Page 2 of 3

Re: Best decade for television?

Posted: April 3rd, 2017, 11:19 pm
by jon
Sure, if you focus on hour long Dramas like Mad Men and Breaking Bad, etc. and I know there are a lot of them, then sure the 2000's or 2010's are the best decade ever for TV. No doubt. But what about all the other tripe that's on TV these days. How about the utter trash that you see all over MTV and god knows how many incredibly raunchy and disgusting reality shows all over cable television. If you take away the award winning dramas you're left with by a landslide the worst 2 decades for television in history if you ask me.

Re: Best decade for television?

Posted: April 4th, 2017, 11:33 am
by LoganRuckman
It depends on what you like. If you prefer animated shows, I would definitely say that the '90s takes this easily. If you like sitcoms, then the '70s probably wins. If you're more into dramas with complex and evolving stories, then the '00s or this decade are probably your best bet.

Re: Best decade for television?

Posted: April 4th, 2017, 12:10 pm
by LoganRuckman
Sorry for the double post, but my personal favorite decade for TV is the '90s. As an animation lover, the '90s had a strong, diverse lineup. Anime also finally gained mainstream acceptance in the west. The writing was certainly better than the recycled cartoons of the '70s and the animated half hour toy commercials of the '80s (as much as I love shows like Transformers and GI Joe). We saw the rise of "adult" cartoons. I think the 1990s was the first decade where animation was starting to get treated with the same level of respect and passion as live action in the realm of television. When I think of '90s programming, I think of shows like Dragon Ball Z, Hey Arnold, Ren & Stimpy, Rugrats, The Simpsons, Beavis & Butthead, Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Lab, Inuyasha, Cowboy Bebop, Pokemon, Courage The Cowardly Dog, and Animaniacs. Truly a golden era.

Re: Best decade for television?

Posted: April 4th, 2017, 12:15 pm
by scotland
LoganRuckman wrote:It depends on what you like. If you prefer animated shows, I would definitely say that the '90s takes this easily.


LoganRuckman wrote:..my personal favorite decade for TV is the '90s. As an animation lover, the '90s had a strong, diverse lineup. Anime also finally gained mainstream acceptance in the west. The writing was certainly better than the recycled cartoons of the '70s and the animated half hour toy commercials of the '80s (as much as I love shows like Transformers and GI Joe). We saw the rise of "adult" cartoons. I think the 1990s was the first decade where animation was starting to get treated with the same level of respect and passion as live action in the realm of television. When I think of '90s programming, I think of shows like Dragon Ball Z, Hey Arnold, Ren & Stimpy, Rugrats, The Simpsons, Beavis & Butthead, Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Lab, Inuyasha, Cowboy Bebop, Pokemon, Courage The Cowardly Dog, and Animaniacs. Truly a golden era.


One thing to remember is that cartoons were not *only for kids* really until the late 1960s or so. Sure, they were never 'adult', but they were at least 'family friendly' and not 'kiddie'.

Movies, like Pinochio or Bambi illustrate that animated movies were not for kids, and that carried over into the cartoon reels which were for the whole family. Cartoons such as the Looney Tunes were repackaged for years (and oh what heights they'll hit), and were enjoyed by everyone. Shows like The Flintstones were prime time shows, and even shows like Rocky and Bulwinkle had humor that went above kids heads. Certainly, a lot of the Hanna Barbara and other cheap cartoons were for kids, but even in the 1960s shows like Jonny Quest and even the initial Scooby Doo Where Are You? shows were not just for kids. It was only with the rise of parental advocates that things really got bad (or goody good).

I agree that the 1990s were awesome for animation. It really broke out of the 'for kids' mold thanks to the popularity of the Simpsons, giving us wide ranging shows from Beavis and Butthead to Daria to the Critic. We got little kid shows like Magic School Bus, and some of the last Saturday Morning shows like X-Men, plus the comic stylings of the Animaniacs, Cartoon Network shows like The Powerpuff girls and Batman: The Animated Series.

However, I'm not so sure about easily, at least if you are a kid. The 1980s saw an explosion of animation, and the quality went up dramatically as Hanna Barbara and Filmation declined. The wackiness of Inspector Gadget (Go Gadget Go), GI Joe: Real American Hero, The original Transformers, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Care Bears, Duck Tales, Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers, Voltron, The Real Ghostbusters, Thundarr the Barbarian, Thundercats, the long running Smurfs, and lots of short running cartoons. The 1980s were a pretty good time for animation too.

