American Television has Gone to Hell

In the past day I have seen commericals for three different new television shows that feature a nanny coming into homes with undisciplined children and saving the day.

These nannies are all caricatures of Mary Poppins or something. They all have British accents and as you can tell from the getup on the lady above, they have taken this stereotype to ridiculous levels. Anyone living in the UK today will tell you its been years since a nanny has doned such a ridiculous costume.

My wife and I had hoped that Greatest American Dog would be a fun show to watch, but that one is pretty much ruined already. Hardly any of the dogs on the show have a single impressive trick in their arsenal. What they have managed to do is take what could be a great show and completely trivialize it by casting based on the personalities of the owners and not the dogs. Its the Dog Whisperer meets Big Brother and The Biggest Loser.

We have Wipeout and I Survived a Japanese Gameshow which are essentially the same show. There is such a lack of originality in these shows. I would watch a 24 hour marathon of Cops before I would watch 10 minutes of either of these shows. I blame Survivor, which is the most tired and worn out concept on TV today. (American Idol is a close second)

Finally, its been a decade since MTV, Music Television, stopped being Music Television. MTV2, then MTV3 come along to take the place of MTV. Now, MTV2 and MTV3 rarely air music videos anymore. I understand and respect the fact that YouTube and other video sharing websites are now the defacto home for music videos, but does that mean we have to completely lose “Music Television”?