Goodbye to DS on Broadcast TV in 2009?

[CastleBee]

OH I HATE it when the government tries to fool with TV. HATE IT HATE IT HATE IT!

I'm not up on the influence they have with the tube at this point in time but I do agree - they pretty much screw up everything they touch...like the opposite of the Midas touch, instead of turning to gold it turns to...well, you know.  Good grief, look what they did to Amtrak.

The day we let them control our boxes is the day that TV starts TO SUCK.

As I sat there surfing for quality last night I could have debated that it already has in many cases...and I have digital cable with one set of premium channels.  The fact that DS is no longer running just adds to my TV angst.  But, I have to keep reminding myself that I have my DVD set to keep me content. Yet, there was just something about being able to watch it on TV at the same time as the rest of you on the board and coming here to comment/read about it.  I miss the immediacy of that. (((sigh)))

[Lydia]

Yet, there was just something about being able to watch it on TV at the same time as the rest of you on the board and coming here to comment/read about it.  I miss the immediacy of that. (((sigh)))

We could arrange together - those of who are lucky enough to have tapes and/or DVDs - to start coordinating our watching, one or two episodes per day.  A little less spontaneous than seeing it on SciFi, but it might still be fun.

I myself don't have cable and I don't watch broadcast TV either.  A decade and a half ago, when I heard that Dark Shadows was out on tape (long after it actually happened, I'm sure), I rented Dark Shadow tapes, watched the show for the first time in 20 years, and said to myself:  "This is more fun than anything I'm watching now.  No more inferior TV for me!"  And that was that.  A side benefit of all this occurs when I tell the story to non-Dark-Shadows-fans.  What do you say when somebody tells a you a story that proves she belongs in a loony bin?

[BuzzH]

Good grief, look what they did to Amtrak.

OMG!  No kidding!  I used to be able to go to NYC and back for $99 roundtrip in the '90's, now it costs $246!!  I can fly for cheaper than that!  

[rainingwolf]

As Darren says, it's probably illegal for your landlord to refuse to let you have cable.  And frankly that's just BIZARRE that he/she won't let you get it.  What possible difference could it make to them and how would they even know if you had it?

When we moved in, I did call the cable company and they came out, but apparently had it in file that they cannot hook up here, told me that and left. My mom also lives in these apts. and she was told that the landlord asked for the cable wires to be put underground, and since they wouldn't do that, he would not allow it. This was all decided back in the 80's. I think most here are afraid to fight it because he keeps the rents so low to draw elderly and disabled, and no one want to rock the boat ($425/mo for a good size 2 bedrm is unheard of in this city) Still I might look into what you said about them needing to allow it, since all this was decided 20 years ago. Thanks for the info-I'll check it out.

[Darren Gross]

I think its pigheaded and cruel for the landlord of a building who specifically targets the elderly and disabled, to not allow cable. Many who are elderly and disabled are shut-ins and their only access to the outside world is through TV. To limit their choices and reduce their quality of lives as a result, bothers me.

If my grandmother had to pull herself out of her chair and cane her way over to the TV set constantly to wave the antennas around, thereby increasing her risk of a fall, and it was not by choice but by her landlord, I'd drag him out into the street and beat him like a borrowed mule.

[MagnusTrask]

The day we let them control our boxes is the day that TV starts TO SUCK.

So... they must have started that control about 30 years ago!

Nothing could do more to ruin TV than bean counters taking responsibility for it away from the creative people, and they did that 30 years ago.    I hear there are a handful of good shows on cable, but apart from Sopranos, I've never seen it and am skeptical.

Lydia... you're just the coolest!

[David]

I just called my Congresswoman, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, & told her to mind her own damn business.
Thanks to Congress, I just lost WNBC TV from New York, which Dish Network let me watch here in SF CA, so I could see my hometown news.
I advised Mrs. Pelosi to worry about ending the war & not about what I was watching on TV!!!!!!!

But I like Lydia's idea  a lot.
Let us with tapes/DVDs start watching a show a day starting Jan 1, syndication episode # 1, and chat about that day's show each night.

David 

[MrsMcGuire]

We could arrange together - those of who are lucky enough to have tapes and/or DVDs - to start coordinating our watching, one or two episodes per day.  A little less spontaneous than seeing it on SciFi, but it might still be fun.

I belong to a group for another TV show that did this when the series wasn't in syndication and it worked out really well.

I myself don't have cable and I don't watch broadcast TV either.  A decade and a half ago, when I heard that Dark Shadows was out on tape (long after it actually happened, I'm sure), I rented Dark Shadow tapes, watched the show for the first time in 20 years, and said to myself:  "This is more fun than anything I'm watching now.  No more inferior TV for me!"  And that was that.  A side benefit of all this occurs when I tell the story to non-Dark-Shadows-fans.  What do you say when somebody tells a you a story that proves she belongs in a loony bin?

People always give me strange looks when I tell them I don't watch new TV because it just isn't good enough. But if they want to think I'm crazy for that, so be it. Just as long as the loony bin they stick me in has a decent entertainment system and shelf space to hold my DVDs and videos. (Hmm...come to think of it, that sounds suspiciously like my dorm room.)

[MsCriseyde]

I just called my Congresswoman, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, & told her to mind her own damn business.
Thanks to Congress, I just lost WNBC TV from New York, which Dish Network let me watch here in SF CA, so I could see my hometown news.
I advised Mrs. Pelosi to worry about ending the war & not about what I was watching on TV!!!!!!!

Umm . . . actually, if I understand the specifics of the situation correctly, the Dec. 1 cut-off of distant network channels was court-ordered and went forward because Congress failed to take any action before their Thanksgiving break, so they did mind their own damn business.