State of Entertainment

Recently, I tried to watch two new shows on cable, Camelot and Game of Thrones, but I got turned off by all the un-necessary violence. I admit, I gave Camelot more of a shot. I watched six episodes(there were other turn-offs than just the violence). I only watched one episode of Game of Thrones**, but they killed three people in the first ten minutes and I lost interest fast. It's not like I can't appreciate dark shows. I loved Twin Peaks and I watched Reservoir Dogs multiple times back in the day. Two of my current favorite shows are True Blood and Dexter. But these shows all have strong characters and plots. The violence is used to move the story- not just thrown in for apparent shock value or because they can, which is what happens all too often these days. Movies and TV notoriously use tools such as sex, special effects and violence without any real discussion on whether they add to the story.

I don't like sounding like an old fogey, but I might have to go there to make my point. We used to get well-developed stories with interesting people doing interesting things. Now it seems like corporate owned-and-run Hollywood is just trying to find the perfect formula that will consistently sell their product. Such a shame that the industry who created wonderful films like E.T., Star Wars, Tootsie, Rambo(1st), The Godfather, Psycho, and Terms of Endearment makes us suffer through formulaic trash just because they are focusing solely on the business part of 'show business.'

And just because cable TV allows creativity to flourish without traditional restrictions, that doesn't mean channels like HBO, Showtime, and Starz should just fill their programming with violence, bad language, and sex, just because they can. Plot and character still matter. The Sex in 'Sex in the City' worked because the show was funny and the characters were well-developed. I couldn't imagine the show without the sex stuff. It was all part of the joke. But I didn't enjoy the cancelled Lucky Louie because, while it had moments, at the end of the day, the only differences between it and a lot of other sitcoms were the obscene language and subject matter. The Simpsons, Rosanne, and All In the Family were much better at cynical humor and they didn't need the vulgarity.

**I understand 'Thrones' was based on a series of books with strong characters and interesting plots, but I just can't sift through all the blood and boobs to give the HBO series a chance.