WHAT’S WRONG WITH TV THESE DAYS? (3-2004)

Channel 4 had “Popeye” and “Chuck Wagon Theater.”  Channel 
6 had “The Three Stooges.” On Channel 8, there was “Captain 
Kangaroo, and Channel 13 had “The Bill Jackson Show.” 

I don’t really think I was a kid couch potato, but I really 
did enjoy my favorite TV shows. I would probably have 
rather skipped a trip to Disneyland than to miss an episode 
of “Popeye.”

It’s kind of odd that we seemed to find so much good stuff 
to watch back in those days, even though we were limited to 
four channels. But that’s all we had back then. Channel 4 
was an independent station that didn’t even come on the air 
until around noon. Channel 6 was NBC back then. CBS was, 
and still is, on channel 8 and channel 13 was an ABC 
affiliate.

Still, I seemed to have plenty to watch: Cartoons were on 
channel 4, “Gunsmoke” and “Have Gun, Will Travel” was on 
channel 8, as was “Lassie,” Denise the Menace,” and “My 
Favorite Martian.” And then there was Red Skelton, who was 
on CBS and NBC, but not at the same time.

How is it that I seem to have a much harder time finding 
anything good on TV these days, even though I’m sitting 
here in front of my 32-inch screen connected to a satellite 
dish that can pick up somewhere in the neighborhood of 180 
channels of programming? 

Late on Sunday night is especially horrific. It’s not bad 
enough that I have to get up on Monday and go back to work, 
but I can’t even wind down on Sunday evenings in front of 
the set because there is absolutely nothing of interest on.

And the old standard cable/satellite channels have sold out 
to the lowest common denominator of TV viewership these 
days. The Discovery Channel used to have classy educational 
programming on all day. I didn’t like every show that was 
on, but I could usually count on something good. But these 
days, they might was well rename it the “Good Ol’ Boy Biker 
Channel.” 

And The Learning Channel once carried great science shows. 
But today, it should be renamed the “Let’s Have a Baby and 
Decorate the House Channel.” 

It’s the same with every channel. Court TV used to show 
trials and court reporting pretty much all day long, every 
day. Now, we can tune into episode after episode of “Cops.” 
Maybe they should call it “Pre-Trial TV” now.

And I never really could figure out the Disney Channel. It 
is supposed to be a premium channel. It has no commercials. 
Yet it proceeds to interrupt all its programming with 
“commercials” for its other programs. It’s probably the 
most self-promoting channel on cable.

Certainly, there is still some good programming on TV. But 
you have to look hard to find it. All the cool science and 
nature shows that used to be on The Discovery Channel and 
The Learning Channel have been relegated to The Science 
Channel, which is not as widely available. There’s also the 
National Geographic Channel, Tech TV, and The History 
Channel which still broadcast decent shows.

For entertainment programming, you pretty much have to 
stick with the traditional over-the-air networks. There are 
exceptions, but most of my favorite entertainment series, 
like “24,” “Star Trek: Enterprise,” and “The Simpsons” are 
on regular television.

But one would think that with 45 times the number of 
channels available now, the number of quality programs 
would have also increased by a similar factor. But such is 
not the case. Or perhaps I just have a greater degree of 
discretion about what I watch these days.