Remember when you used to get documentaries on telly? Cutting Edge, Arena, Panorama, QED, each week a different story, a window into a part of life we were hitherto unfamiliar with. John's Not Mad springs to mind, the first time we became aware of Tourette's Syndrome. Now we have Tourette's: Let us Entertain You, a 3 part series that takes young Tourette's sufferers with musical talent and puts them in front of an audience to see what happens. Then of course there's X Factor, My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, Eddie Stobbart: Trucks and Trailers. All of these shows could comfortably provide a single 1 hour documentary's worth of entertainment value but nowadays they are dragged out into series after series, spin-off after spin-off.
There's a real idea deficit in telly at the moment, it feels to me like the creative people in the industry aren't the ones dictating the content, that's a job that's left to the money people. And as much as I have nothing against accountants and appreciate that they do a job that needs to be done I don't want to rely on them to entertain and enlighten me.
You see that's the real problem with today's telly, it should be about more than entertainment. In most households the TV is on from dusk till dawn, whenever someone is in the house and awake the gogglebox is on. It's no longer something that's used to fill a couple of empty hours or provide escapism once the kids are in bed and the hoovering is done. TV is a constant in our modern lives, it is always with us and therefore it has great power to influence and educate us. To challenge us with thought-provoking content, provide us with knowledge and present us with ideas different to our own.
Telly should not just entertain, it should enrich. But for the most part it doesn't because its cheaper and easier to pitch to the lowest common denominator, the thinking seems to be that if the great unwashed masses who watch TV don't understand it they will switch off and watch something they do so let's keep it simple. It's patronising and insulting and it's making people dumber. Most homes now have a computer or an iPad or even a phone with the Internet on it, I'm writing this on my phone right now. When I watch something challenging and intelligent and something is mentioned that I don't understand or want to learn more about I go online and check it out. I learn. I don't for a second think I'm more intelligent than anyone else so I think it's safe to assume that others would do the same.
Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of intelligent, high-brow programming out there, the BBC don't have a "get out of jail free" card when it comes to accusations of dumbing down but on average they do provide slightly more intelligent and thought-provoking shows than the commercial channels. They still pander to focus groups and ratings concerns but they aren't a slave to advertisers to the same extent. It would be a terrible loss if they ever did away with the license fee. But the issue is that for every QI there's a Homes Under the Hammer. For every The Newsroom there's a Geordie Shores. And for every Frozen Planet there are 10 Take Me Out!
A great philosopher once said "With great power comes great responsibility" and the makers of television have great power. So step up guys and gals, why not do some good and create a generation of people who demand more, who ask challenging questions and insist on quality because its all they've ever known? Why not use your voice and the great weight that it carries for something more than Jeremy Kyle? Because nobody really cares what Jordan Did Next, they just watch it because you don't give them anything more interesting. In the absence of smart, witty and emotional drama people will watch minor celebrities eating bugs and will still buy the washing up liquid advertised in between courses but you shouldn't take that as a sign that we are all content. When the television is on from sunrise to sunset and beyond we will watch whatever you put on it but when you have the power to make society better instead of stupider and you choose not to use it, you are in danger of becoming the lowest common denominator yourself.
-- Post From My iPhone
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