The Snoop

Do you watch reality television?  

If not, maybe you’re a fan of the Walking Dead? 

Or perhaps you have a fascination with Survivor or Big Brother? 

Not me.  

If you’ve listened to commercials that advertise some of these upcoming fall shows, especially Big Brother, the promo promises chaos, mistrust, deceit, and drama. 

A new program in the fall season format this year is entitled Evil.  Based on those promos, the series promises to scare you to death with stories about demonic or demon-possessed men and women.   

Who needs that?

I have found most shows today offer little in the way of wholesome entertainment.  

Nonetheless, there are several I look forward to watching, but most are mild mannered.  Here are a few:

Last Man Standing, actor Tim Allen makes me laugh.  

NCIS  (Actor Mark Harmon is an added draw). 

Blue Bloods, a Friday night series about the dynamics of a Catholic family and their law enforcement experiences in NYC.  No doubt, actor Tom Selleck adds to the appeal of the program.   

I also enjoy classic movies, and watching dramatic productions on PBS, like Downtown Abbey and Les Misérables.  

But, when analyzing regular programming, I must admit that I’m a television snob.  Yes, a picky snob. 

In fact, it saddens me to know that reality shows and melodramas like The Bachelorette or Wife Swap are now the popular norm.   And, of course we cannot overlook the show My 600-lb. Life.  Or, The Real Housewives of Atlanta and their drama.  Perhaps, if you don’t like Atlanta, you can always tune in to The Real Housewives of New Jersey. 

Truth be known, my heart still rests with the ‘good old days’ and programs that offered wholesome entertainment like Lassie, My Friend Flicka, Rin-Tin-Tin, Fury, or The Children’s Hour with Aunt Norma.  There was Mr. Ed, the talking horse, and The Ed Sullivan Show on Sundays about 7:00 p.m.   

If drama was an interest, viewers could always find a nerve-racking situation on Green Acres with Zsa Zsa Gabor, or with Lucille Ball on the I Love Lucy Show.

There were creative shows for those with vivid imaginations, like Mork & Mindy,  Six Million Dollar Man, The Muppets, Little House on the Prairie, and The Carol Burnett Show.  

How about The Andy Griffith Show, Bewitched, Dick Van Dyke Show, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Leave It to Beaver.   Remember? 

All original programs. 

Entertaining and fun to watch.  

And most offered an encouraging thought or moral lesson to consider.   

The shows were predominantly wholesome, uplifting, clean spirited.  

Much different than the programs of today.   

Today 95% of television viewers prefer a weekly series like The Walking Dead, a show that focuses on the zombie apocalypse.  The show depicts the never-ending struggle of survivors and how they cling to life by engaging in acts of human cruelty.  The survivor group is constantly looking for a safe place to hide from the zombies. Of course.

The revenue stream for the show has been so successful,  the network has created a spin-off called Fear the Walking Dead.

Rotten Tomatoes, a website that analyzes and rates shows according to content and like-ability, offers a list of top TV shows for 2019.  This fall, two shows receiving 100% endorsement were Fleabag, season 2, the story of a confused young woman dealing with the aftermath of trauma; and Jane the Virgin, season 5, well, this story line needs no detailed explanation.   

A show with a 97% endorsement was Orange Is the New Black, season 7, a series about prison life.

Also included in the recommendation list was The Terror: Infamy, where “real world and supernatural horrors collide….”   The show is noted as “an exceptionally well-crafted ghost story that creeps under the skin and stays there.” 

It is likely I won’t watch that one, or any others on the top ten list.  

As I noted earlier, when it comes to regular television programming, I’m very picky about what I watch.  I hate to admit but I also scare easily –– I find it’s nearly impossible to remove those ugly, gory images from my mind.  So why would I choose to put them there in the first place? 

Based on the list of shows currently being promoted for the fall season, it will be easy for me to ignore mainstream television, as none of these new shows pique my interest or curiosity.

In fact, after my halfhearted review of the fall television lineup, I feel rather justified proclaiming, “I’m a television snob”.