Come on? What about TV for the OVER 35's, decent ordinary viewing, no brash adverts with the botox oversize babes, effeminate males with their short haircuts, high pitched whines of voices. Ordinary tv, no streaming, i-player crap, non internet users [no Broadband], there MUST be a demand for these viewers, non button pushing public, for the ORDINARY PEOPLE? We have to pay TV licences for what???? It really scares me, this technology and the continual speed of the upgrading, [the amount of out of date technology lying around??] no wonder there is such a rise in dementia, you press the wrong button, suddenly a large supply of ###### appears on your bank bill? They warn the viewers of "flashing images" THESE ARE "FLASHING IMAGES" they loosely call them TV images?? Get your priorities right? The time these under 35's reach retirement age, if they ever do, they will be mindless zombies?
What about TV etc for the over 35's? - Anxiety and Depre...
What about TV etc for the over 35's?
I agree. Most programmes these days are only aimed at people under 40 regardless of the average age in the UK. As a pensioner at home all day I am subject to endless game shows, old films, and mindless zombiefying chat shows.
It says something when 3 of the few programmes featuring older people ie The Golden Girls, Marigold Hotel and Loose Women attracted huge audiences. As an older person I am sick of all the mindless youngsters and the equally mindless topics discussed. And the obsession with celebrities drives me mad.
Fortunately there are much each better options these days. I tend to watch re runs of old programmes I am interested in. And YouTube is great.
Yes - the so-called ' celebrities ' that I've never heard of 🙄. There was a time when you became a celebrity after you'd worked hard and actually achieved something. Even the talented ones had to work at it.
Seriously? You don’t know who Jane Fonda and lily tomlin are? Sam waterston and Martin sheen? One of the best and most watched comedies a couple years ago. The tech has changed. Network tv is grueling and doesn’t pay well. Apple TV and roku are as easy to use once set up. Cable is stupidly expensive but may be more familiar and you can rent acorn really cheap. I manage my moms account.Suggesting that actors do not work hard today is pretty disrespectful.
I'm sorry if I created a misunderstanding. No I wasn't talking about actors and I wasn't in any way suggesting they don't work hard or being disrespectful. As a former drama teacher I know exactly how hard they work. I was talking about the so called 'stars' in the reality shows which seem to dominate our TV here in the UK .Once they have finished in those they then appear in many of the so called ' Celebrity' game shows/ quizzes etc. and are referred to as celebrities. And a lot of people have no idea who they are.I obviously didn't make this clear as I was trying to be brief.
Technically you can be a "star" of the show and not be a star of anything else. They are "on stage" too. Cheap entertainment. I don't watch it. Is celebrity referring to the amount of fame or influence you have? It doesn't have much to do with talent.Influencers (social media celebrities) don't appear to do a lot and are generally a lot better known than reality "stars" but most of them actually do a lot that you don't see behind the scenes. Some people think "anyone" can do it but I beg to differ. I don't follow influencers or anything. I was just curious and saw a documentary.
These are anybody who have shown up in a wide range of tv appearances shown in the UK, right across the board at ANY time, in ANY known field right across the board , thus are treated as a "celebrity" thus become 'eligible' for this "Cheap entertainment" ! Some are as you rightly say are competent, some are a 'little' past their best, most are not, but it is cheap to make, thus in these times ideal to bore the already bored viewers 🙄😤🙃🤩🤮🥶😵😷😱
we have reality tv too. Theresa Guidice is definitely entertaining. Didn't saver her from jail time. It is absolutely cheap to fill airtime with those shows. streaming services don't have to do that. There are plenty of other choices. If I didn't pay for a streaming service I can still watch Hoopla and PBS (member supported). I wouldn't waste my time on those.
And 'influencers?' what in heck are they good for?
Cheers, Midori
I don't even know what they are😁
Us over 35's just cannot afford to watch, or even understand this new technological "marvel" called Television anymore!🥴🥴🥴
Us over 70 are having a great time with tv. On basic tv I’ve seen too many reruns of reruns, reality shows are redundant. I get Netflix and Amazon. Choices galore, any time, any day. Yes, I get the remotes mixed up sometimes,but life is an adventure. Eeny, meeny, miny, mo. This remote has my show.
Maybe in the USA but definitely not in UK and we have to pay more for it!🥴🥴
Oh. We have to pay through the nose for every itty bitty type of program we get. I don’t pay for Netflix or Amazon. I have a friend who does and is allowed to share them with a certain amount of people. Maybe one person could subscribe to a mutually agreed upon venue and split the bill? It’s so worth it.