I'd argue modern animation is as good as its ever been. Shows like Spongebob, Star Wars: The Clone War, Gravity Falls, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, South Park, and others all show that animation is doing just fine.

Re: Best decade for television?

Posted: April 9th, 2017, 11:17 pm
by ESauce
I have to agree that we're in the best era right now. Nostalgia I think leads most people to pick the decade they grew up in. But right now there are just so so many great shows, and not just dramas but comedies too. Sure there are plenty of garbage shows but there have always been garbage shows on TV, even in the 60s; we just don't remember them because they aren't worth remembering.

Honestly, it's not really a fair competition because there are 100s of channels plus multiple streaming services putting out original content right now. The 60s only had a few networks. I agree that 50 years from now we will still be watching shows from today and I think it's probably more likely our grandkids will be watching the simpsons (the good episodes) and breaking bad than I love Lucy and the Twilight Zone. And I say that with nothing but admiration for I love Lucy and the Twilight Zone.

Re: Best decade for television?

Posted: April 10th, 2017, 1:43 am
by Atariboy
I don't doubt it. No generation looks back very far as a group, although there are no shortage of exceptions such as myself (I wasn't around to see 1965's television lineup in person...).

So while I sadly don't expect the uninterrupted run that I Love Lucy has enjoyed on television since October 15, 1951 to continue into the 2050's, with reruns of classic 1950's and 60's television programming outliving the best of today's television on the airwaves, I do seriously have doubts if today's television will enjoy the longevity of that earlier era's hits.

If I'm right, some of it admittedly will be through no fault of its own. Dramas have never been prime syndication selections and it does seem as if today's highest quality programming is from that genre, since the genre is basically one and done for many viewers and oftentimes has interconnected storylines that make them further ill suited for the syndication model since it discourages occasional viewership.

But much of what fills the airwaves today is just disposable tripe that will be as forgotten as the game shows and daytime soap opera's of 1965 were. I very much doubt that we'll get to 2067 and have access to the full seasons of as much of today's lineup as we do with 1965's line.

Re: Best decade for television?

Posted: April 10th, 2017, 3:51 pm
by jon
Yea so what if there's some good dramas these days or comedies, although personally I don't think today's comedies stack up to past decades. Not even close lol. But what about Teen Mom, My Six Hundred Pound Life, and every other garbage reality show on the tube these days. It's pathetic and changing the channels and seeing what's on has become a nightmare. In fact I'd go as far as to say that it's almost not worth having cable it's a joke. And for what it's worth the only drama these days I had any interest in was Mad Men, which actually was great. The perfect example of how grotesque tv is would be MTV. Like almost every other cable channel it's turned into a disgusting mess.

Re: Best decade for television?

Posted: April 10th, 2017, 5:08 pm
by matmico399
I pretty much agree with the above. To me there is just hardly anything on that sparks my interest. Needless to say I spend a lot of time with Netflix and YouTube on my 360. If it weren't for football and History I'd prob scrap cable.And METV is free.

Re: Best decade for television?

Posted: April 10th, 2017, 5:14 pm
by ESauce
I don't know, I think we have different definitions of what makes an era great for television. If you are going for pure quantity of great shows, I can't see any objective argument that today isn't the best era (objectively meaning based on either critical praise or cultural acknowledgment of greatness, rather than personal opinion).

If however, you define the greatest era as the one which had the best percentage of great shows, then I don't know, maybe the 60s won. But if I have ten thousand shows and 1 percent of them are great then I have a lot more to choose from than if there are 100 shows and half of them are great. Frankly that seems like a silly way to compare though. Yeah, there's a ton of junk on tv; just ignore it.

As far as comedies being better in the past, I would say no, but humor I think more than anything is subjective and generational. Here are a few of my favorite comedies that are currently airing:

Last Man on Earth
Broad City
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Rick and Morty
Bob's Burgers
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
The Daily Show
Review

I would pick a single season of Rick and Morty over nearly any comedy from the 90s. I think it's the funniest show ever made, and it's extraordinarily well written. But I can't imagine my parents watching it.

Re: Best decade for television?

Posted: April 10th, 2017, 5:53 pm
by GTS
I instantly thought 1990's without a doubt. That's when you had Star Trek the Next Generation in its prime, and also Deep Space Nine. Also you had Seinfeld, Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, Married With Children, and X-Files.