Court TV Goes By by

[SkepticJ]

Now I don't watch Court TV, because, namely, it's Court TV, and I can't think of much that is less interesting than watching legal proceedings. That said, I'd rather have it around than yet another channel that is adulterated by the blight that is "reality TV". Here comes "truTV"....

[sarongsong]

ToSeeked

[Noclevername]

Their new slogan is especially ironic/sickening; "It's not reality, it's actuality!"

Um, no. It's TV. It's footage carefully chosen to attract viewers and edited for content.

[Romanus]

This really bugs me. As someone who's always enjoyed the occasional true crime investigation show, this seems like an enormous step downward--but one no doubt driven by the market.

[Moostang]

Is their content really going to change that much? I think they have been moving this way for a while now, it started off with more actual courtroom shows, lately they air COPS reruns and forensic shows more than court room type shows.

[darkhunter]

This really bugs me. As someone who's always enjoyed the occasional true crime investigation show, this seems like an enormous step downward--but one no doubt driven by the market.

But then they are coming out with a channel called "Discover Investigations" (or something like that) for all of the forensics shows...

[Gillianren]

Their new slogan is especially ironic/sickening; "It's not reality, it's actuality!"

Um, no. It's TV. It's footage carefully chosen to attract viewers and edited for content.

Call me crazy, but wouldn't actual courtroom footage, unedited, be much closer to "actuality"?

[novaderrik]

if OJ would just off a few more people, then maybe Court TV wouldn't have to change..

[sarongsong]

Call me crazy, but wouldn't actual courtroom footage, unedited, be much closer to "actuality"?

Maybe you missed the 'endless' (6 months) Phil Spector trial they covered earlier this year, resulting in a hung jury and a late 2008 retrial.

[Gillianren]

I don't actually watch Court TV. But even that is still real life, or at least a closer approximation of it than a reality show.

[soylentgreen]

Call me crazy, but wouldn't actual courtroom footage, unedited, be much closer to "actuality"?

In "actuality", the channel did actually broadcast municipal level court proceedings from around the nation. That was some time ago, though. Back when the channel(like a many others) followed their name and programming intention.

While it was no LAW & ORDER, it's lack of artifice(hummy cctv and all) and complete grounding in reality made it fairly riveting. Kind of like when you have to go to court for some petty traffic ticket and the poor slob in front of you is being put through a reenactment of Ben Franklin before the Privy Council.

It was hard to watch the show and not be overcome with a sense of "There but for the grace of God...."

[Fazor]

What's the point of "reality" tv? A) Anytime you introduce a film-crew, people don't act the same as they "really" would. 2) I thought the point of watching non-educatonal/news television was to escape reality. Why would I want to watch "reality" to escape reality?

[Extravoice]

Why would I want to watch "reality" to escape reality?

Schadenfreude?

[Fazor]

gesundheit!

[SkepticJ]

What's the point of "reality" tv?...

To make money. They don't have to pay writers, professional actors etc. No fancy special effects. It's cheap television for bankrupt minds.

[Gillianren]

But again, you've got to figure that showing trials is pretty cheap, too, and for a lot of the same reasons. And you don't need fancy locales, either; you don't pay for sets at all except insomuch as your taxes fund them.

[SkepticJ]

But again, you've got to figure that showing trials is pretty cheap, too, and for a lot of the same reasons. And you don't need fancy locales, either; you don't pay for sets at all except insomuch as your taxes fund them.

Yes, that's true, but the cheapness of the show is only part of it; they also have to be showing something that enough people will want to watch. TV, after all, is a business. The more people watch their channel in a given time slot, the more money they can charge to have commercials run during those hours. That's also why you see more of the cheapest of the cheap ads late at night and early in the morning--selling things I won't write about, due to the younger viewers on this site.

[R.A.F.]

Looks like they've dropped the "psychic detective" shows...

...which is a good thing.

[Tinaa]

Moved to OTB. Not space or astronomy media.