Do you believe US television, and film, has lost it's creative edge?

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   leroy64posted 11 years ago

   Do you believe US television, and film, has lost it's creative edge?
   
   Just thought I would see what everyone else thought.

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   Old Empresarioposted 11 years ago

   Was it ever creative? Did it ever have an edge to it? Actually, I would say yes. Once upon a time, there used to be TV plays. Those were actually very well-written and very good. There was just the writer and the actors. The director was unable to get his greasy hands all over it.

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      leroy64posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the response.   I like the first two questions.   I wonder if the TV plays were written before TV became "big business"?

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      Old Empresarioposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      They were big in the 70s.

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3. 68

   Rod Marsdenposted 11 years ago

   There is a lot of shows that smell as if they have been dead for a while. Then you have those cheap and nasty reality programs that I absolutely loathe.
   
   Occasionally a maverick producer and director comes along and you just have to wonder at their collective sand. The guys who make DEXTER have that kind of grit. The people who make GRIMM lean in that direction. I loved HOUSE when it was on. Those responsible for BREAKING BAD have a lot of guts and savvy. As long as you have this breed going for you American television isn't completely dead in the water. ARROW looks like it might have possibilities.
   
   I don't particularly like American television aping British television. There's a new Shelock Holmes in modern times in London so now there has to be a modern Sherlock Holmes in New York. Hey! Dream up your own ideas!
   
   As for cinema, I liked the Iron Man films and The Avengers movie. The critics loathed the latest Captain America movie but I don't know what they were on about. I thought it was great.

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      leroy64posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I know what you mean by the aping of British shows.  Two shows that I think are, or used to be, aping British Television:  Leverage and Life on Mars,  Remember the time someone tried to import Coupling?

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      Rod Marsdenposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      You know what I mean then. Life on Mars was much better as a British effort.

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   hoppedposted 11 years ago

   Not at all!  Sure, there are plenty of terrible shows out there and even more mediocre ones, but there is also some truly fantastic stuff on the air as well.  With as many hours to fill as American television has, of course there's going to be a mixed bag, but that also leaves us viewers with a lot of choices.  It's just about separating the wheat from the chaff.

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      Rod Marsdenposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Okay...So what is the wheat for you and what is the chaff?

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      hoppedposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Game of Thrones, and Parks and Recreation are probably my top tier.  Southland, Fringe, Happy Endings. The Good Wife, Key & Peele, Switched at Birth, Community, and Gravity Falls are all solid too (tbc)

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      leroy64posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the answers and the suggestions in the comments.

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   lorddraven2000posted 11 years ago

   I think the constant flow of movie remakes says it all. It seems original ideas have gone out the window for recycling old ones.

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      DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I agree--there is no more originality.  Everyone in H-wood thinks they can do a better job re-making old shows/movies than the original efforts, and 99.99999% of the time, they are dead wrong, and just mess up the story instead.

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   camillewagnerposted 11 years ago

   I don't make a habit of watching too much television, but when it comes to film, I believe the industry in the US has lost its creative edge. Just think about all the great old films with fantastic artists who were so inspirational in their fields at the time, such as Audrey Hepburn's tremendous impact on the world of fashion. I don't see those kinds of trend-setters today, I see a bunch of wanna-be's feeling toward famousness simply because of money, one hit song, or a hot body. It's quiet sickening, really.
   
   I would like to see more visual comedy, more word artistry, and higher standards employed by the entertainment industry.

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