Newsweek has a good piece on how TV is now better than movies. CG will counter that this is just because I have kids so I never go out. FALSE. When was the last time you saw a cop movie as good as the Wire or the Shield? Ok, there is the Departed, but what else? How about science fiction that can top BSG, Lost or Firefly (Serenity, but that doesn't count?) Comedy as strong as the Office or Arrested Development? Historical epics better than Rome or Deadwood? Action movies as good as 24? One of the differences is that it is the movies that are dumbed down compared to good TV:
The roster of channels has ballooned into the hundreds, creating a niche universe where shows don't need to be dumbed down in order to survive (because the dummies have their own channels). DVDs, meanwhile, have upended how we watch television, transforming shows from disposable weekly units into 8-, 12-, sometimes 22-hour movies.
This is not to say there are not great movies out there, but if I had to pick one or the other, I would pick TV.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Love your television
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2 comments:
I was about to disagree with you and then looked at my Netflix queue and saw that I have as many TV series DVDs on it as films right now. There *are* a lot of great shows, and few things make me laugh harder than Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, and they're on every night!
But you still rarely (if ever?) go out to see films which means you're missing the great viewing experience of a dark theater, big screen, kick-ass sound and no distractions. Well, as long as the idiots who talk or keep their cell phones on aren't there.
I agree that the theater viewing experience is superior, but when the content is so lacking it really doesn't matter.
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