The mediocrity police

B_Stronzo

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dong20 said:
While I can understand Shelby (for example) being unhappy about having to 'pay' for something he may (or may not) use ..
He said he likes them.. so I don't know what the beef is either

I don't understand the negative connotations used here with the argument that PBS is aimed at the elite 'wealthy, successful middle classes' a statement with which I disagree by the way; is Sesame Street (as just one example) aimed only at wealthy, middle class kids? I think not.

There's another show that's entirely aimed at an Hispanic audience called "La Plaza" too (but to name only one "non-white" directed program on PBS).

You want to see a diverse line up? Check it out:


http://www.pbs.org/search/search_programsaz_pbssites.html

Beyond that dong the vast hew and cry we're enduring right now is a by-product of the pervasive mediocrity (hence my thread title) that permeates the cultural milieu just now. It's pretty far-reaching and manifests itself in anything European as "anti-American". It's a secular insularism (though it's roots are in organized Christianity I'm certain) not witnessed since the time of George Washington.

Don't many Americans aspire to be so described or do they aspire for mediocrity as the topic title suggests? That's not been my impression but I could be wrong.

Unhappily I'd tell you it's the latter from my observation.
 

B_Stronzo

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Stronzo said:
He said he likes them.. so I don't know what the beef is either



There's another show that's entirely aimed at an Hispanic audience called "La Plaza" too (but to name only one "non-white" directed program on PBS).

You want to see a diverse line up? Check it out:


http://www.pbs.org/search/search_programsaz_pbssites.html

Beyond that dong the vast hew and cry we're enduring right now is a by-product of the pervasive mediocrity (hence my thread title) that permeates the cultural milieu just now. It's pretty far-reaching and manifests itself in anything European as "anti-American". It's a secular insularism (though it's roots are in organized Christianity I'm certain) not witnessed since the time of George Washington.



Unhappily I'd tell you it's the latter from my observation.

dong20 said:
Not quite true, not today, not tomorrow, but soon....:tongue:

I'll rephrase: Stiamo (nello processo di essere) scopati... meglio??:biggrin1: :wink:
 

JustAsking

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DC_DEEP said:
Il n'y a rien mal avec la diversité. Jag strävar för att vara mindre medelmåttig. No te gusta? Por que no?
Nr., Verschiedenartigkeit ist nicht eine gute Sache. Het maakt eenvoudige mensen bang.
 

D_alex8

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dong20 said:
Ĉi tiu estas akiranta tre konfuz do ĉi tie estas vere universala lingvo..Ankaŭ, BBC reguloj :tongue:
Forfikigi, anusolo! :rolleyes:

Now that's the universal language....
 

JustAsking

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dong20 said:
While I can understand Shelby (for example) being unhappy about having to 'pay' for something he may (or may not) use...
No, I think the subtext of Shelby's (and others') complaint is the general notion that less government is good and taxes are bad.

dong20 said:
From an outside perspective and as an occasional visitor to the US I seldom watch TV and the main reason is....well, despite a few pearls it seems to be aimed at the lowest common denominator and, sadly that seems to get lower each time I visit. :rolleyes:
But there is some hope. I can list some notable exceptions, as I did before: West Wing, The Sopranos, Deadwood, Rome, and others. See if you can find the first season of Deadwood on DVD. I think you would be amazed.

Interestingly, except for West Wing, these shows come from "pay tv", where one must subscribe to them via the cable, and there are no commercials. Except for the fact that the gov't is completely uninvolved, and their motive is profit, this is the same model as the BBC. Somehow HBO has figured out how to do this very profitably. So there is hope for American TV yet.

dong20 said:
I don't understand the negative connotations used here with the argument that PBS is aimed at the elite 'wealthy, successful middle classes'...
Sorry dong20, let me translate for you. The phrase 'elite, wealthy, successful middle class...etc.' means 'anyone with an attention span longer than 10 seconds.' Sometimes the terms 'Perrier drinking' or 'Latte drinking', or 'Volvo driving' is added to the list of pejoratives.

In our country, conservatives complain about these people while voting them all the tax breaks they can think of, at their own expense.

dong20 said:
Don't many Americans aspire to be so described ...
No, because they might be mis-identified as a liberal. What they really want is a publicly funded channel that runs Hee Haw all day and has educational shows that point out the flaws in the theory of evolution.

Dong, we are in big trouble over here. Can you send help?
 

dong20

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JustAsking said:
But there is some hope. I can list some notable exceptions, as I did before: West Wing, The Sopranos, Deadwood, Rome, and others. See if you can find the first season of Deadwood on DVD. I think you would be amazed.

I love the West Wing, the 7th season is being shown on TV here right now, and I have the previous 6 on DVD. I think it lost some of it's pith after Season 4 but some very dry subtle humour which is right up my street, plus I am so in lust with Mary McCormack!:cool:

I did watch some of the first run of Deadwood which I liked, after Lovejoy it was oddly surreal to hear Ian McShane mouthing off!! I'm sure it will be back or DVD is an option. I liked the Sopranos, but timings got in the way so I missed much of it, but my partner liked it along with early CSI and ER and I must admit to a soft spot for Married with Children. These, among others, truly are diamonds among coal.

