TV: WHAT WE WATCH

[Darunia]

I wonder how our TV lists will compare. Besides channel surfing, the History Channel and the news, the only shows that I watch on a quasi-regular base are:

-Family Guy
-Futurama (usually on DVD though, only seldom on TV)
-Red Sox Baseball (on NESN)
-American Dad


And when I remember to:


-South Park
-Aquateen Hunger Force
-Sealab
-Robot Chicken
-The rest of the non-animé Adult Swim
-The Simpsons

[Dark Jaguar]

Since you don't like anime I'm surprised you bothered using the é symbol.

I watch most of that, sans the sports and South Park, but plus the anime.

Aside from that, I watch the History Channel (most of the time, there are some shows that are completely irrational and full of silliness like "Conspiracy?"), and also the Science Channel (the only Discovery channel that hasn't been possessed by reality shows instead of actual science, and even then there are still a few shows that are nothing but antiscience parading as science, so it's only most of the time there).

[Great Rumbler]

What I watch on a regular basis:

What ever is on FNC when I have the TV on
Family Guy
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Paranoia Agent
Samurai Champloo
Lost [no new episode till Fall :(]
Monk
Robot Chicken

[Weltall]

I never watch anything on TV.

[Great Rumbler]

You never watch anything on TV? Wow, I think that's like un-American or something.

[Weltall]

Never, ever. Only football, which is seasonal.

It's funny because I have digital cable and 500 channels at my disposal, and practically none of it interests me in the slightest.

[Dark Jaguar]

So you... DON'T... watch Adult Swim?

[Great Rumbler]

I have about 50 channels. There's isn't much one most of the time, which is why I set my TV to FNC and just let it go when I'm in my room.

[Dark Jaguar]

What the heck is FNC?

[Great Rumbler]

Fox News Channel.

[A Black Falcon]

We don't have cable at home, so I don't watch much worth mentioning... local news, PBS sometimes... a few other things... not much decent. :(

[Great Rumbler]

Man, you're practically living in the stone age, Brian. No cable TV and a computer monitor that only displays 640X480. Wow.

[A Black Falcon]

Those aren't quite true and you know it, GR... :hammer:

... we have the 14-channel ($8) version of cable that just gets us the networks (and, conveniently, NESN which comes in fuzzy but watchable... (Disney Channel and ESPN also come in, but without sound (and ESPN without color), so they aren't exactly too watchable...). And I use 800x600 by choice, not because I have to. I just plain like it better. Deal with it. :)

[Weltall]

It still blows my mind why anyone would use screen resolution from 1991.

I mean, my dad does. But my dad has terrible eyesight.

[A Black Falcon]

In 1991, people were using 320x240 (DOS) or 640x480 (Windows 3.0 or 3.1), not 800x600. :)

[Great Rumbler]

1280X768 rules.

[Weltall]

Okay, fine.

But I bet you just finally forced yourself to move up to 800x600 sometime around 1999.

[A Black Falcon]

I don't know, but if I had to guess, I'd say I've probably been using it since '97 when we got a new PC, at the latest... probably earlier really. And I still do because I prefer it by far. Larger resolutions are just too small...

[Great Rumbler]

I can see everything on my screen just fine.

[Weltall]

I don't know, but if I had to guess, I'd say I've probably been using it since '97 when we got a new PC, at the latest... probably earlier really. And I still do because I prefer it by far. Larger resolutions are just too small...

Lower resolutions make everything way too pixelated. You can make text larger with higher res, you know.

I couldn't surf Tendo City with smilies that take up a quarter of the screen, personally. :D

[EdenMaster]

TV shows I watch? Well, here you go, they're in no particular order and some I just watch if I remember they're on or if I stumble on them.

Arrested Development
Scrubs
Survivor
Sealab 2021
Penn & Teller: Bullshit!
Dead Like Me
CSI: (the original in Las Vegas, not New York or Miami)
Late Show with David Letterman
Seinfeld
Mystery Science Theater 3000

As I said, no particular order, though I'd say those first three belong on the top of my list.

[Dark Jaguar]

Fox News: We Decide!

Sorry, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, they ALL suck. It's free of any redeeming content. After an hour watching those, I know nothing I didn't already know before I tuned in.

Try BBC. They still have some integrity. Unfortunalty they don't broadcast in the US, so you'll have to settle for their website.

You know ABF, every single time you bring up your resolution we point out you can just boost the size of text to be legible if need be.

