How F*cked up are TV Writers?

[dgs49]

It is not news that network televisions is a cellpool of depravity, mindless, gutter "comedy," and faux news.

But I am particularly irritated by the distorted and amoral portrayal of supposedly intelligent and educated people on the "drama" shows.

Like most adults (I guess), my wife and I check out new television programs when they come out, and if they seem interesting or entertaining we will start to watch them regularly. As a result, there are always 5-7 weekly dramas that we watch pretty much every week.

We starting watching Gray's Anatomy when it first started, and it's sister program Private Practice, because they are on consecutively and there was generally nothing else on that interested us. Now, we end up taping two programs at the same time on another network and watching those four shows over the weekend, as we get time.

If you are familiar with the shows, consider the domestic situation of the main characters. You have:

Two surgeons (Old Gray and McDreamie) who are pretending to be married - as opposed to shacking up - and trying to finalize their adoption of an African baby with a medical problem.

Two surgeons are lesbians (sort of) who are also "married" and have a kid by a third surgeon who is an incurable skin hound in his 40's (time to grow up?).

Among the "kids" on the show, there is an interracial (of course) couple, and a senior resident (female) who was mocked over half the last season for not being a whore (like everyone else on the show).

The former chief resident had her marriage go south in a previous season, and is now a single mother.]

The only one on the program who has a "normal" marriage is married to a woman with Alzheimer's, but (of course) the love of his life was a white surgeon (mother of Old Gray), with whom he carried on a decades-long adulterous affair.

Private practice (created and written by the same crew) features a similar group of fucked up people. The "married" doctors hate their spouses, and the main character is living with (of course) a black doctor who is molded in the Sydney Poitier fashion. She is in her 40's but wants to have a baby (remember Murphy Brown?), so she is being artificially inseminated because Sydney Poitier allready has a fucked up daughter and is past his child-rearing years. So she presumably will have HER baby and raise it by herself, in the same house with Sydney.

There is an interesting portrayal of a drug addicted Doctor that is one of the main story lines this year, and I suppose there is some value in showing how a professional (other than House) can function reasonably well while addicted.

Again, I ask: How fucked up are these writers that they would write this garbage? Are their lives this fucked up, or is it purely for "entertainment"?

Does it occur to anyone that in portraying these glamorous individuals (each of whom is portrayed as at the highest levels of their respective specialties) as sluts and man-whores they might be sending an inappropriate message?

[Joe Guy]

I don't watch any of those shows, but it appears to me that they are portraying people at "the highest levels of their respective specialties" as being no different in their personal lives than everyone else.

Would it be more entertaining to watch those shows if all doctors were portrayed as Ward and June Cleaver characters?

[BoSoxGal]

I watched an episode or two of Grey's Anatomy with friends who were addicted. I found the premise of so many gorgeous people having achieved the top levels of surgical practice laughable in itself.

Why do you watch such crap? If you must watch so much TV, there is far better quality programming available.

[GrossDad]

I think that replays of "Touched by an Angel" must still be running on one channel or another.

[BoSoxGal]

Yeah, and doesn't TVLand re-run Little House on the Prairie?

[Lord Jim]

The Waltons too...

But stay away from The Dick Van Dyke Show...

(Rob and Laura slept in the same bed... )

[Gob]

Happy days?

[loCAtek]

Nah, the FonZ was man-whore.

[dgs49]

What is "normal"? I know and have known several doctors, and none of them has been divorced or engaged in any extramarital affairs. None of them are married to a person of the same gender. None have adopted babies of different races. I have many lawyer friends, and with a few notable exceptions, they have intensely unremarkable sex and married lives.

Things may be different in American's trailer parks or ghettos, or among the glitterati on Entertainment Tonight, but these depraved personnae are in no way representative of any group of professionals that I'm aware of.

Why is it necessary to refer back decades to find a normal married couple in prime time television? And that is only a slight exaggeration.

