Now that we’re in the new year, new TV shows are here and I kind of wonder why these shows are coming out in the first place. Part of me does question if this is the right direction for the producers to take. The articles from the Washington Post link violence and TV.
First, let’s start with two shows about serial killers. Really? One isn’t enough? I’ve seen constant promos of Kevin Bacon and his new series that is due to come out called The Following which will be on Fox. NBC, which never seems to have a hit, will counter with a serial killer show of their own in Hannibal.
I’ve never seen the movie Hannibal and had no desire to read the books. If there is one thing I want to avoid on TV, it’s gore. It’s enough for me when they show gory scenes on the CSI shows but I think I would skip these shows.
Now if PBS was going to do the book With No One As Witness by Elizabeth George, I would watch that since that involved Lynley and Havers finding a serial killer in England. At the very least, the book concentrated more on figuring out who it was instead of gory scenes.
Of course, if you look at other popular shows that have high ratings, it’s easy to see why we get shows like The Following and Hannibal. Look at the popularity of shows like The Walking Dead, True Blood, American Horror Story, and Game of Thrones.
I’m not sure I understand why the show Son’s of Anarchy is included with these other shows. It’s the only show that I do watch. It’s a show about a biker gang and it has nothing to do with Zombies or Vampires. Sure, it’s violent, but it’s much different that the other TV shows.
Criminal Minds is mentioned as another show that creates more violence. My feeling is that yes, it’s a very disturbing show, but it’s hard for me to put it in the scale as being worse than Dexter, another show that I never watched. From my standpoint, I watched it for one season and stopped after then had an episode where they were looking for someone that murdered a child and it turned out to be the brother. I think both of them were under 10 years old.
Of course, Criminal Minds is a very popular show that has gone into syndication. It’s a show that Brent Bozell would complain about but people like me should have the right to turn the show off if we don’t like it. In the end, the ratings will decide if these shows will stay on the air.
Yet another idea for a show that never came through was to drop off high school students on an island and see who is the last person standing. They would be told to kill each other. This was a take off from the Japanese movie, Battle Royal. Fortunately, the show never went into development.
If we really want to complain about mass shootings though, you can watch the movie The Bourne Legacy. While it’s a great action packed suspense show, there is one scene where a person who works in a lab shoots several people while being in a locked room. I found it unsettling and wondered why I didn’t turn the movie off after that. I also wonder if Robert Ludlum would have written that scene in his book. That’s what happens when someone takes the series over.
So, in the end, we’ll have two new shows on about serial killers on different nights - can’t see them competing with each other - and we’ll see where the ratings go. In the meantime, I guess I’ll be looking for shows to watch on Hulu Plus such as Drama Fever and Downtown Abbey. Well, at least the USA Network may have some good shows as well.
Rick Holman
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/tv-column/post/nbc-chief-discusses-tv-violence-network-ratings-leno-v-fallon/2013/01/07/231b1f4e-58e5-11e2-9fa9-5fbdc9530eb9_blog.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/tv-column/post/fx-president-tv-industry-should-study-whether-theres-a-link-between-onscreen-and-real-life-vioelnce/2013/01/09/67dfecc8-5ab5-11e2-88d0-c4cf65c3ad15_blog.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/tv-column/post/cbs-exec-responds-to-the-is-real-violence-linked-to-tv-violence-question/2013/01/14/96624f5a-5e61-11e2-9940-6fc488f3fecd_blog.html
First, let’s start with two shows about serial killers. Really? One isn’t enough? I’ve seen constant promos of Kevin Bacon and his new series that is due to come out called The Following which will be on Fox. NBC, which never seems to have a hit, will counter with a serial killer show of their own in Hannibal.
I’ve never seen the movie Hannibal and had no desire to read the books. If there is one thing I want to avoid on TV, it’s gore. It’s enough for me when they show gory scenes on the CSI shows but I think I would skip these shows.
Now if PBS was going to do the book With No One As Witness by Elizabeth George, I would watch that since that involved Lynley and Havers finding a serial killer in England. At the very least, the book concentrated more on figuring out who it was instead of gory scenes.
Of course, if you look at other popular shows that have high ratings, it’s easy to see why we get shows like The Following and Hannibal. Look at the popularity of shows like The Walking Dead, True Blood, American Horror Story, and Game of Thrones.
I’m not sure I understand why the show Son’s of Anarchy is included with these other shows. It’s the only show that I do watch. It’s a show about a biker gang and it has nothing to do with Zombies or Vampires. Sure, it’s violent, but it’s much different that the other TV shows.
Criminal Minds is mentioned as another show that creates more violence. My feeling is that yes, it’s a very disturbing show, but it’s hard for me to put it in the scale as being worse than Dexter, another show that I never watched. From my standpoint, I watched it for one season and stopped after then had an episode where they were looking for someone that murdered a child and it turned out to be the brother. I think both of them were under 10 years old.
Of course, Criminal Minds is a very popular show that has gone into syndication. It’s a show that Brent Bozell would complain about but people like me should have the right to turn the show off if we don’t like it. In the end, the ratings will decide if these shows will stay on the air.
Yet another idea for a show that never came through was to drop off high school students on an island and see who is the last person standing. They would be told to kill each other. This was a take off from the Japanese movie, Battle Royal. Fortunately, the show never went into development.
If we really want to complain about mass shootings though, you can watch the movie The Bourne Legacy. While it’s a great action packed suspense show, there is one scene where a person who works in a lab shoots several people while being in a locked room. I found it unsettling and wondered why I didn’t turn the movie off after that. I also wonder if Robert Ludlum would have written that scene in his book. That’s what happens when someone takes the series over.
So, in the end, we’ll have two new shows on about serial killers on different nights - can’t see them competing with each other - and we’ll see where the ratings go. In the meantime, I guess I’ll be looking for shows to watch on Hulu Plus such as Drama Fever and Downtown Abbey. Well, at least the USA Network may have some good shows as well.
Rick Holman
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/tv-column/post/nbc-chief-discusses-tv-violence-network-ratings-leno-v-fallon/2013/01/07/231b1f4e-58e5-11e2-9fa9-5fbdc9530eb9_blog.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/tv-column/post/fx-president-tv-industry-should-study-whether-theres-a-link-between-onscreen-and-real-life-vioelnce/2013/01/09/67dfecc8-5ab5-11e2-88d0-c4cf65c3ad15_blog.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/tv-column/post/cbs-exec-responds-to-the-is-real-violence-linked-to-tv-violence-question/2013/01/14/96624f5a-5e61-11e2-9940-6fc488f3fecd_blog.html