I've seen clips of that Pen & Teller show. The various science web sites I visit have all mentioned them in a positive light in the past. Seems they did something along the lines of filling a glass with water from a gardenhose and labelling it as deliiciuos spring water next to something from the tap. Too many people thought the garden hose water was somehow better. Not exactly proof, but it's certainly a vivid demonstration.

Now as for me, I plan on convincing my sister that bottled water is NOT that much purer and is just a scam by just doing a simple scientific test. Easy enough, fill 10 glasses with tap, 10 with bottled, label them all 1-20 (mixed up so the drinker has no idea which one they are drinking). Keep an answer sheet revealing which ones are which with me, and then have someone else (so I don't accidently tip them off with body language or anything) actually perform the test, asking my sister to drink from each glass and say if it's tap or bottled and then writing it all down. Comparing that with the answer sheet we'll see if she did any better than chance. If need be, I'll go ahead and provide two labelled glasses of water so she can get a good taste in her mind beforehand, but they won't be added into the results, those would just be there to aid her in her process. I'm confident that at the end of the test, she will do no better than chance.

[Great Rumbler]

Sorry, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, they ALL suck. It's free of any redeeming content. After an hour watching those, I know nothing I didn't already know before I tuned in.

I'm a news junkie. I like knowing what's happening in the world [America].

[Dark Jaguar]

Perhaps you misunderstand. I like knowing what's going on too. It's too bad that those "news" channels do NOT provide real news! They are biased tripe masquarading as news. Here's an example. I have recently tuned in to see an HOUR dedicated to SPECULATION, ALL of which was wrong and uninformed to begin with, regarding the trial of a stupid pop super star. They could have summerized it in ONE SENTANCE. Jackson was acuited. Then they could move ON and NEVER speak of it again. The rest was content-free news. Look inside you know it to be true.

Now the BBC on the other hand. They give you just the facts, the FACTS, not random speculation that leads nowhere, or worse, stating unfounded stuff AS FACTS. I've also been witness to an "interview" in which, at the end, the interviewer said "if you still don't believe in psychic powers after all this, then I can't help you". "All this', so you know, consisted of quacks parading random excuses for why their testing has provided no concrete proof of psychic phenomenon, or just outright stating it exists and all they need to do is prove it.

So do your brain a favor and get your news from reliable sources. Some NET BLOGS show more integrity than those stations. BBC's main site is just the best example I could come up with, but set some really high standards and stick with them.

[A Black Falcon]

That is true, cable news channels do fill up space with nothing... and local/network broadcasts don't exactly have the highest standards either. I watch CNN anyway, when I'm around a TV, but don't expect it to be accurate or really tell the news most of the time... for that the internet is much better (The New York Times website and CNN, primarially.)...

As for TV news, I'd say that among the American broadcasts, PBS's stuff is probably of the highest quality news-wise... they have some great stuff. Nightline's not bad either sometimes, though... but PBS's news is probably tops.

[Great Rumbler]

So do your brain a favor and get your news from reliable sources.

That's what Fark is for.

By the way, I enjoy listening to people speculate and give their opinions on things. It's just something that I find interesting. Such as the panel discussions on FNC or shows like Hannity and Colmes. I'm not necessarily looking for simply "this happened, then this happened, then this happened, and that's everything that happened today". Get it?

[A Black Falcon]

Yes, that's one nice thing about PBS, panel discussions... :)

Oh wait, those actually "discuss" things, usually. You mean stuff more like Crossfire, right? With the yelling? :)

... I do actually like Crossfire, though...

[Dark Jaguar]

Crossfire is hilarious.

It's not that I don't mind coming up with ideas, but they have to be founded on something, and generally those people found all their ideas specifically on their morality and nothing else.

And oh yes, PBS does offer a great deal of quality programming. Nova is still the best science program out there.

[Great Rumbler]

You mean stuff more like Crossfire, right? With the yelling?

No, I mean panel discussions where they actually discuss stuff. The Special Report with Brit Hume has that during its second half.

... I do actually like Crossfire, though...

Hannity and Colmes is like that, but they argue with the guests not with themselves.

[EdenMaster]

Am I the only one who finds it funny that Ryan, who watches little to no TV at all, has an avatar with Conan O'Brien?

ABF: Yes.

Oh. Okay.

[A Black Falcon]

No, I mean panel discussions where they actually discuss stuff. The Special Report with Brit Hume has that during its second half.

