I totally flaked out on this. It's been a very stressful couple of weeks here and somehow this got lost in all the fuss. I actually thought about the topic while on the metro and even started a post while at work, but I got distracted with actual work and forgot about it.
Let me be brief. I have a lot of TV addictions at the moment, but I don't think any of the crap I watch is nearly as bad as the crap I COULD be watching, so I don't consider them guilty. What I think is funny, though, are those moments when your suspension of disbelief is temporarily, well, suspended and you find your self saying "what? that would never happen!" to some show like 'Psyche.'
For example, in Law & Order (all of them) whenever the detectives are questioning someone in any place but the interragation room, the people always have something better to do. They answer one or two questions (which undoubtedly provide an invaluable nugget of information) and then say something like, "look, I'd love to help you out, but I have dinner reservations in 2 hours and I need to vacuum the floor before I go." What?! I think if I was ever approached with the phrase, "Excuse me, ma'am. We're from NYPD and we're investigating a homicide. Can we ask you a couple questions?" I would block off the entire rest of my day and tell them anything they wanted to know. Then again, I'm not a murderer. Along this line, how well funded must the Las Vegas crime lab be if they can use all that techno-magic and solve crimes solely with evidence (as in, without the need of many witnesses) in a single night?! And yet, I watch these shows every single time I catch them on.
In Jericho, the best show that no one's watching, I totally believe all the science-y stuff and the government responses to the bomb. It even fits pretty well with what little I know about emergency response, radiological devises and fallout, and the preparedness level expected by DHS of a place like Jericho, Kansas. And yet, for all the effort the writers apparently put into getting that believable, they don't feel it necessary to bother with questions that arise like, "Hey! How come no one in this show ever showers, or shaves, or changes clothes, but they all look so pretty and clean?" or "Hey! What kind of alternate-reality Kansas is this where no one is shouting about the End Times, or God's wrath, or even praying very much?" And yet, I'm downloading this show (and getting copies that my boyfriend downloaded) to watch it because I think it's great.
I guess it just comes down to a few key elements required for any TV show to work. For Jane, it helps to have well choreographed hand-to-hand combat. I, apparently, like to watch from a safe distance situations that would scare me to ever actually be in and that involve characters I can care about. Do we just have low expectations of TV shows? Or is that really all it takes to entertain us and keep us coming back for more?
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True. I have friends who will nitpick little bits of the believability of Star Trek, but they are die hard fans who feel free to believe in a starship rocketing through space at speeds far greater than the speed of light. And that every alien looks like human beings. Although TNG explained that.
I used to really like Law & Order. Now, when I watch it, I just can't see the appeal anymore. I will admit, though, to watching CSI. As embarrassing as that is (thought not as bad as American Idol!! See Above!!!), I am comforted by the fact that it is so obviously stupid. I try to make myself feel better by making comments about this WHILE I WATCH so as to reassure myself and anyone else around that I am not fooled into thinking that CSI is actually good. Here's a scenario:
[A dead body lies on a bed in a Vegas hotel room. CSI team is on site.]
CSI 1: Do we know cause of death?
CSI 2: Well, there are ligature marks around the victim's throat and there appears to be evidence of petechial hemmoraging as well.
CSI 1: What do have, then?
CSI 2: I believe this to be a case of asphyxiation.
CSI 1: You mean the victim was strangled?
CSI 2: Yes, the perp obstructed her airway until her brain shut down due to lack of oxygen.
CSI 1: So, our man cut off her air supply and she died?
CSI 2: I think so. We'll have to wait until the autopsy to be sure, but it looks that way.
CSI 1: Yes, it does.
ME [the whole time, screaming]: WHAT ARE YOU GUYS, THE NARRATORS? WTF? Must every episode of "Quincy" to "Murder She Wrote" to "Columbo" to "CSI" give us a lesson straight out of Strangulation 101?????? Jesus.
But I still watch it. And yell. AND WTF IS UP WITH THEM USING FLASHLIGHTS ALL THE TIME? TURN ON A FUCKING LIGHT!!!!!!!!
Yeah. I still watch it.
i *love* CSI - and there are two episodes on here every evening....
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