Yeah, it all makes me feel like a grumpy old man.

Because of "copyright" (booo!!) I lost access to Tubi in my country, and Tubi was my actual homegirl. I loved that weird app so much. I'd watch Eight is Enough and it would just be charming and wholesome, nothing grimdark or preachy. Or I'd watch 80s horror movies or Rifftrax of the same and laugh my ass off. Most of the stuff I watched was just... old and didn't have that weird, bland, Current Year quality, it was just trying to provide me with a good time not a godawful and depressing one with the added spice of "actually if you don't think this badly written and directed piece of crap is good, it's because you're a misogynist/racist/homophobe/transphobe sweaty"

syntaxerrorAugust 18, 2024(Edited August 18, 2024)

I mean the Snow White project is getting shit for a multitude of things, not just the women stuff. I don’t know the details but it’s been re-shot and rewritten and there was the whole controversy with the dwarves.

I am sick of the all the stuff that you can tell was thrown in to meet some diversity quota. It’s not fun. The last good show I watched that did that naturally was Arcane (the LoL show) which was fantastic by the way, totally recommend.

I feel like I’m being preached to when I watch 90% of TV and movies today. And girl boss, yasss Queen politics are also ruining TV, HOTD being the most recent example.

WitchPleaseAugust 18, 2024

I'm also exhausted with the constant searching. The streaming services all have an overwhelming UX, and I hate the fact I can't dismiss suggestions I don't want to watch. I don't like how they release an entire season at once. I don't like how seasons are so short.

I like to have the TV on all the time for noise. Usually I just have something I've seen before, something I already know I like, and mostly I just start watching something if it interests me very much or if it was recommended by someone whose taste I trust. Lately I've been just watching old telenovelas, and I've been finding fascinating how language can change in a matter of a couple of decades. Horrified by the cultural influences I absorbed growing up, and pissed off at how people used to be so mad about gay characters but think it's all fine and dandy when the "good guys" commit domestic violence or go to brothels. What I enjoy the most is looking at the interior design, and the fashion of other decades.

I have fantasised about a niche of TV and cinema controlled by creators, instead of executives. In my fantasy it's female dominated, of course. I don't know if it would be doable, but it would be nice to have something made without the interests of CEOs in mind.

vulvapeopleAugust 18, 2024

The algorithms also annoy me with streaming. You used to be able to see everything Netflix had in alphabetical order. Up until several months ago, you could still do that on HBO. Now, it's their precious algorithms or nothing. I was enjoying watching HBO's classic movies by running through the alphabetical list, and now classic movies hardly come up anymore unless they're extremely well known, and I've already seen all of those.

RappaccinisDaughterAugust 18, 2024(Edited August 18, 2024)

Why is there always so much gay baiting, and I don't want people to tell me they're not and they're "just friends". It's become truly egregious, just have your characters get together or not, stop being cheap just to get the fandom views.

Hahaha! Yep! I like to call these stories "girls not kissing." They look like they might!! But they don't.

ToNorth [OP]August 18, 2024(Edited August 19, 2024)

It's exhausting. Like will they/won't they has its place, but it's every damn time! How much energy do y'all want from me? And it really pisses me off when they do make the character date the same sex but not the ship they've been milking for views. Truly a spit in the face to those fans. Or when they make fun of the fandom! Like you know exactly what you're doing, these are not spontaneous things!

[Deleted]August 18, 2024

Watch Wynona Earp and DCs Legends of Tomorrow--girls kiss and a WHOLE lot more! lol.

starlight_chaserAugust 18, 2024

Literally just started Wynona Earp and then Netflix took it off a few days later. D:

Seemed somewhat straight/male gaze in the first episode, but the main characters seemed fun.

GammagirlAugust 18, 2024

I’m sick and tired of all my favorite characters being killed off and people acting like I’m sensitive for never wanting to watch the movie where five or six of my favorite characters were brutally murdered.

ToNorth [OP]August 18, 2024

The senseless violence is so fucking boring too. Like no its not realistic dipshits, blood doesn't spray like that, a bashed head doesn't look like that. They just want video game gore everywhere now. And killing off all characters because realism. When characters got killed it used to leave a deep impact, it was an event, now it's so hollow.

[Deleted]August 18, 2024

Streaming services killed the platinum era of television. Right before the rise of trans woo, say 2016, TV was hella good. But now, it is awful. A generation of actually talented people have left/died/retired, leaving TV to young idiots with no talent. There are very few shows aired after 2016 that I have liked. Or the good ones (Teenage Bounty Hunters, eg) get canceled after 1 season, which is heartbreaking. Still, the best shows were the ones with the lowest ratings but they let them hang on, like Happy Endings and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Netflix is particularly bad for canceling every new show at season 3, when the costs go up. A couple of exceptions: Only Murders in the Building, um...still thinking....

momofreyrellaAugust 19, 2024

Happy Endings was SOOOO FUNNY!!!

[Deleted]August 19, 2024

It was brilliant! Every TV show the Russo bros were involved with was genius.

momofreyrellaAugust 19, 2024

Do you have a favorite episode? Who are your favorite characters?

[Deleted]August 19, 2024

This may be the hardest question I have EVER been asked on ovarit! lol I don't think I can answer this!

  • Max being a bear before Jane and Brad have their annual fight
  • Alex reciting all the St. Valentine's Day violence "for love"
  • Brad at the dentist and then totally high and calling them all the character names from Friends!
  • "Year of Penny, Suck it!"
  • Pretty much everything Eliza Coupe does/says. That (overly skinny) woman knows how to deliver a line.
  • That opening scene in Season 2, ep 1 where they are all in a hotel, and Penny saves the day/ends the chaos.
  • Dave: What’s a baker’s dozen? Max: 13! Alex 11! Max: Huh? Alex: I think my baker’s ripping me off.

So, so many. I once took a buzz feed quiz that asked what sort of humor I liked and this was my answer.

You got me down a HE rabbit hole! My SO and I just read this and laughed until we cried. If this era was the platinum era of TV (which it clearly was), then this was the platinum show that led the pack! Though Community is up there, too! The Russos leaving TV and going to the MCU killed the platinum era and left us with all this garbage we have now.

momofreyrellaAugust 19, 2024

Omg community is my other favorite show!! Thank you for the links

Honorable mention to Penny can only speak Italian when shes drunk, and Alex's WWII related puns when Penn dates Hitler!!! Pandemic of the Heart, nochetussin.

It might be an easiler queatuon to ask, if there is any episode you dont like that much, because they are all amazing!!

eyeswideopenAugust 18, 2024

I feel like there are so many good series on nowadays that it's easy to miss the great ones because they get lost in the huge waves of content. My favorite series has been Chernobyl which is probably the best limited series I've ever seen in life. In genre TV, I'm enjoying The Boys (because it's a brilliant satire of late capitalism, corporatism, and online culture - not to mention superpowered people would absolutely be assholes if they really existed) and Andor was so good that I can't really watch any other Star Wars show and be happy with it. I just finished the latest season of House of the Dragon, which I watch mostly for the costuming, production design, and the dragons. I'm looking forward to the second season of Rings of Power and I'm hoping that it will be a little more exciting than season one now that Sauron has been revealed.