FNC is right-wing. CNN and MSNBC are centrist. PBS? They try to be centrist, but because they aren't as focused on marketing and appeasing the public as the others, they end up unique... (and not just in a 'more liberal' way, always, either... just unique.). The closest they have to a "yelling" show, really, is The McLaughlin (sp?) Group, and that's ... um, more people raising their voices to talk over eachother... :) anyway, there's also the Newshour with Jim Lehrer, Frontline, and others... I get most of my news online, but when I want quality TV news that's what I watch (I probably watch the local newscasts on CBS more often, but that's because they play more often and are simpler... and get you local news (I don't watch the national 6:30 newscasts much at all), which PBS doesn't bring you much of.

[Dark Jaguar]

You know, the news on the actual broadcast stations tend to be much better than their 24 hour (retarded) cousins. It may just be that there just isn't enough interesting news to fill a 24 hour period... Or, maybe they just don't report stuff that won't get high ratings...

[Darunia]

Since you don't like anime I'm surprised you bothered using the é symbol.

I remembered it 'cuz it seemed like the French thing to do, putting in an accent aigu. :)

And this thread stayed on topic for 2.5 posts! New record guys, let's hear it for Tendodom!

[Great Rumbler]

And this thread stayed on topic for 2.5 posts! New record guys, let's hear it for Tendodom!

We're trying!

[A Black Falcon]

You know, the news on the actual broadcast stations tend to be much better than their 24 hour (retarded) cousins. It may just be that there just isn't enough interesting news to fill a 24 hour period... Or, maybe they just don't report stuff that won't get high ratings...

I know what you mean... I don't think CNN for instance is worthless, though... I like to watch the channel. But I understand the criticism and think it's mostly correct... they definitely do waste a lot of time on trivial or barely newsworthy issues, that are often far less newsworthy than other (more important) stories... and yeah, ratings -- and trying to anticipate what "the average American" wants -- seem to drive them, not reporting what is most important to report... but even so, just because they're on all the time means that they do end up giving you more news, even if a lot of it isn't too helpful.

[Darunia]

All media in America---news or entertainment--is about money. That's capitalism.

[Dark Jaguar]

Well yes, but there was a time when the media had some standards and a sense of journalistic integrity they had to uphold, despite ratings. The fact of the matter is, news is NOT meant to be entertaining. It's meant to be informative.

[Darunia]

Sad how things seem ever-changing for the worse. That's why I need to build a time machine and live in the 50's.

[Great Rumbler]

Yeah, in the 50's they had all kinds of cool diseases and medical care was pretty sucky. Life expectance wasn't too good either. And computer were as big as houses and used vacuum tubes. Yep, the 50's were great.

[Darunia]

According to my research, longevity wasn't that much shorter than now, AND HAVE YOU SEE BACK TO THE FUTURE? Wasn't the town better in the 50's?

Check and mate.

Darunia 1, Great Rumbler 0

[Great Rumbler]

You're using Back to the Future as a reference to show that the 50's are better than now? Phht! If you're going to use that you might as well wish to be in the future because it was way cooler!

[Darunia]

Sure, the future was way cooler---if you enjoy a Biff-run fascist shithole paradise for troublemakers!!

I bet that's where OB1 moved to.

[Great Rumbler]

Not that future, you ignoramus! The future with Jaws 3D, hoverboards, and flying cars!

[Weltall]

Sure, the future was way cooler---if you enjoy a Biff-run fascist shithole paradise for troublemakers!!

I bet that's where OB1 moved to.

Well actually, in so many words, that's what he said I was turning Tendo City into.

[Dark Jaguar]

Yes, a lot of things have gotten better, no doubt about it. These are the good old times.

The news just isn't one of them.

[A Black Falcon]

Yes, a lot of things have gotten better, no doubt about it. These are the good old times.

The news just isn't one of them.

Maybe that's true for network (and now cable) news broadcasts, but add in the internet and it's a whole different story...

[Dark Jaguar]

My apologies. I was referring to those specific news outlets. The ones I mentioned with merit still have said merit.

[Darunia]

Troublesome or not, OB1 was a core part of TC. If he can leave, we can all leave. That said, I call for a renewed effort to bring some new blood into here.

[Great Rumbler]

That said, I call for a renewed effort to bring some new blood into here.

That's what we've been talking about the for the past few months.

[A Black Falcon]

Troublesome or not, OB1 was a core part of TC. If he can leave, we can all leave.

True.

That said, I call for a renewed effort to bring some new blood into here.

We've definitely been talking about needing this, but no one can think of any actual steps we could make towards making any progress on that goal...