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Post by snsurone on Sept 27, 2017 16:27:13 GMT
I realize that this post ought to be on the TV board, but there are many more posters here who could comment.
My favorite TV viewings are golden oldies on cable TV: GUNSMOKE, BONANZA, THE GOLDEN GIRLS, etc. However, I only see about five minutes of the programs before I am bombarded by a plethora of commercials! And those that aren't boring are out-and-out stupid!
What I can't understand is that I am already overcharged for basic cable. Isn't that enough to pay the networks without all those damned commercials?
Thank you for letting me vent.
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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on Sept 27, 2017 16:46:13 GMT
This is one reason I stopped watching new tv. The commercials end up around 12 minutes of the show if not more. An hour show in the 1960s was around 55 minutes. Now an hour show is around 40 minutes if not less. And for old shows, they will speed up or cut out things to get in more commercials.
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Post by koskiewicz on Sept 27, 2017 17:26:57 GMT
I have a roof top antenna and get 75 free channels. IMO, cable TV is a ripoff. I get all of the shows you mentioned in the OP on free TV.
Yes, free TV has commercials...but that only reminds me to get another beer or some snacks...
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Post by teleadm on Sept 27, 2017 17:31:43 GMT
Because of the long commercial breaks, nearly 8 minutes sometimes here in Sweden, including coming attractions) it actually has happened that I've forgotten what I was watching and changed channel.
Lately I have begun using crosswords when commercials is going on. To use commercial breaks to do a little brain gymnastics instead.
I just checked how old TV-shows episodes works here in Sweden, an old 50 minutes show epsisode are now stretched out to 70 minutes, so it doesn't seem that they either cut or speed them up here to fit time slots.
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Post by howardschumann on Sept 27, 2017 17:59:57 GMT
Going to the theater has also become an ordeal. Pre-shows, then ads and previews shown at an insufferable volume have stretched into a full twenty minutes (or more) from the announced starting time of the feature.
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Post by snsurone on Sept 27, 2017 18:43:24 GMT
I have a roof top antenna and get 75 free channels. IMO, cable TV is a ripoff. I get all of the shows you mentioned in the OP on free TV. Yes, free TV has commercials...but that only reminds me to get another beer or some snacks... Yes, it is a ripoff. What's worse are the cable companies offerings for just under $30.00/month. What they DON'T tell you is that after a few months, the rate is jacked up enormously! Unfortunately, where I live, there is no TV reception without cable. That's how they trap you.
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Post by MCDemuth on Sept 27, 2017 18:44:50 GMT
This is one reason I stopped watching new tv. Same Here. And for old shows, they will speed up or cut out things to get in more commercials. That is a fact! I loved the first run airing of original Knight Rider TV show. when I just a kid growing up in the 1980s... As an adult, I got to see the re-runs again again and again on cable in the 1990s. I hadn't realized that some episodes were cut up, and there were a few stories that confused me. By the 2000s they had stopped airing. When the DVDs came out, I picked them up, and watched them. WOW. What a difference. Those few stories that had confused me, no longer did, because scenes with some important plot points had been restored. There was one episode, where almost a whole 10 minutes had be cut. When I saw that I was like, What is this? It actually seemed like I was watching a whole new episode. So now, I just buy all the TV shows that I want to have or to see on DVD. This ensures that... I have the uncut episodes... I don't have to watch commercials... I don't have to tune in every week, so that I don't miss anything... I don't have to wait 3 months (Summer Break) to see a cliff hanger resolved... I don't to spend a year watching a season... I don't have to worry about the weather, a power outage, or life causing me to miss episodes, or part of episodes... And... when it comes to new shows, I can do some research on shows that have been out for a while, to be sure it is a show I really want to invest my time in.
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Post by ZolotoyRetriever on Sept 27, 2017 20:02:01 GMT
One work-around is to simply DVR the program so that you can fast-forward through the commercial breaks. Or, if you still have an old VCR machine, you could tape them and fast forward.
I have many movies and TV programs still on VHS tape that I recorded some 20 years ago. As annoying as commercials are, it's sometimes fun to watch the commercials from 20 years ago on my old tapes.
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Post by Matthew the Swordsman on Sept 27, 2017 20:46:53 GMT
I have many movies and TV programs still on VHS tape that I recorded some 20 years ago. As annoying as commercials are, it's sometimes fun to watch the commercials from 20 years ago on my old tapes. I sometimes watch kinescopes of 1950s shows with original commercials intact. A highly enjoyable experience.
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Post by Doghouse6 on Sept 27, 2017 21:13:52 GMT
One work-around is to simply DVR the program so that you can fast-forward through the commercial breaks. Or, if you still have an old VCR machine, you could tape them and fast forward.
I have many movies and TV programs still on VHS tape that I recorded some 20 years ago. As annoying as commercials are, it's sometimes fun to watch the commercials from 20 years ago on my old tapes. That's pretty much what I do. Unless it's a PBS channel or something like TCM or HBO that runs without interruptions, there's almost nothing I watch that hasn't been DVRed. It is interesting, though, to consider that ads that were annoyances 20 or more years ago can now be entertaining. We people are funny creatures, aren't we?
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Post by mikef6 on Sept 27, 2017 23:32:09 GMT
One work-around is to simply DVR the program so that you can fast-forward through the commercial breaks. Or, if you still have an old VCR machine, you could tape them and fast forward.
