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For a subscription streaming service you need prestige shows to get people to subscribe, the type of content people think they want to watch, then once they are

For a subscription streaming service you need prestige shows to get people to subscribe, the type of content people think they want to watch, then once they are subscribed you need a portfolio of junk food TV which is what they actually will watch to keep them hooked.

mc32 6y ago
Junk entertainment (social media, programmed streaming, etc) is going to be the bane of humanity. Junk food + Junk entertainment doesn’t add up to a productive society. It seems like advanced economies, on average, are suffering from obesity as well as decline in brainpower. Even China can’t avoid this and I don’t see them clamping down on things that keep their population “busy”. Bifurcation in education and intellect will just add to the economic divide.
- perardi 6y ago
  “In all things I yearn for the past. Modern fashions seem to keep on growing more and more debased. I find that even among the splendid pieces of furniture built by our master cabinetmakers, those in the old forms are the most pleasing.” Tsurezuregusa (Essays in Idleness), Yoshida Kenkō 1330 - 1332 AD https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/28169/what-is-the-oldest-authentic-example-of-people-complaining-about-modern-times-an https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/28169/what-is-th... Congrats on joining the long, proud, ancient history of saying society is going to hell. — But as to contemporary TV: it ain’t junk. You want to see junk? Go back to the 1970s. Three’s Company? The Love Boat? The Brady Bunch? Any of the awful cheesey variety shows? Modern TV is vastly, hugely better than what it used to be, in terms of acting, cinematography, and music. And I’d argue more intellectually challenging—so many of the hit shows have long, ongoing arcs, instead of standalone episodes, that require viewers to get invested and understand the plot threads. Takes a lot more brainpower to keep track of what’s going on in Watchmen than The Dukes of Hazzard.
  - mc32 6y ago
    70+% of military age population in US is ineligible for service due to weight, education, substance abuse[1]. But we’re not the only ones. Educational shows are better. Very much better, but the entertainment is still escapism, whether they have Shatner or Olivier. That said, entertainment and thinking don’t mix —which is why we have laugh tracks. Instead the programming is thinking for you. That’s perhaps worse than anodyne programming. [1] https://time.com/2938158/youth-fail-to-qualify-military-service/ https://time.com/2938158/youth-fail-to-qualify-military-serv...
    - olyjohn 6y ago
      Well, sometimes I like to watch a mindless show. I think it's okay to binge watch every now and then. What is wrong with a little escapism? After spending my whole day learning and implementing new things, my brain needs a break, my body needs a break. Obviously, if you're spending more time binge watching, and not showering or eating, you might have a problem. But as with everything, moderation is key.
      - mc32 6y ago
        Oh i agree with you there. The problem isn’t people who measure themselves but those for varied reasons cannot cut back on things that consumed without restriction have negative effects on people. Things like drink, food, entertainment, sex, social network/internet, etc.
    - JetSpiegel 6y ago
      I marijuana is legalized, how many of those go back to being eligible?
  - perardi 6y ago
    And it’s not like everyone in the past was some gentleman philosopher. Is Survivor pablum? Arguably. But I would certainly say it’s more edifying than… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear-baiting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear-baiting
- madeofpalk 6y ago
  Yes but the Very Smart Very Intellectual Hacker News is a boon for humanity.

mc32 6y ago

Junk entertainment (social media, programmed streaming, etc) is going to be the bane of humanity. Junk food + Junk entertainment doesn’t add up to a productive society. It seems like advanced economies, on average, are suffering from obesity as well as decline in brainpower. Even China can’t avoid this and I don’t see them clamping down on things that keep their population “busy”. Bifurcation in education and intellect will just add to the economic divide.

perardi 6y ago
“In all things I yearn for the past. Modern fashions seem to keep on growing more and more debased. I find that even among the splendid pieces of furniture built by our master cabinetmakers, those in the old forms are the most pleasing.” Tsurezuregusa (Essays in Idleness), Yoshida Kenkō 1330 - 1332 AD https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/28169/what-is-the-oldest-authentic-example-of-people-complaining-about-modern-times-an https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/28169/what-is-th... Congrats on joining the long, proud, ancient history of saying society is going to hell. — But as to contemporary TV: it ain’t junk. You want to see junk? Go back to the 1970s. Three’s Company? The Love Boat? The Brady Bunch? Any of the awful cheesey variety shows? Modern TV is vastly, hugely better than what it used to be, in terms of acting, cinematography, and music. And I’d argue more intellectually challenging—so many of the hit shows have long, ongoing arcs, instead of standalone episodes, that require viewers to get invested and understand the plot threads. Takes a lot more brainpower to keep track of what’s going on in Watchmen than The Dukes of Hazzard.
- mc32 6y ago
  70+% of military age population in US is ineligible for service due to weight, education, substance abuse[1]. But we’re not the only ones. Educational shows are better. Very much better, but the entertainment is still escapism, whether they have Shatner or Olivier. That said, entertainment and thinking don’t mix —which is why we have laugh tracks. Instead the programming is thinking for you. That’s perhaps worse than anodyne programming. [1] https://time.com/2938158/youth-fail-to-qualify-military-service/ https://time.com/2938158/youth-fail-to-qualify-military-serv...
  - olyjohn 6y ago
    Well, sometimes I like to watch a mindless show. I think it's okay to binge watch every now and then. What is wrong with a little escapism? After spending my whole day learning and implementing new things, my brain needs a break, my body needs a break. Obviously, if you're spending more time binge watching, and not showering or eating, you might have a problem. But as with everything, moderation is key.
    - mc32 6y ago
      Oh i agree with you there. The problem isn’t people who measure themselves but those for varied reasons cannot cut back on things that consumed without restriction have negative effects on people. Things like drink, food, entertainment, sex, social network/internet, etc.
  - JetSpiegel 6y ago
    I marijuana is legalized, how many of those go back to being eligible?
- perardi 6y ago
  And it’s not like everyone in the past was some gentleman philosopher. Is Survivor pablum? Arguably. But I would certainly say it’s more edifying than… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear-baiting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear-baiting
madeofpalk 6y ago
Yes but the Very Smart Very Intellectual Hacker News is a boon for humanity.