AdelaideJohn1967
Posts: 10,791
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Why are so many shows from the USA dealing with the boogeyman called "terrorism"
Homeland
NCIS
NCIS LA
24
To name four. I'm sure there are more. But why is it that now terrorists have become a TV staple? Are there no other kinds of bad guys for TV shows, or is this some kind of thinly veilled propaganda being put out there?
Or they could have a show about a Sub captain that refuses to launch missles on dubious orders and goes to war with his own country. Wait they did that and it was canceled.
AdelaideJohn1967
Posts: 10,791
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
MN Photography wrote: TV has always copied TV. If one show becomes successful, then TV executives churn out clones until the concept is beaten into the ground.
I guess that is true.
Over here all 4 of the shows I mentioned are on the one channel.... And they all tend to feel the same now, and that's sad because I used to like NCIS and it feels just like all the others mentioned... At least to me anyway.
My point was. Is TV being used to indoctrinate the masses and set in their mind that terrorists are everywhere and they must all be found?
Shows with somewhat simple plots that are easy to stomach are aimed at an audience that gets home from a hard day's work and just wants to shut off their brains for two hours and be entertained. Naturally that calls for fairly black and white villains and the supply of those is limited: Nazis, communists, terrorists or in the case of procedural crime dramas your usual tropes of criminal bad guys (rapists, murderers etc.).
A more realistic approach of telling real life stories like they happen everyday is far more difficult to stomach and certainly can't be constructed around carefully timed blocks of advertising. Take "The Wire" for instance, an outstanding show that never won any Emmys because it was even too un-entertaining to watch for the critics that hand out these awards.
Such gritty and overall depressing television is just not something your regular Joe wants to see when he gets home from work. He would rather see a bunch of cops (who all look like models) take down every bad guy after 45 minutes.
The shows mentioned in the OP are all military/national security oriented shows, so it would seem natural that they deal with terrorists. A show dealing with routine crime on a military base would get old really fast. There are still plenty of police procedural shows on the air dealing with run of the mill muggers, rapists, robbers and other low-lifes. The various "Law and Order" and "CSI" spin offs for example.
Come on, John. This is your fifth soapbox thread on the first page. You've got three more on the first OT page, too. Ease up on the troll threads a bit.
Is TV programming really worth a Soapbox thread? At least dump it into SF2.
AdelaideJohn1967 wrote: Why are so many shows from the USA dealing with the boogeyman called "terrorism"
Homeland
NCIS
NCIS LA
24
To name four. I'm sure there are more. But why is it that now terrorists have become a TV staple? Are there no other kinds of bad guys for TV shows, or is this some kind of thinly veilled propaganda being put out there?
Because the various law related and CSI shows are played out?
Oh, and 24 is so...hmm...2008? I don't even remember, but that was cancelled quite a while ago.
MN Photography wrote: TV has always copied TV. If one show becomes successful, then TV executives churn out clones until the concept is beaten into the ground.
Sometimes, they are bold enough to even use the same name of the copied TV and just change the location.
AdelaideJohn1967
Posts: 10,791
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Carlos Occidental wrote: Come on, John. This is your fifth soapbox thread on the first page. You've got three more on the first OT page, too. Ease up on the troll threads a bit.
Is TV programming really worth a Soapbox thread? At least dump it into SF2.
Yeah OK Carlos.......But they were not intended as troll threads.
AdelaideJohn1967
Posts: 10,791
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Farenell Photography wrote:
Because these are essentially cop shows.
Along w/ the cop genres, doctor shows & lawyer shows will almost never go out of style.
I know...... I was just looking at the fact that in these terrorists were the only drawcard to watch aside from the plot B drama with the blondy in homeland who goes nutsy kookoo and then gets her sanity back for season 2.......
But in all these shows the main theme seems to be fighting terrorists, with occasional side stories of a more mundane nature..
I imagine in the year 2200 we'll still have cop shows and the like.
I wonder what CSI would be like then if it survives into future generations.
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