TV and Movies

[Midmod]

hi. I'm 51 and can hardly stand to watch today's tv. I only watch the inspiration channel, meTV, feTV, Grit and Hulu (because I can watch whatever I want to).
I was watching Father Knows Best this morning and it was such a heartwarming episode that I did a search on the show. I want to watch tv that reflects what people ought to be to each other: respectful, caring and friendly. Families should be loving and considerate, patient. Every show on TV is the opposite of what I hold dear to my heart and what I know we should be watching. I read in this excerpt from an article about Father Knows Best:Like many family shows, Father Knows Best drew inspiration from real life, but not from the actors' families. The show's writers, Paul West and Roswell Rogers, garnered ideas from their own families. West had four children; Rogers had three.

Rogers and West specifically targeted plots that would cause viewers to say, "that happened to us once." They highlighted character-building and what Robert Young called "built-in moral lessons." The show's producer, Eugene B. Rodney, placed great emphasis on the script. Good scripts weren't big action or bagfuls of jokes," he said. We sought character, motivation."

[Still Raining]

When I dusted yesterday, I realized that mine has not even been turned on for at least three months.  Think I will simplify life and move it to the spare room and close the door.

[kaydee50]

Before watching Perry Mason in the morning, we catch the tail end of Leave It To Beaver. It is almost comical and not in a good way.  Was life ever that simple??  Even though I grew up in the 50's, never watched that show or Father Knows Best.  Watched westerns, 77 Sunset Strip, , etc. all of which are still repeated somewhere on some channel.  And although I agree that some of today's show are too explicit, I do not wish for the return for the "vanilla" world of 60 years ago.

[queendiva]

@Midmod : to your point, the movie about the life of the man who created and played Mr. Rogers on PBS is opening soon, starring Tom Hanks. DS#1 loved that show. More timely than ever today.

[Oznell]

@Midmod,  what a good post!   Discerning people of every generation respond to the depiction of warmth, kindness, family love, seemingly intractable problems tackled with courage,  mistakes made and mistakes addressed. 

All those things were worked through in a show like "Father Knows Best",  as you point out.

Feel good about your rejection of much of what passes for entertainment, and continue to seek that which resonates personally for you.  I enjoyed your analysis, and hope you'll provide more in future. 

[SharkE]

Mostly trash on TV nowdays.

Can you believe the people on Dr. PHil nowdays ?

[Midmod]

Hi kaydee50,
Even though those shows did not reflect the real world, it it was a respresentation of what we ought to be. It did tell me that at that time, networks were mindful that "if you put garbage in, garbage comes out".
What I see now is something so disturbing, I don't watch at all unless it's coffee in the morning or couple time at night.
I know most people think it's old fashioned to feel this way, but it's just what I feel. And I raise my cup of Joe to anyone who wants to see more TV previous generations were fortunate enough to enjoy.

[Midmod]

Hi oznell,
Thank you 😍.
You are much more articulate than I am. 😆
I am a Born Again Christian and am glad to be set apart.
God bless your family and everyone on this forum.

[proudlyfromNJ]

---

@SharkE wrote:

Mostly trash on TV nowdays.

Can you believe the people on Dr. PHil nowdays ?

---

@SharkE  I agree with the trash. Soap operas being number one in the trash category.

[Ms tyrion2]

It's fine to dream about the fantasy worlds portrayed in the old sitcoms. Just remember it was fantasy then too.  Robert Young was an alcoholic. Many of the children were treated poorly and went on to have tragic lives. There was no diversity. People of color were portrayed as servants or criminals .

The shows were not "godly". They were fairy tales.