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Is it the quality of shows or the quality of audience that we should question

In the recent years I have noticed a marked improvement in the quality of television shows. However, it is disappointing to see a lot of nice shows like Studio 60 on Sunset Strip being canceled year after year. I moved to the US four years ago. When I first came here, I had nothing to do. So in order to keep myself entertained, I would play computer games or sit and watch television with my grandmother-in-law who would wait anxiously every afternoon to watch an episode of Matlock. My father-in-law has a vast collection of movies and TV shows of yesteryears. I began watching a lot of old shows including the Honeymooners and I love Lucy. I immediately got captivated by to these shows and I could sit there and watch it for hours. I realized that though simple, the shows from the past were really fun to watch. Then my husband introduced me to a bunch of nice shows including CSI and West Wing. He also had a collection of Sports Night which was fun to watch but I heard that it was one of the shows that only lasted a season. For comedy, I would watch Friends, Simpsons and Mad about you. I try not to restrict myself to one particular kind of show. I like variety although I am not a big fan of reality shows like the Survivor and American Idol. American Idol has it’s moments but after a while, it is saturating. Today there are over a hundred channels to watch but only a handful of them broadcast good quality shows. It is not hard to find reality TV, game shows, Hollywood shows, adult soap operas and nighttime dramas. I watch TV every evening before going to bed and among my favorite shows are 60 minutes, Cold case, CSI, Criminal Minds, House, Bones, Cane and CSI: NY. I like to watch drama and thriller. I also like to watch football especially when the Pats are playing. I watch news occasionally though the quality of news that you get from the TV is atrocious. More than 95% of the news is filled with negative information and it brings negative thoughts to our minds. Sadly, this is the kind of news our audience likes to see and hear.

Why is that a vast majority of audience watch dumb shows like The Office and Desperate Housewives? I remember the hype for when they were to broadcast the pilot episode of Office. After having seen the movie Office Space and really liking it, I decided to give this a try but to my disappointment, it was really boring and in some ways an annoying show to watch. A better comedic break would be The Family Guy. I had stereotyped all nighttime dramas to be full of crap until now. One of the new fall shows from this season called Cane casting Jimmy Smits is a nighttime drama and is a really nice show to watch. It is a story about a Cuban-American family running rum and sugarcane business in

South Florida and their family foe, the Samuels. Pushing Daisies is yet another show to look forward to. It is comedy in fantasy land. The story is about a pie maker who has the ability to bring dead people back to life. It is not what the show is about but about the way it is shot and narrated that makes it so special. Journeyman, another good show that started this Fall, is a time travel drama. I think it would be great to have more science fictions. My husband, who also has a similar taste, loved watching Star Trek. Another hot new show from this summer was Damages.

I am excited to see this positive trend where there is variety and quality. Although after seeing a lot of great shows like Studio 60 on Sunset Strip, In Justice and Standoff being canceled, I don’t know if next year, we will have these wonderful shows to watch. Let us hope that we continue to move in the right direction and that more and more people start watching these wonderful shows.

Cheers