Why TV Sucks

Tune your television to any major network during prime time on any night during the week. Chances are, you are not going to find anything worth watching longer than 10 minutes or so. I know, right? WTF, indeed sir. One question I'll attempt to answer is why network TV sucks so much and what net execs need to clue in on.

It is this time of the year when a bunch of new shows hit the airwaves. You have some idea if you have been watching anything on network TV. Chances are you have missed a lot because you have only been watching the Olympics and NBC only tells Bob Costas and Mary Carrillo long enough to push their new shows and The Office. Speaking of Costas and Carrillo, what was NBC thinking there?

Are we really so bored that we will watch these two idiots banter about what there is to do in China? Please... The next time I'm that bored between Redeem Team games and Michael Phelps laps, I will be taking a nap. These two people are the most boring presenters I have ever witnessed. Someone thinks they are witty or funny - they are neither. Why not tour the Imperial Palace or show the opium fields? Oh you can't do that? Then forgo the stupid tour of chinese restaurants and the exotic food Chinese people eat. I can order Chinese food from 5 places within 10 miles of my house. Spare us.

Think about all the shows you watched last season on network TV. I can count them all on one hand. By the end of the season, I was only watching The Office and honestly, it had already begun losing steam from last season. The British version of The Office did not last as long as the US version because Ricky Gervais decided it ceased to be as funny as it used to be and shut it down. We in the US take a little longer to realize this, seemingly because execs love the ad money so much they do not care. When ratings decline, their inevitable solution is to bring in major celebrities for cameos. Why? Seeing my favorites on declining shows will not make me watch if the show has begun to slip. This is the problem. Executives do not recognize that the show is tanking and hire better writers or incorporate new ideas because there is nothing to take its place. Jeez, that's just great! How about spending some of that ad money on new show development rather than a new Maserati or a 6th home?

I still love The Office but it is getting a little long in the tooth. I don't look forward to this season as much as I used to. I am pretty sure I'll just DVR the episodes and delay them so I can skip commercials and save myself another 10-20 minutes of crap. I realize that these shows could not make it without commercials but come on. Maybe it's just me but better shows seem to cram in more ads and it's terribly annoying.

So in closing, I suggest better writers (I'm available!), better show development and don't be so quick to pull the plug. Give the show a little room to grow. I wonder who's making the choices here. I hope I'm not the only one who feels this way and if you're reading this, well, I guess I am not