Unpopular Entertainment Opinions • Page 103

I understand that line of thinking but it doesn’t add immersion for me. It further removes me by acknowledging that there’s glass between me and the scene.

 

It adds to the sensory experience for me.

 

The pure amount of television content means many more people have something that speaks to them, but I miss the days when there were more singular shows that had the nation's attention, like Seinfeld or The Sopranos. As time goes on, it will be harder and harder to identify the great ones because audiences are so fragmented.

 

Not to mention binge culture doesn’t allow much for talk individual episodes. You have to talk about the whole series at once or nothing until you or the other person is caught up.

 

That is a part of it.

I guess Game of Thrones was pretty big, but it never felt as big as shows were in the past. Anecdotally, only a few coworkers were talking about it. HBO doesn't release viewership numbers, but I doubt it was nearly as big as The Sopranos was.

 

As viewing habits diverge, it will also change the way future writers and directors are influenced, which will change the way they create their own projects.

If you talked to most of the prominent directors and writers of today, they would likely cite a lot of the same inspirations. For example, I would imagine that anyone working in comedy under the age of 50 today would say they were inspired by the Simpsons, and people from a generation before would cite Cheers or MASH. Is that going to happen anymore? I know Atlanta gets a lot of good reviews but I don't see how it could ever have the same landmark effect as other foundational shows.

 

Non-comedy will be Twin Peaks, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and Game of Thrones.

Comedy will be The Office, Parks and Recreation, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Tim and Eric.

For better or worse, imo

 

New great shows will still be able to last and stand out, it just won’t happen all at once like previous cultural phenomenons. But the ones that are worth it will gain fans by word of mouth and best of lists and things like that. Even on this specific corner of the internet people are still getting into the classics or finding more niche recommendations and chatting about them regularly, which is great.

Those massive group watching experiences are definitely harder to come by for sure, but even when there was less content they didn’t happen all the time. I still remember how much Lost stood out in my life compared to whatever else I was into at the time.

 

Nathan For You will be influential

 

We are missing those movies and shows that bridged the gap between critical acclaim and general popularity. The new Twin Peaks was great, but it had a very small audience compared to most stuff on television. If you asked the average person to watch it they would not enjoy it. The Big Bang Theory had huge ratings, but it is regarded as a joke in the eyes of more sophisticated audiences.

You can watch something like The Simpsons or Seinfeld and get some very surface-level enjoyment out of it, but there is also that element of sophistication and artistry that another type of audience will enjoy. Seinfeld was in the top three most watched television shows during the last five seasons and hit number one twice; The Simpsons was a cultural phenomenon that had Presidents citing it on the campaign trail.

Stuff like the Tiger King documentary sort of fills that void. I have not seen it, but is it really the sort of thing people are going to talk about fondly in fifteen years?

 

Tiger King will be forgotten about by July.

 

I've got a feeling younger generations are also going to be citing YouTubers as their inspiration.

 

I think Jordan Peele will be cited as a big influence too, in both comedy and horror.

 

Chappelle for sure

 

Nathan for You is great, but it was never a cultural moment like The Simpsons or Seinfeld or The Sopranos. It is closer to something like Mr. Show or Freaks and Geeks, which were influential with their small audience.

 

I feel the same way which is why I posted Tim and Eric. I know their individual shows don’t have mass appeal or viewers, obviously, but I think their overall influence over the past fifteen years has permeated everything, from music videos to SNL to late night interview shows, etc...

 

The closest cultural moments lately that come to mind for TV are The Mandalorian, Game of Thrones, whatever true crime doc Netflix has that week and maybe True Detective season one. TV is just too fractured now, sadly.

 

Conan is one of the biggest comedic influences of the last few decades, too

And that’s a great thing. He rules.

 

The Mandalorian is just one arm of many in a media franchise that has been around since before most people were born. There will be more shows, movies, games, toys, and so on.

Conan O'Brien is influential, but when you talk about late night hosts you have a very clear example of how things have fractured. For decades you had Johnny Carson, then for a long time it was Letterman versus Leno. Now you have Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, and Jimmy Fallon. The Daily Show was the alternative to Letterman and Leno, and now you have a half dozen versions of The Daily Show.

When David Letterman went off the air, you had four Presidents appear in a sendoff video. I can't see any of the other talk shows having that sort of cultural relevance.

 

Stranger Things? I won't argue that it has nearly the artistic merit of the Simpsons, but it is a cultural phenomenon and is at least well crafted if just a popcorn show.

I agree with the general premise, but I don't think it's 100%. 2/3 of The Office is mediocre, but I'm not sure its cultural significance is much lower than Seinfeld. I'd consider the argument that it's the tail end of the old era, but the degree to which Netflix has aided its enduring legacy puts that in question, I think.

 

there won't be human society in 50 years to be influenced anyways

 

Except for Ellen

 

That is a pretty good example, as unfortunate as it is. I don't think she has reached Oprah levels though.