I have many movies and TV programs still on VHS tape that I recorded some 20 years ago. As annoying as commercials are, it's sometimes fun to watch the commercials from 20 years ago on my old tapes. This ^
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bess1971s
Sophomore
@bess1971s
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Post by bess1971s on Sept 28, 2017 16:37:24 GMT
Commercials come fast and furious these days and the only way out is to use that time for a bathroom break or to just mute the sound. I once met a man who worked in advertising and I asked him if the industry thought that the general public were really stupid to believe everything that was presented to them in the media. He sheepishly said yes. If they sell it, we will buy it esp if it's wrapped up and presented to us in a pretty package.
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Post by koskiewicz on Sept 28, 2017 17:45:02 GMT
...hmmm...regarding commercials, I own a DVD collection of 1950's commercials...they are a hoot to watch...
One favorite is Arthur Godfrey doing a promo for Lipton's Instant Noodle soup. In the commercial, he pops open a container of the soup, and then casually adds boiling water and stirs the contents. He then very casually indicates that the Lipton people promised him that there would be real chicken in the soup, to which he responds while stirring, "well that is what they told me." Another one that is great is Ernie Kovacs doing his thing for Dutch Masters Cigars...
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Post by snsurone on Sept 29, 2017 2:04:49 GMT
I have a roof top antenna and get 75 free channels. IMO, cable TV is a ripoff. I get all of the shows you mentioned in the OP on free TV. Yes, free TV has commercials...but that only reminds me to get another beer or some snacks... Trouble with rooftop antennae is that they are useless when there is a major storm outdoors, especially if it is struck by lightening. I grew up in the 1950's, and believe me, the commercials (especially the number of them) was as bad then as they are now. And I still don't understand why there are commercials on cable networks that subscribers pay for.
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Post by Matthew the Swordsman on Sept 29, 2017 11:33:31 GMT
I have a roof top antenna and get 75 free channels. IMO, cable TV is a ripoff. I get all of the shows you mentioned in the OP on free TV. Yes, free TV has commercials...but that only reminds me to get another beer or some snacks... Trouble with rooftop antennae is that they are useless when there is a major storm outdoors, especially if it is struck by lightening. I grew up in the 1950's, and believe me, the commercials (especially the number of them) was as bad then as they are now.And I still don't understand why there are commercials on cable networks that subscribers pay for. A half hour prime-time show in the 1950s was 25 minutes excluding ads. These days, a half-hour show is 19 minutes. Yes, things have gotten worse. Daytime though has always been worse. A 1950s daytime show was 22 minutes, these days it is something like 18 minutes. Here's a 1950s hour-long variety show I uploaded to YouTube with original commercials intact, of which there are quite few. Here's another hour-long variety show I uploaded. Only three commercials (albeit long ones lasting 3 minutes, but in total there's still far less minutes of ads than modern shows): Here's an episode of "Four Star Playhouse", a half-hour anthology series. With all ads removed, it still runs over 25 minutes. NOTE TO ADMIN: All three above episodes are public domain (copyright expired). Oh, for no reason at all, here's a another one I uploaded (and again public domain). An hour long live anthology episode, only three commercials (long ones, I admit, but still taking up less minutes of the hour than with modern shows):
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Post by snsurone on Sept 29, 2017 13:12:04 GMT
OK, Mr. Dacron--I get your point.
Now, can somebody explain just WHY I (and others) have to put up with so many damned commercials when I'm already paying for TV service??
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Post by outrider127 on Sept 30, 2017 1:12:01 GMT
I realize that this post ought to be on the TV board, but there are many more posters here who could comment. My favorite TV viewings are golden oldies on cable TV: GUNSMOKE, BONANZA, THE GOLDEN GIRLS, etc. However, I only see about five minutes of the programs before I am bombarded by a plethora of commercials! And those that aren't boring are out-and-out stupid! What I can't understand is that I am already overcharged for basic cable. Isn't that enough to pay the networks without all those damned commercials? Thank you for letting me vent. Everything must be recorded these days to watch something,you must use your DVR--Commercials were only like 6 minutes an hour in the 1960's, now they're like 24 to 30 minutes--We timed Wheel of Fortune once, only 13 minutes was the show--17 minutes commercials
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Post by Doghouse6 on Sept 30, 2017 1:35:03 GMT
Now, can somebody explain just WHY I (and others) have to put up with so many damned commercials when I'm already paying for TV service?? They do it because they can. It's the capitalist wet dream model: monetize everything, charging the absolute most for providing the absolute least.
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Post by koskiewicz on Sept 30, 2017 17:15:55 GMT
...to the OP...I have had the very same rooftop antenna for over 30 years. I live in an area that has severe storms. (including tornadoes). I have never once, in all those years, lost TV transmission. Again, cable TV and the ripoff prices suck...
Standard free AM and FM radio is another medium which I enjoy immensely.
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Post by louise on Oct 1, 2017 6:33:40 GMT
I have noticed the amount has increased steadily over the years. For instance, I have some dvds of I Love L ucy, and the episodes are about 25 minutes long. the episodes of Frasier on dvd are more like 20 minutes long. it's the same with british programmes. Shows like Minder and The sweeney, which were made to fit into a one hour slot with adverts, when shown on tv run to about an hour and 5-10 minutes with adverts.
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