What TV show today do you think people will still watch in fifty, sixty years? - General Discussion Discussion

[–] arvin g borkar (2854) 7 years ago

I doubt people will even still be watching t.v. 50-60 years from now. In fact, I think they will have figured a way to make a t.v. into an alternative dimension that we can walk into.

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[–] LeiaOfLothlorien (1980) 7 years ago

That would actually be pretty cool. Like an interactive hologram or virtual reality? And they could be more like video games, lol, where your choices affect the plot.

Then again, some people might just prefer to be lazy and sit on a comfortable chair as they watch events unfold and zone out.

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[–] arvin g borkar (2854) 7 years ago

For the lazy people, they could sit in a chair like Soarin at Disney World.

Get to it Leia. You did say you were working towards a degree in computer science.

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[–] LeiaOfLothlorien (1980) 7 years ago

Aye, aye. On it. *salutes*

... Might be a few decades, though. And someone will probably beat me to it. 😂

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[–] arvin g borkar (2854) 7 years ago

Are you a lazy Leia?

You must be the first!

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[–] Sentient Meat (1509) 7 years ago

A reality show like Survivor... or a singing competition. Maybe not under the same name, but in a similar form. For me, Survivor is more like watching sports than a regular show. That's why it's lasted over 30 seasons already. You wouldn't question if football lasted fifty years... the competition shows are held in similar regard by its fans.

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[–] Popcorn Kernel (2368) 7 years ago

Do you mean what current show will still be in production, or what shows will people watch the old episodes, the way we watch old Star Treks?
There are 50 year old shows that people still watch now, sometimes for a kitschy camp factor and sometimes because they legitimately love it.

If it is the second thing, what shows will people watch as reruns:
quite a few actually because we are in kind of a "golden age" of TV right now.
Fargo
Game of Thrones
American Horror Story
Mad Men
Various shows that are popular with kids, because the kids of today might want a nostalgic feeling when they are 50-60 years old.
Sadly, I think people will also watch a lot of old nature documentaries to see animals that are extinct. (will become extinct in the next 50 years) And to see living coral reefs, polar ice sheets, other beautiful natural areas that will be mostly gone within the next century.

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[–] R_Kane (15828) 7 years ago

Fifty, sixty years from now, if we haven't blown ourselves up, it won't be TV. It'll be VR, and I doubt that today's programs will translate well to that medium, just like watching a standard definition show on a 4K TV, or a 2D movie played in "simulated" 3D on a 3D TV is not a satisfying experience.

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[–] actionkamen (23176) 7 years ago

I'm not sure about VR. It's already hyped to be the next big thing since when? 1985? But I don't think it will supplant TV anytime soon, if ever.

The thing with TV is it's... good enough. Maybe the resolution will increase to 8K or 16K and average household TV will be in bigger size like floor-to-ceiling big.

VR will have it's niche though, maybe in videogames also in design, engineering and architectural works. But most people will still watch the same plain old 2D TV.

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[–] R_Kane (15828) 7 years ago

I work in consumer electronics and VR is taking off like a rocket ever since the tech was ported to phones. It is still for early adopters, but will be mass market well within the next half-century. A toy can never be "good enough."

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[–] actionkamen (23176) 7 years ago

The VR devices maybe is taking off, but not the VR movies / series / shows. Producing shows for VR is complicated and to be utilizing VR for maximum effect means they would be limited to CGI animations. Exactly what videogames have to offer, but may not the most effective pasive-audience storytelling media like films.

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[–] Sentient Meat (1509) 7 years ago

Mad Men is one of my favorite shows but it would be watching a 50 year old show about a 50 year old show. So the equivalent might be what 50 year old shows do we like to watch now about something 50 years earlier.

Maybe it would be like watching Meet Me in St. Louis in the nineties... because it's a forties film about average people at the turn of the century. You can't use Gone With the Wind, because it's about an important historical event.

I wonder how zombie shows will translate fifty years from now... maybe they will be regarded as Westerns are now.

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[–] Popcorn Kernel (2368) 7 years ago

"So the equivalent might be what 50 year old shows do we like to watch now about something 50 years earlier."

How about Bonanza? Gunsmoke.
Or any western show from the 1960s.
They are 50 year old shows, set 100 years into the past. ( the late 1800s)
If it has to be 50/50, then I can't think of a 60's TV series set in the 1910s, but there were movies.
Dr. Zhivago
My Fair Lady

People will always like to see movies set in the past because it's something different from everyday life.

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[–] Sentient Meat (1509) 7 years ago

I mentioned zombie films because they might be the modern equivalent of the Western. It's not the same thing to compare westerns to regular films because most people didn't live like that... Zombie films or even fantasy might be the better comparison of a Western to an older person. The West was a mythological place where rules didn't apply and people could get away with things that they couldn't in regular life... Maybe a show like Upstairs Downstairs would be the best comparison to Mad Men... but even though Downton Abbey has proven very successful... no one really watches the original Upstairs Downstairs anymore.

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[–] PlaintiveMelody (245) 7 years ago

Whatever METV decides to buy, I suppose.

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[–] Daft_Munks (4159) 7 years ago

Awwwwwww Theeee Siiimpsons

Fawlty Towers

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[–] Renovatio (2990) 7 years ago

mad men is the only one... sure, there'll be a cadre of old people rewatching games of thrones and such, but Mad Men towers above all the other TV shows that it's safe to say that the golden age of tv ended when it did... its the only show i can see new people being introduced to in the future... I just wish it had ended at season 3

it's still the age of TV since movies for adults, at least american* ones, are not being made with the aesthetics and ambition they once were... TV is sadly the only game in town if you want to see adults on screen...

*The French have still held on to their film culture, but the french audience is a more cinema oriented audience anyway...

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[–] Hans-Wilhelm (1322) 7 years ago

I guess Friends and Seinfeld.

What shows do we watch now that were out decades ago? Off the top of my head I can't think of any but for many years shows like "I Love Lucy" and "Andy Griffith" aired decades after they were out. To this day I think on certain channels they still air Andy Griffith.

Friends and Seinfeld still commonly air daily on many main channels and have followings of new viewers that hadn't seen them live when they were out so my guess is that these shows will continue for a good while.

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[–] actionkamen (23176) 7 years ago

I Dream of Jeannie 😆

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[–] croft_alice (12180) 7 years ago

Breaking bad😉

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[–] TheBadgerMan (81) 7 years ago

I like the Seinfeld reply. I see myself still watching it until I die.

As far as shows out today, maybe The Big Bang Theory. I think it's a crap show, but it's just so popular now.

I'm not sure about any dramas standing the test of time. I like Fargo. It's seasons are short, it's seasons are only lightly connected, and it's not dependent on many special effects. I think it will age well, but I can't imagine any dramas staying somewhat popular that long. If it gets cancelled this year, maybe that will help.

Black Mirror?

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