To heck with nostalgia! TV today is better than it’s ever been

Trent Knuckles is publisher of The News Journal.

Just the other day, I heard someone actually say the following: “There is absolutely nothing good on TV anymore.”

Then, they started to wax nostalgic about the days of “Hee Haw,” “Love Boat,” “Dallas” “The Waltons” and of course, the ultimate, hands down, best go-to show in television history — absolute required viewing for anyone who considers themselves a true American … “The Andy Griffith Show.”

Actually, I always found that last one to be pretty boring, but I’ll concede it does have a certain charm for those who yearn for the “simpler days of yesteryear.”

While I do think there were some things that were better in “the good old days,” generally speaking, I’m not on board with that type of thinking.

And I definitely do not think TV is a vast wasteland of nothingness bereft of any programming of substance to entertain us.

Sure, some of those old shows were very good. But TV is more amazing now than ever in my opinion!

If I quit working now, abandoned all my other hobbies and interests and fatherly and husbandly duties, and simply watched TV morning noon and night … I couldn’t see all the great stuff I want to watch. There’s just that much awesomeness out there today.

I can’t keep up.

I get to watch so little TV nowadays compared to when I was younger. But when I do, I’m always in catch-up mode it seems. My DVR is stuffed with quality shows.

“Game of Thrones” … I’m five seasons behind.

“Walking Dead” … only seen a season of it.

“The Wire,” “The Sopranos,” “Mad Men,” etc. All those great HBO shows … barely even watched them.

And with the way things are in today’s world, TV isn’t just confined to what the networks and about a zillion pay channels offer. Services like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and others have their own high quality shows that you can stream to your television set. Add to that some of the more “in the wild” stuff available on YouTube or elsewhere and I could be entertained until my dying day without seeing the same thing twice.

Oh, and lets not forget. TV looks so much better now than it ever did. Nothing can top the HD and 4k resolution picture we get with modern TVs, and the digital surround sound available with just about every broadcast now. It’s simply astounding.

I loved “Gilligan’s Island,” and “Star Trek.” Variety shows like “The Smothers Brothers” and “The Gong Show” and “The Carol Burnett” show were amazing and my parents love them to this day.

But modern television programming, with the exception of some of the reality garbage out there, is simply in another league.

SOME OTHER STUFF

• We said goodbye this week to our summer intern, Candice Garcia.
A Corbin High School graduate, Candice is now attending Eastern Kentucky University and hopes to build a career in public relations. In her eight-weeks here, she really showed me that there truly are some talented, professional young people out there with excellent attitudes ready to step into the workforce and get the job done.
You will be reading some of Candice’s leftover stories for the next couple of weeks. She did a great job for us and we wish her the best.

• I read with great interest Gary West’s column this week about the 1972 Olympic Games (look left). They happened a year before I was born. I’m wondering if the Olympics in Rio this year will be remembered for the crime and health concerns surrounding the host city. Sounds like a real mess!