There seems to have been a dearth of decent family TV on lately. On Saturday night we have had Harry Hill and his usual brand of silliness but aside from that there hasn't been much on that we can watch as a family that isn't either brain dead or marginally offensive.
It's a pity, as our oldest boy is too old to be chased off to bed by 7:30 but most of what we would like to watch isn't really suited to him (CSI for 8 year olds? Maybe not.) What tends to pass for family programming are the talent shows such as X-Factor or Britain's Got Talent or the numerous dancing or skating versions of the same. What I dislike about these is the freak show tendency of poking fun at the talentless, misfortunate or merely deluded contestants that show up. It's not that older shows such as Opportunity Knocks or New Faces didn't have their share of half-baked acts but it was left to the audience at home (or the dubious clapometer) to make their mind up without some gurning, half-talent celebrity pointing it out like weak irony with a smiley emoticon at the end.
There are some decent family shows about. Top Gear used to be a dull as dishwater motoring magazine but has been transformed into a boys-own silly-o-rama, with space shuttles made from Reliant Robins and a caravan that converts to a Zeppelin. It still has the occasional nod towards it's motoring origins but it's actually closer to The Goodies. The presenters are particularly well suited. Jeremy Clarkson is the main petrol-head with his right-of-Genghis oafishness but it's actually the other two that make it worth watching. James May has done some great TV on his own - particularly his toy sagas - and Richard Hammond is a modern-day John Noakes. We have just watched his latest series, Invisible Worlds, which is a superb mix of science with entertaining visuals and Hammond's likeable, eager personality. Physicist Brian Cox has also been doing a great series on the Solar System.
I think the big gap has been on family orientated drama. For the most part, this seems to be Soap Opera which I really can't stand and, for the most part, bores the kids to tears. The BBC has made a good effort of Saturday night drama with Doctor Who, Robin Hood and Merlin. Robin Hood didn't work for me but the other two have been great fun. Doctor Who is back next week (which should, at least, give me something to blog about). The trick of good family drama is to make something that kids want to watch but make it intelligent enough for the whole family. A great example of this was All Creatures Great and Small but many writers either make something juvenile or stick too many adult references in and force it post-watershed. Is it that hard to do?
Anyway, I looked up an old 1970's Saturday night schedule and how is this: Basil Brush, News & Sport, Doctor Who, The Generation Game, The Two Ronnies, Mike Yarwood, Match of the Day, Parkinson. Times and tastes change but do you think they could match that?
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The stuff we'll watch as a family tend to be You've Been Framed and The Simpsons (if we can find an episode we haven't seen before). I particularly like Mythbusters which I enjoy watching with number one son and he is also keen on Bang Goes The Theory - not to be confused with The Bing Bang Theory which has to be the funniest show on TV at the moment but it's aimed post-watershed.
ReplyDeleteThe least funny show (that's meant to be funny) is the family oriented Life Of Riley - how can the BBC have commissioned a second series of that? Compare that with the absolutely brilliant Outnumbered - it's like comparing Posh Spice with Annie Lennox and no prizes for guessing which one is which.