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Post by Dirty Epic on May 19, 2020 6:13:24 GMT
I feel Discovery/Quest/DMAX/Blaze/National Geographic etc. have become very formulaic channels and become more distorted (scripted) 'reality' channels rather than what Discovery was originally all about documentaries, education and having programmes you may learn, think and enjoy a few things from them.
There are still a few things on there which are half decent but most of it seems to be various emulations of similar (I feel pretty much the same) programmes like second hand buying and selling (Salvage Hunters, American/Aussie/Irish Pickers, Combat Dealers, Storage Wars, Baggage Battles etc.), car shows - some good some bad (Dealers Wheels, Americian Chopper, Car SOS, Fast 'N' Loud, American Hot Rod etc.), set-up fly on the wall reality (?) shows were you know the participants get in a sticky situation they choose to get into and get themselves out of... (Alaska The Last Frontier, Storm Chasers, Ray Mears Adventures, Jade Fever, Deadliest Catch, American Loggers, Wicked Tuna, Scrap Kings, Yukon Men, Outback Opal Hunters etc.) or on their sister channels tosh like 600lb life, Curvy Brides Boutique, Say Yes to the Dress, numerous food/home programmes etc. etc.
The terrestrial channels have also moved into this sector with their own programmes they buy and sell to Discovery, Nat Geo etc. so these programmes also turn up there too... where's the choice/where's the difference?
As I said you still get a few half-decent things now and then but much of it feels like the same old, same old programmes or copies of these programmes on a constant loop on these Channels which I feel should give you a bit of choice to the usual rubbish that's on elsewhere and seemed to have dumbed down into the 'reality' arena with programmes not that much better than say Real Housewives of New Jersey etc.
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Sparky
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Post by Sparky on May 19, 2020 7:11:43 GMT
I feel Discovery/Quest/DMAX/Blaze/National Geographic etc. have become very formulaic channels and become more distorted (scripted) 'reality' channels rather than what Discovery was originally all about documentaries, education and having programmes you may learn, think and enjoy a few things from them.
There are still a few things on there which are half decent but most of it seems to be various emulations of similar (I feel pretty much the same) programmes like second hand buying and selling (Salvage Hunters, American/Aussie/Irish Pickers, Combat Dealers, Storage Wars, Baggage Battles etc.), car shows - some good some bad (Dealers Wheels, Americian Chopper, Car SOS, Fast 'N' Loud, American Hot Rod etc.), set-up fly on the wall reality (?) shows were you know the participants get in a sticky situation they choose to get into and get themselves out of... (Alaska The Last Frontier, Storm Chasers, Ray Mears Adventures, Jade Fever, Deadliest Catch, American Loggers, Wicked Tuna, Scrap Kings, Yukon Men, Outback Opal Hunters etc.) or on their sister channels tosh like 600lb life, Curvy Brides Boutique, Say Yes to the Dress, numerous food/home programmes etc. etc.
The terrestrial channels have also moved into this sector with their own programmes they buy and sell to Discovery, Nat Geo etc. so these programmes also turn up there too... where's the choice/where's the difference?
As I said you still get a few half-decent things now and then but much of it feels like the same old, same old programmes or copies of these programmes on a constant loop on these Channels which I feel should give you a bit of choice to the usual rubbish that's on elsewhere and seemed to have dumbed down into the 'reality' arena with programmes not that much better than say Real Housewives of New Jersey etc. So it's not only me who thinks this!
I love a good documentary/feature - and have recently been watching a lot of the old ITV ones on BFI Player. OK, they seem a bit slower paced, straight laced - but they are quite educational and informative.
I find a lot of the Documentaries these days (with the exception of a few that pop up) are, as you say way too Formulaic and seem to be that dreadful "scripted reality".
Storage Wars is one that really gets my goat. But also - the Documentaries these days don't seem to be produced for Education, they seem to be produced for Entertainment. Usually by some un-informed Hired Hair Do who makes smart, unfunny remarks. And quite often, very badly researched.
I find, my kids (who also enjoy a good documentary) will actually sit quietly and listen (which is a major achievement for our youngest, bless him) through the older Documentaries - as they are full of facts and information. They tend to get bored with the newer ones, with the fancy edited montages/crap music and smart arsed presenter who thinks they are being really amusing and witty - when in fact 80% of the audience think they are a total t**t.
Though, I have seen Films made by Micheal Palin, Mark Williams and Tony Robinson -all three very good Comedians and also they bring a bit of humour into History - but (here's the twist), they have a Passion and a keen interest in the subject they are discussing. They aren't just doing the show to tick a box on the CV before they bag their own chat show.
I have been watching the repeats of "Time Team" on Channel 4 player; and as the years progressed - you could see how Channel 4 started to meddle with the show and it became too repetitive. During the early series, they could spend 3 days digging and find nothing - that was 3 shows, but they included enough history and facts to make a decent show. Later down the line, something had to be found - so only sites with a guarantee find would be investigated.
Don't even get me started on "Most Haunted". Initially, a great idea - with a ton of Historical Facts about the site/building. Then producers started to meddle - and it turned into a circus of people running about in the dark screaming each time they heard a noise.
FFS, I worked on a Doc in 1994 on the Paranormal - and have plenty of tales to tell. Though, nothing needed to be hammed up - the facts were enough.