[Scooter]

So Dave lives in a universe where:

• doctors never divorce
• there is no such thing as a gay or lesbian doctor
• every doctor is too bigoted to consider adopting a baby of a different race

Move over, June and Ward Cleaver, you have company coming into your world.

[Sue U]

The spousal unit and I were talking about various family issues the other night and remarking on how screwed up peoples lives/kids have gotten among all the nice middle-class folks we know. It turns out the most "normal" people in our fairly broad social set (aside from us, of course) are the lesbian couple with two kids, up the street.

[BoSoxGal]

What is "normal"? I know and have known several doctors, and none of them has been divorced or engaged in any extramarital affairs. None of them are married to a person of the same gender. None have adopted babies of different races. I have many lawyer friends, and with a few notable exceptions, they have intensely unremarkable sex and married lives.

Things may be different in American's trailer parks or ghettos, or among the glitterati on Entertainment Tonight, but these depraved personnae are in no way representative of any group of professionals that I'm aware of.

Why is it necessary to refer back decades to find a normal married couple in prime time television? And that is only a slight exaggeration.

You apparently assume you know whether your doctor and lawyer acquaintances are having or have had extramarital affairs. Methinks they wouldn't be telling you, of all people.

And is it, in your mind, depraved to be divorced, gay, or to adopt a child of another race?

My primary care MD in rural Maine was a lesbian living with her committed life partner. Not married, as it wasn't legal there. They've been together longer than most hetero marriages I can think of. Depraved, I guess?

My recently deceased friend's eldest son and his wife just adopted a black infant. They are both conservative US Army veterans. Depraved, I guess?

I agree with you that most lawyers have intensely unremarkable sex and married lives. This is because of their personalities, which are a form of birth control.

No, I'm only kidding; I would have to surmise that given the higher rates of substance abuse and depression in the medical and legal professions, both are likely to have a rate of divorce at or higher than the national average. I certainly know several divorced lawyers and I also know a few who have the reputation of straying.

But anyway, why are you bitching about nighttime soap opera drama, which is conjured to drive up ratings? You don't have to watch nighttime soap operas. Watch something with substance instead. There is plenty of excellent programming on cable that could replace your addiction to Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice. Hell, they aren't even very well acted - at least find a nighttime soap opera that is worth watching.

[Scooter]

Besides which, Gray's Anatomy used to have T.R. Knight in the cast and he was, you know, one of those.

[liberty]

Why is there so little creativity and imagination in the programming on the four main networks ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox? Does the fault lie with the networks or the American people?

[dales]

So Dave lives in a universe where:

• doctors never divorce
• there is no such thing as a gay or lesbian doctor
• every doctor is too bigoted to consider adopting a baby of a different race

Move over, June and Ward Cleaver, you have company coming into your world.

[Scooter]

I don't think even Dr. Welby would have labelled adopting a baby of another race as "depraved".

[Sean]

Damn those TV writers by trying to entertain people rather than show realistic portrayals of lives that may in fact be exceedingly dull!

Damn them all!

[BoSoxGal]

'The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.'

And they don't want to go home at night to watch it all over again on television.

[Long Run]

Damn those TV writers by trying to entertain people rather than show realistic portrayals of lives that may in fact be exceedingly dull!

Damn them all!

I'm with you. I have watched about 80 minutes of Gray's and never even heard of Private Practice, but they are trying to create drama, so they condense a bunch of unusual and dramatic situations into one show so they can have multiple story lines going. Showing a happy couple watching tv after cleaning the dishes, doesn't make for watchable tv (let's not even try to get to good tv).

And the maxim is almost correct, 800 channels and (nearly) nothing on. Given recording and OnDemand, there are plenty of good alternatives out there so that you don't have to watch mediocre shows if you don't want to.

[Gob]

'The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.'

And they don't want to go home at night to watch it all over again on television.

I disagree. Most would love to watch it on TV, as long as the poor bastard on TV has it worse than they do.

O'Reilly: "Cheer up Mr Fawlty, there's always someone worse off than yourself."
Basil : "Really? Well wheel him in then, I could do with a bloody good laugh."