I'm afraid with my financial reserves🙄🤞and seeing the choice available in my neck of the woods Isinatra I would rather go outside and cut the lawn?☔☔☃️⚡😆😆
Geeze! Wow! Ok! Lawn it is! Lol Who knows? If you got struck by lightening you might get some new channels to watch. I. Robot.
How green is my valley? Robin Hood? Scot of the Antartic? more like bring in Indiana Jones? Have you seen my lawn?😑😝😝
Lol I passed by yesterday. Couldn’t see over the fence though. Do I want to?
What via drone, or satilite? You in USA, me in Norn Irelan🙄🤭😂😂🤔🙃😆😆😆
I said I was in the states, but am I really? I could be your neighbor, your sister. I don’t need high tech, I have a bicycle 🚴. 😂
Check your library for digital content. I just googled and UK does have Hoopla which is a library sponsored app. It is curated tv, movies and music that libraries offer their members for free. You use your library card. Here we also have Kanopy which I really like. Hoopla content is similar. It isn't all old stuff either.
Apple TV is only £4.99/month which is really cheap and they have the money to come up with some really amazing shows. They don't have as many shows and movies but they are just so good. That isn't more. that is less than the US when you factor in conversion. If you have a new-ish TV you probably have a smart TV so you just watch it there.
Also -- you have friggen BBC! Do you have any idea how popular those shows are in the US? I paid to see Downton Abbey UK version because I didn't want to see the stripped down US version. I have a favorite line from one I watch a couple weeks ago when someone tried to give the detective woman a hug: "Don't get American on me now".
BBC is a dirty word for many of us, The Government used to handle the TV licence and they decreed that pensioners over 75 got it free (instead of £159 a year), but then they allowed the BBC to collect it for themselves, and so they decreed that only pensioners on a certain benefit could get it and the rest had to pay. Since then it's been open warfare!
Now the government are thinking of axeing the licence entirely in the next few years, and the Beeb is going spare, as they will start losing presenters when they can't pay them as much as before. It's all go here, folks! we still have the Streaming channels as well, but the BBC is currently running round in ever decreasing circles!
🤣👍
Cheers, midori
Interesting. too bad because there are some really good shows. Those shows are on our public tv version. If you stream within a week or two of airing it is free but after that you pay. An all access pass is pretty cheap because most of the funding comes from donors and subscriptions. A tiny bit from the government.
Have you checked Apple TV, Kanopy and Hoopla? Apple TV is $5/month. The other two are free with your library card (depending on what they offer). All of them show up the same way Netflix does. Netflix overwhelms me. And their algorithm is terrible. I watched a good movie the other day but I had to find it on a recommendation article. Last year I even canceled it for a while. Now HBOMax is destroying HBO as I knew they would so I just canceled that.
Hmmm Library card? As in books?
Libraries are way more than books! they have a whole digital online section. My library offers those two video services plus rosetta for language learning, software training, digital books, audio books, and more. All free. Some libraries have maker spaces where you can use the equipment for free. The one near me has a 3D printer, laser printer, sewing machine, equipment to make electronics plus. Plus the librarians will help you learn it all.
Geeze! I guess it’s been longer than I thought since I’ve been to our library. I’ll be visiting them to see what they have to offer. Thanks so much! 🙏🤙🏼
Now it seems everyone is a celebrity. Brainless good looking youngsters whose mind is filled with 'important topics' such as skin creams, hair extensions, best tanning product. Crazy.
And talk about all those reality tv programmes. I watched some of them in the early days as they were ok. But now they deliberately put weirdos in and call it entertainment.
👍👏👏👏🤪😜🤬Exactly!👍👍
You hit the nail on the head with "skin creams, hair extensions, best tanning product". They are advertisers. Same as the old TV ads with actors pitching a product except they aren't really anonymous. They just changed the business model. Most of them are nothing like that in real life or if they are they are just shallow but obviously that is what advertisers want as long as they follow directions.
The last gasps of a failing capitalist system?
I wish... or maybe I don't. It is how the political system messes with the capitalist system that causes all the problems but that is for another day! In this case it is just the next iteration. Remember when it was unacceptable for tv news to be owned by a corporation? Now 1/2 of the "news hour" is commercials.
Just cheap ways to make programmes and get folk to make fools of themselves!
Cheers, Midori
Yes.
Those brainless young Actors are acting all the way to their bank. The money they make from acting in commercials can pay for their education, help their parents, etc. What they do for a living at such a young age takes dedication and hard work. Some go on to be influential humanitarians. I dislike commercials, but I have nothing against the people who make them. Although, I was surprised when I saw Brad Pitt in a commercial for perfume. I thought that he needed money for his divorce or he did it as a joke. I only saw it once…….he looked embarrassed or he was trying not to laugh….