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Post by Arthur Pringle on May 22, 2020 22:08:57 GMT
As much as I support recycling & hate waste, I resent wheelie bins. I don't remember noticing dustbins, but how can you miss these big plastic gits on wheels? Four we've got & the one that gets filled quickest ( paper & cardboard ) is both the smallest in size & collected least often ( once a month ), work that one out
Unless you can find a place to conceal them they're always there on display in your back garden or worse in front of your house, a constant feature & reminder of rubbish & waste. The general waste bin can really pen during the hot weather, especially if you have a household member who wears disposable 'nappies'
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Post by Gene Hunt on May 22, 2020 22:19:54 GMT
I agree Arth. They're a bloody menace. We only get two wheelie bins. A black one for household waste and a green for garden waste. For plastic and tin recycling we get poxy green bags and for cardboard we get a blue bag. The black wheelie bin is collected weekly. The green wheelie bin is collected fortnightly on alternate weeks to the green and blue bags.
Now, I'll not mess about when I describe many of my neighbours as lazy gits. Our collections are on a Monday. Next door put their bins and bags out on a Saturday FFS. The foxes regularly get into the sods and leave a right mess and the bone idle twonks next door will not pick up the mess. Then, after the remainder is collected on the Monday, the wheelie bin and bags are left at the roadside till at least the following day. On a day like we've had today, with high winds, they have trouble finding the buggers as they are half a mile down the road, and sometimes in the middle of the road causing a hazard.
They nicked my recycling bags once. Unbeknown to them, I had marked the inside of them with our house number with a black marker pen. They had the audiacity to argue the toss when I asked for them back. Until I picked one up and showed them the number inside.
Don't get me started on the collection blokes who are too idle to remove the piece of cardboard from the bottom of the blue bag because it is ever so slightly stuck in the bag.
Gene.
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Post by Vienna on May 23, 2020 16:09:50 GMT
Don't get me started on the collection blokes who are too idle to remove the piece of cardboard from the bottom of the blue bag because it is ever so slightly stuck in the bag. They usually come and empty too early for me, often waking me whilst I am still having my beauty sleep Vi
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Jun 2, 2020 21:37:58 GMT
Good example in today's mirroronline ( link below ) of how the press use tweets to stir the pot. The article claims that Tim Healy 'slams tv bosses for cutting non PC scenes', however after having looked at Healy's twitter account, the quotes they've used bemoaning the cuts made to Drama repeat showings of AWPet ( the first series began for the umpteenth time on Drama yesterday apparently ) are in fact just replies on his twitter account to AWPet fans.
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Post by Dirty Epic on Jun 3, 2020 5:35:06 GMT
Some fair points there Arthur.
Yes it's been twisted to an agenda when in reality all Tim has said is due to him seeing Auf Pet on Drama/Yesterday cut to ribbons which I can fully agree and appreciate isn't right.
Generally I wonder what actors must think when they see these repeats cut like this, especially when they may have had to put a lot of work and effort in those scenes that get cut?
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Jun 3, 2020 12:43:35 GMT
I think they'd all encourage viewers to buy the dvds instead ( even though the dvds of AWPet have the ad bumpers removed, which ruins the effect of many scenes ). I don't even think shows should be cut to fit ad breaks in, why can't they either stop being greedy & have 2 ad breaks like they used to or stop scheduling every show so it starts & stops on the hour or half hour? More often than not when I go through the channels they're on an ad break, this is one of the reasons why I've given up watching tv mostly, I'm sick of waiting for ads to finish & then before you know it there's another load of ads to sit through.
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Sparky
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Post by Sparky on Jun 3, 2020 13:24:40 GMT
I think they'd all encourage viewers to buy the dvds instead ( even though the dvds of AWPet have the ad bumpers removed, which ruins the effect of many scenes ). I don't even think shows should be cut to fit ad breaks in, why can't they either stop being greedy & have 2 ad breaks like they used to or stop scheduling every show so it starts & stops on the hour or half hour? More often than not when I go through the channels they're on an ad break, this is one of the reasons why I've given up watching tv mostly, I'm sick of waiting for ads to finish & then before you know it there's another load of ads to sit through. That's just it Arthur. "Greed"
I don't really understand why; as (say) 40 years ago, we had an acceptable level of adverts, 1/2 hour shows would have one ad break, 1 hour shows would have 2 ad breaks. Scripts were commissioned (on ITV in particular) with this in mind.
ITV Companies at the time, were each paying an huge annual subscription to fund ITN, as well as an even bigger subscription to the IBA for the use of it's transmitters, then on top of that was the huge levy to be paid to the Taxman. That on top of funding programmes, and paying out the usual studio operation overheads as well as generous overtime rates deemed by the Unions. ITV at least, doesn't have to lay out all this these days - apart from whatever the Taxman takes. They don't even pay the subscription to fund Channel 4 now either.
But the Directors need to get their divvy each year.....
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Jun 3, 2020 13:49:17 GMT
Of course the quality suffers as a result, you only need to look at what Channel 4 has become. It began as partly an alternative to mainstream progamming with diverse documentaries & a variety of films including original productions, now it's a mixture of US imports & reality tv. They basically gave up.
And the emphasis has completely shifted from serving a UK audience with shows & films about this country & its people to kowtowing to America. Imagine American channels doing the same, the US public would be asking why they were being offered British shows & films. You can make the same case for British life in general, where the US goes we follow, God knows why, if a country isn't about representing its own culture & people, what is it about?
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