When Did You Stop Watching? (1 Viewer)

[Ilov80s]

I tuned out of TV when it went all-in on reality shows and serial dramas. I'll still binge on a good show but I have a pretty low tolerance level for bad dialogue.

I tuned out of the movies when CGI and superheroes took over.

I’ve said it a bunch of times but 2019 was a great throwback year for big original box office hits. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Ford v Ferrari, Knives Out, Jojo Rabbit, 1917, Us, Uncut Gems, Hustlers, etc were all successful at the box office and not cgi based sequels, prequels, spinoffs, reboots.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

That’s another issue I have. It’s crazy how many adults took the Toys R Us slogan to heart: “I don’t want to grow up, I’m a Toys R Us Kid”. That company died but the mantra did not.  I work closely with several very nice women but they spend any vacation chance they get going to Disney and binge watch Disney plus and hang out with their nieces, neighbors daughters, etc who are all like 8 years old because they share the same tastes in movies. It’s  really strange. 

My boss and one of my good friends go to Disney World every year with their families - and all of the "kids" are either in college or just out.

The friend was recently divorced and got a younger girlfriend and his first vacation with her was to Disney World and not a tropical island. He loves Epcot and talks like he's experienced Europe by going to the Epcot Pavilions but has no interest in actually going to Europe. I don't get it.

P.S. He also just recently took his college age daughter to see Frozen II.  

 

[Ilov80s]

My boss and one of my good friends go to Disney World every year with their families - and all of the "kids" are either in college or just out.

The friend was recently divorced and got a younger girlfriend and his first vacation with her was to Disney World and not a tropical island. He loves Epcot and talks like he's experienced Europe by going to the Epcot Pavilions but has no interest in actually going to Europe. I don't get it.

P.S. He also just recently took his college age daughter to see Frozen II.  

And it’s so freaking expensive.

 

[matuski]

I stopped wearing watches circa 1997.

 

[Black Box]

Media is more fractured than ever, and that necessarily prevents huge cultural touchstones from happening. Think of it like a buffet. In years past, the buffet was whatever was on the 4 television stations or the 5 record labels. Today, the gatekeepers are dying or dead, and there are seemingly infinite choices. The Beatles will never happen again imho.

All that being said, sometimes things still rise above the noise and enter the "popular culture". But things move more quickly, so it is increasingly difficult to have lasting power. But I'd argue it still happens. Think Frozen or Batman or the NFL. Even people who don't follow that stuff still know something about it. 

 

[urbanhack]

Over the last 7 to 10 years.  

 

[Binky The Doormat]

Media is more fractured than ever, and that necessarily prevents huge cultural touchstones from happening. Think of it like a buffet. In years past, the buffet was whatever was on the 4 television stations or the 5 record labels. Today, the gatekeepers are dying or dead, and there are seemingly infinite choices. The Beatles will never happen again imho.

All that being said, sometimes things still rise above the noise and enter the "popular culture". But things move more quickly, so it is increasingly difficult to have lasting power. But I'd argue it still happens. Think Frozen or Batman or the NFL. Even people who don't follow that stuff still know something about it. 

I feel like I need to put you in touch with my people. 

 

[Max Power]

It's Always Sunny is the only show I watch religiously anymore.  Netflix has ruined some of my viewing habits.  I prefer to wait until something is binge-watchable as opposed to weekly showings.  It makes me feel more engaged with the show.  With the week to week format, I forget half of the plot lines. 

 

[shader]

To be fair, no one really watched Breaking Bad until the final seasons. 

 

[skol asylum]

I'm a huge TV guy. A couple years back when I used to take my older one to school one of her teachers had a license plate that said DVRDIVA.

I told her, DVR DIVA? Hey, that's me! Turns out for the teacher it meant diver diva as she was into deep sea diving. But from that exchange i earned the title.

There's actually a ton of cable shows, mostly HBO that I've never seen. I have a pretty large number of shows i keep up with and even more on my to do list. To keep myself organized i use the TV TIME app. If you're a DVR DIVA like me, check it out.

 

[ChainsawU]

I get what you're saying. But you didn't think this topic and question out very well at all. From the wording in the original posting, a single, unique mainstream culture existed when we were younger. And that unique, mainstream culture was a simple product of America's three over-the-air television networks ABC, CBS, and NBC. But I get what you are saying. Have you thought any more about this whole deal since you posed the original question? I'm wondering what you're curious about. This unique, mainstream American culture might have simply been an illusion to begin with, brother. And now that media and entertainment has become so fragmented, niche, and infinite you're thinking that you've been left behind in some way. In your mind, you must have been left behind, because you don't recognize any of the answers in the the Double Jeapordy category of Pop Culture anymore. I think the answer is that it doesn't matter. Maybe try to focus on what does really matter - all the other categories in Double Jeopardy. Oh, and don't forget about Final Jeopardy! too! (Just kinda joking there, with a nod to a little bit of a morbid theme you got lurking between the lines in all this)

I don't know. But you probably kinda get what I'm saying. For me I tuned out when I realized the news wasn't the news anymore. Whenever Dan Rather's career took it's final ####. Whenever Connie Chung fell off her show horse and forgot how to read, ending her career in journalism forever. And also whenever people began to bury their faces in their phones. Whenever "cell phone addiction" became the new mainstream American culture and Jeopardy started integrating targeted marketing within the actual competition portion of their game show - that's when I got out. And I broadened my horizons. I broadened my scope. And I learned that something to be paid attention to is important to me because I say it is, life is short, and there are too many other categories I need to be learning about because growing makes me happy. Becoming a better educated, well-rounded person makes me happy. And the world is so damn vast and interesting to sit here and worry if I got left behind somehow because of a TV show. If it makes you uncomfortable when you look around because you don't recognize anything anymore - and you feel like you're getting dusty and stagnating, simply pick up your game. Get better. Test yourself mentally. No one else is gonna do it for you. I promise.. That after you accomplish any very simple goal you set for yourself, your self esteem will increase and you'll have a brand-new vantage point from which to change your perception of this whole thing you're trying to define right here.

 

[Osaurus]

Several years. I’m just now watching season 1 of GoT and am already prepared to bail. 

 

[rockaction]

Whenever "cell phone addiction" became the new mainstream American culture andJeopardy started integrating targeted marketing within the actual competition portion of their game show - that's when I got out.

I think your post is thoughtful and well-put, but I'd suggest the sadness began a long time before cell phones. That the feature you point out here was the end game after all. That us being relentlessly marketed to was the end game, and the feature never was the content, but the actual impetus for the show in the first place.

 

[Da Guru]

Other than the NFL I hardly watch TV anymore.  Have not watched any cable news in years.  My wife will watch some Datelines and 20-20s and of course Survivor and The Bachelor.    If I am working out in my basement I will put on Chicago PD or Blue Bloods reruns.

I will admit I watch some kind of YouTube every day though.  Amazing of where it takes you at times, I start out watching different exercise and workout vids next thing you know I am watching vids of bears attacking humans and dog rescues.

 

[Jefferson the Caregiver]

To be fair, no one really watched Breaking Bad until the final seasons. 

I think it was around season 3 or 4 that the public started getting on board.  Do remember the first two seasons though and it had not been popular yet.

 

[Jefferson the Caregiver]

To answer the OPs question, I managed to lower my cable bill by $40 a few months ago, thought that was an accomplishment.