JustAsking said:
Interestingly, except for West Wing, these shows come from "pay tv", where one must subscribe to them via the cable, and there are no commercials. Except for the fact that the gov't is completely uninvolved, and their motive is profit, this is the same model as the BBC. Somehow HBO has figured out how to do this very profitably. So there is hope for American TV yet.

That's good news. I would willingly pay to avoid being interrupted what seemed like very five minutes for a story about someones life changing experiences with natural purgatives or some such thing.

JustAsking said:
Sorry dong20, let me translate for you. The phrase 'elite, wealthy, successful middle class...etc.' means 'anyone with an attention span longer than 10 seconds.' Sometimes the terms 'Perrier drinking' or 'Latte drinking', or 'Volvo driving' is added to the list of pejoratives.

Yes, of course, but I wanted an American to say it first.. FWIW we tend to diss Volvo drivers too.:tongue:

JustAsking said:
No, because they might be mis-identified as a liberal. What they really want is a publicly funded channel that runs Hee Haw all day and has educational shows that point out the flaws in the theory of evolution.

So is liberalism the new Communism?....LOL, I'm going to live in Africa.:rolleyes:

JustAsking said:
Dong, we are in big trouble over here. Can you send help?

You're big boys (no pun intended) and you'll get your shit together again eventually. I'd be happy to help....but last time we tried, you escorted us off the premises; at gunpoint. :biggrin1:
 

JustAsking

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dong20 said:
I'd be happy to help....but last time we tried, you escorted us off the premises; at gunpoint. :biggrin1:
"Don't mention the war, Polly. I did once but I think I got a way with it." - B. Fawlty
 

DC_DEEP

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JustAsking said:
Nr., Verschiedenartigkeit ist nicht eine gute Sache. Het maakt eenvoudige mensen bang.
I would say, "their problem, not mine..." but then again, isn't that the entire topic of this thread? I really cannot be responsible if "the sheep" are frightened. I guess all I can say for them is Get Over It.

(besides, this is Stronzo's thread, and we can parler as we see fit... Stronzo solamente puede decir "Trailer-english only spoken here.")
 

brainzz_n_dong

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Just Asking:

When I was making my posts a couple of days ago that is why I deliberately added to one of them the words "...in 2006". The most current World Almanac tells that, comparing 1990 to 2004 (most recent year available) the viewing split for Network-Independent-Public-Basic Cable-PPV Cable went from 55-20-3-21-6 to 37-10-2-53-6. "Majority dominance" tv no longer truly exists.

The only growth area in that time span went to the segment that has the largest variety available...and the segment offering the most hope to those yearning for quality programming. The successes of these smaller, nimbler cable networks has bedeviled the "big 3" and forced them to try to compete and change. Not unlike what's been going on in Detroit for decades.

No, I doubt Joanie Chen will trade in her "Big Brother" duties and be introducing a segment of Masterpiece Theatre anytime soon. I have nothing to guarantee a PBS would survive on its own, but I think the environment is the most favorable it has ever been when you consider the 'crap factor' that passes for a lot of mass-market tv...despite their efforts to change. Plus, these smaller cable channels can survive by finding a viewing niche and not worrying if they out-pull "Survivor" or not.

Changing gears slightly...After you got out of bed the other morning, I think you began to subscribe to the Dark Side of what you (and others) thought I might have meant by bringing up the moniker "rich, white, and middle-aged". Let me give it another go.

First, this whole topic, to me, is being argued on its own merits. I'm not trying to play "6 degrees of separation" with it and the war in Iraq, tax cuts, or white men voting to free slaves in 19th-Century America. To do that will result in a thread where the 150th post would bear zero likeness to posts 1-10.

In regards to NPR and PBS, all I am saying is that despite the admitted quality of both outlets and the fact that anyone can watch/listen to them, unfortunately it does not mean everyone does. The majority of those that do belong to the financial segment of our population with the most disposable income & ability to seek out news and entertainment on their own. Yes, these same listeners do also exercise their free right to help support these networks, but the crux of the matter to me is (narrowly) should the gov't be helping, at all, to keep those networks afloat when given the fact$ of who predominantly listen$ to them? It has nothing to do with any desire to extinguish their existence on my part.

I've made it clear that I have no issues with complete sentences, programming that exists where opposing views aren't shouted down (thank you Crossfire for that I guess), and where issues are explored at ground-level, not just looked at from 500,000 feet and passed judgement upon. If that is what PBS/NPR represent to many/all of you, then we're in the same boat.

If the market-related factors were totally different, and poor whites, blacks, hispanics, etc., were the #1 audiences of NPR and PBS, then you'd have had none of this out of me and I would have joined Stronzo's petition link. I just feel, rightly or wrongly, that there is a disconnect between what many in this country feel NPR/PBS does for everyone and who actually it is that takes advantage of what it offers.

I never meant my viewpoint as a slap against you or Stronzo or as a latter-day Republican argument to try and save humanity by randomly cutting $115 million from the budget...where it gets cut be damned. I don't claim to be a perfect classical conservative, but I'm working on it.