I find peoples behaviour has changed so much. At the advent of television we sat down and treated the entertainment as we would when going to the cinema. It was the new religion. To have made a murmur would incur general fury. This regardless of fading snowy pictures and awful programmes. Living on the North Norfolk coast it was a gamble whether you received British or Dutch transmissions. My grandfather found it to be intrusive and insisted on the ornate doors be closed when he had prepared for bed. Now superb pictures, along with million programmes are available and treated like wallpaper. Unrelated conversations take place and if you complain people look at you in disbelief. Is this a valid complaint or am I just an outdated old fart?
I'm not exactly sure what your complaint is, Jim. Do you feel that TV is too intrusive? It's easy to turn it off!
At the advent of TV it was a new contraption and everyone wanted to see what it was about. It is old hat now and most programming stinks anyway.
Although I stream movies and television during most of my waking hours, I rarely sit down and watch it. Nearly always, I am in my office, working or doing whatever else online, while the television is running. I listen to it more than I watch it, although I usually glance up at the screen often enough to follow and enjoy the plot when it's something capable of being enjoyed. When I find myself lost, as occurs from time to time, I rewind it and start over. During meals, my wife and I will most always watch a series. We're currently watching Hill Street Blues. Then we'll play a game of cards after the meal while watching the show. After I beat her at the game, we wait for a good stopping point and continue during the next meal. Once or twice a year, when we travel somewhere, we might sit down and watch something together, given that the timeshares have big-screen televisions but, even there, we don't do that often. Maybe once or twice a year, we'll go to a theater, usually on a weekday when we're likely to be the only people there. When there are others, it's seldom more than a few. Once, for some odd reason that I can never figure out, we sat down in the theater. Only one other couple came, and they sat directly in front of us and got on their phones. Why?
@Jim Nash If you miss post mortem, movie-related conversations and the campfire atmosphere like in the old days, then it seems to be the same everywhere for the very reason you mentioned yourself: millions of programmes rather than one or two as it used to be. Not to forget streaming which is as useful as the famous hole.... That means that nowadays it's hard to find two people who happen to have seen the same film or programme which they can then talk about. Pink Floyd had this line in one of their songs decades ago: "...got thirteen channels of s... on TV to choose from". Now we are being flooded with info and entertainment and that's because people like it that way. It cannot be personalised enough, they say. The result is a lack of common ground not just when it comes to entertainment but virtually everywhere. I have no advice for you, though, other than to grin and bear it and wait for other times.
All I know is Jim, TV just ain't quality anymore its quantity - oodles of rubbish it is How are you doing up there in all this terrible weather - well I hope