Do You Avoid Old Movies/Shows Cuz of Antiquated Production?

[DRW50]

The vivid colors on TOS (especially the uniforms, and the effort they made to have Kirk's women look striking and exotic) were what got me into the show, along with the characters and the moments of poignancy in most episodes. That's something Star Trek has lacked in more recent years. I enjoyed some of the later shows but they seem so drab in comparison, and the movie, which was hyped as finally having a tired old franchise reach potential and be worthy and so on, was a boring, forgettable and dreary gruntfest. Space used to be a wonder, but now between that and the BSG and BSG-inspired shows that are afraid to pay their lighting bills, it's a self-conscious dirge.

[JackPeyton]

To answer the original question, yes and no.

It really depends. Its all about the look for me. I can watch older movies and shows that have been remastered or look good. I recently watched Rear Window, it is fantastic. They Shoot Horses Dont They? Also looks good. An Affair To Remember, Peyton Place, etc... i can watch those because they look great on dvd.

But I can not watch something like... the original batman because i just find it to be awful with those gimmicks and stuff. I also, sadly, can not really get into anything in Black & White. Even recent stuff done in B&W, i can not watch it.

[applcin]

The irony is that the spinoffs all had bigger budgets to play with than TOS yet TOS managed to look so good with so little. I remember at the time I was watching TNG I was thinking that it looked good, and some of the stories were good, but I felt little-to-no camraderie/chemistry amongst the cast. The captain's power/charisma was usurped by Riker, everybody was so darn PC. I enjoyed DS9 though it took me a while--that show was darker visually and darker in story. By the time they got to Enterprise, they wanted to emphasize the newness of this vessel called the Enterprise, so everything was just metallic looking and the crew's uniforms were pretty muted, too. I think it failed in large part because TPTB did not really give the audience what it wanted to see visually or storywise. I liked the 2009 movie but, admittedly, I wasn't interested in Nero or the space effects, fights, etc. I watched it to see the new cast and their interaction and to revisit the old characters. (Word is the next film will bring back a TOS villain.)

Jack, would you watch I Love Lucy? It's one of those shows I think, yes it has a dated look and dated attitudes that most people today probably don't relate to yet still has a timeless sense of comedy that's kept the show enduring to generations. Someone had actually given my mom DVDs of a couple of the seasons and they had colorized an introductory bit on them and I thought, um, that just looks wrong! (We've since donated the DVDs to a nursing home!)

[SFK]

I'm fascinated by the fact that you can't get into shows in b&w Jack, can you explain a little more? Does it just bore you so much visually that you tune out? How do you do with podcasts, could you get through a radio drama/comedy? Curious.

[quartermainefan]

You are really missing out on dismissing B/W. Some of the greatest movies and TV shows ever made were done in B/W. And especially in film, B/W adds so much to the cinematography and the mood.

[applcin]

BTW, just want to thank everyone that's been responding to this. I'm enjoying reading everyone's posts.

I was also just thinking of the show "The Monkees". It also had that bright color scheme of the late 60s, I think, plus it was ahead of its time in incorporating what became known much later as music videos. Then MTV reran the show in the 80s and that new "music video generation" fell in love with a two-decades old show and the group had a big revival.

That's something I miss about television now. Years ago, true, there were fewer stations, but there were both new and old shows across the board. Nowadays, the majority of reruns are either of shows that are still in production or that recently went off the air. The really old things are relegated to a couple of stations like TV Land, ALN, etc., and even those stations over the years have eroded their old programs in favor of later shows.

Now I feel like subscribing to Netflix!

[~bl~]

I think it depends on the program. I got Remington Steele on DVD and watched it, but while it was fun there was one thing that drove me crazy. They would have these long chase scenes, and these days there is no way a show would film a show in that style since it was so slow going. I have that issue with other older shows as well, I don't have the patience I once did. That said, I do like old programs and some are almost tradition for me especially over the holidays. I can't stand colorized things for example and will watch B&W movies if they are available.

The funniest thing to me though was a few years ago talking to a friend about Star Trek, and it taking me 5 minutes to realize that she was complaining to me about the production values of ST:TNG. She thought it was totally antiquated and due to how she was speaking I thought she meant Star Trek TOS. Her comments about it being bright etc is what got me so confused.

[JackPeyton]

Yes i can, as well as the dick can dyke show, but i think its because i watched them when i was a baby/child. They are the only B&W stuff i can get through.

Yes, that is exactly it.

I can do podcasts when im in my car driving or anywhere i would listen to music, but not just like sitting at me casa.

I could never deal with a radio show.

Im not dismissing them. I try to watch them all the time, i just can not do it. I can not sit through it. I i do manage to keep it on i tune out mentally.

[All My Shadows]

I definitely saw that Christmas movie last year. It aired on a CBS station in the daytime, so I immediately thought they sneaked an oooooooold episode of Y&R or something in for the holidays. I kept watching even after I figured out what it was.

The "Color! Glorious Color!!" thing is so cute to me. The NBC animation with the peacock and the flutes, the CBS futuristic slot machine thing, etc. Love it. I agree that they seemed to go crazy with the colors, too. In the early episodes of the second run of To Tell the Truth, the set was TOO BUSY with all of the psychedelic colors and designs. The older panelists openly bashed it on air, so they toned it down considerably.

In regards to black and white, I used to find it hard to get into BW movies. TV shows were never a problem because I grew up on tons of 50s-60s shows, but I always had a hard time with movies. I can watch them now, but color's still my preferred.

[SFK]

What kind of turned me off and tuned me out to b&w stuff when I was younger was more the sound than the picture. That crackly noise, always seemed like you had to turn the TV way up and you still had trouble making out every word. And especially when there was no music underneath it could be a real snooze. But this is the kind of stuff I grew to find charming. I mean, I always loved The Three Stooges which had these qualities but it of course was slapstick comedy, hard not to be entertained.

[quartermainefan]

I find it so interesting people cannot watch B/W or find it hard to get into. There are so many classics that are B/W. I mean, Casablanca was in B/W, King Kong, all the film noirs, All About Eve...the list is neverending. The B/W films have an artistry you just can't get with color. The use of shadows and black, frames can be singled out and turned into portraits.

I don't know how you could achieve this effect with color

[quartermainefan]

[All My Shadows]

It can be done, I think, but yeah, the look would totally be different. I guess I view color/BW the same way I view film/tape. I like them both a whole lot, and I can't imagine things made in one being made in the other. I like to watch colorized clips of movies and stuff (look for the colorized clip of I Love Lucy on YouTube -- very surreal) just out of curiosity, but it doesn't feel right if I've already seen it in its original black and white. I saw a short piece of Night of the Living Dead's colorized copy, and I'll stick to the grainy original.

[SFK]

And think of a flop like the remade shot-by-shot in color Pschyo.

[Sylph]

Citizen Kane. Welles: Please do this for me. Don't let Ted Turner deface my movie with his crayons.