Yes. Love Island for one, and Married at first site etc these girls with hair and nail extensions and huge plastic lips who all look alike to me. 😳 Lol
Uggh, yes, those programmes are vacuous
Yes I actually have nightmares about them, maybe put fangs on them [don't ruin the plastic lips?] 🦹🧛perfect ? Celebrity horror fang show!!🥴🥴
Are they fire retardant?🤔🤔🙄
Channel 23 BBC Three😤🥴one to miss!
👋👋👋Couldn't agree more
Coincidentally I have been down this road with my mother an Comcast. To me the price of phone, cable and internet is outrageous but it turns out the lowest is 200. There is a senior program but I think it is just internet. I am now manager on the account. I can set controls to require a code to buy on demand. She had a guy coming around who added showtime which is really not her style. I don’t need or want to restrict anything but I just want the TV to have content she cares about. She can rent all the movies she wants. Usually it is local for news and talk. PBS. There is a new subscription called acorn which looks like it has shows that interest her. She was using Apple TV fo a little while. Those memories are too new so she has forgotten how to use it. It isn’t hard for a senior in fact it is easy. She is just too far along.
Wait until you are a senior then see how things are 'easy'. I could easily keep up with all this until my 50's then it became a lot more difficult. You don't understand this until you get there yourself. I didn't either and find myself saying sorry to both my parents even though they are now long gone.
I am 56. I don't have long to test it out but you said "50s". My mother is 89 and knows how to subscribe and watch on demand shows even with dementia. Not sure if she still does but she did have a boyfriend last year and he must have convinced her to subscribe to Showtime because I just can't imagine her watching it. So obviously he could handle it. In her 80s she was using an iPad. It was fantastic for her. You should try it. Only thing she couldn't deal with was a smart phone. It needed real keys.
I'm 65, fingers flying like butterfly wings, side effects of medication, been using laptops for twenty years, second nature, this particular one best one ever, petrified of iPads and smart phones, recently got simple mobile with large keys, no camera, although not really security friendly, limited use, but suits me just fine 👍
On the news yesterday, the BBC is bringing BBC 3 back after closing it down a few years ago.
Yes I saw that. Think I'll give it a miss.
I can’t remember much about it, so we’ve probably not missed much lol
I think it was basically for the sort of programmes we've been complaining about. It went online and I didn't bother with it 🤗
😂 only boomers think they are ordinary with caps!
Are you talking about those born in the 40's and 50's? We are a forgotten group in society where everything is about new technology. I doubt your brain will be as sharp when you get there yourself.....
👍😊
I was born in 1950 and I can pick and choose what I want to learn. It’s not that I can’t. Being an older person doesnt automatically mean their ability to learn stops or becomes more difficult.
You probably don't use "ordinary" in caps.
I didn't say that - you did. I said when people get older it is often harder for them to understand things the way they could when younger.
Boomers are such a big group that they do not realize how much they dominated the landscape. So ordinary by your standards is based on a standard that doesn't work for the rest of us and we know it acutely. Millennials are the same way even though they live in much worse economic conditions. I am sandwiched in the middle.
I felt the same at your age. There were young people defined as a group, and there were old people defined as a group too. I felt middle age was ignored even though we were the ones who were currently doing most of the work in the country.
People love stereotypes which often aren't typical of the group anyway.
When you are the biggest group you don't see it. It is the same with other characteristics. The minority group is totally aware of the big group and the big group has no reason to be aware of the small group. I can tell because you think it is a "middle age" thing or a "young age" thing. I am saying it is a generational thing. You aren't a different generation at 40 vs 20. Boomers and millennials are the biggest. X and Z are small generations. I am an x. Ageism actually starts at 45 now. That is because millennials are running things and they hire their own age.
slightly off topic but for example... you cannot deny that climate change accelerated greatly on boomer watch. That is one reason other generations are so mad at boomers. It wasn't like they weren't warned. This isn't going away when boomers retire or die off. Huge floods are a done deal. You can't cool the ocean enough to stop it. pffft... and then retirees (boomers) whine because ocean front flood insurance is so expensive! Meanwhile millennials aren't buying housing or having kids because of college loans and climate change plus income inequality. You can validate that with hard numbers. I wish it were an age thing because then we would breath a sigh of relief in 10 years.
-"have to pay TV licences for what????" I don't know about in the UK, but in the US, some of these fees are so we can watch more commercials. Not different, or more entertaining commercials. The same commercials you would see on regular TV. If you could get a decent TV signal.-Some years ago, the TV writers went on strike. That's when most of the reality shows started.
You are subscribing to the wrong channels. Or maybe you have cable. Either way if there are commercials I don't watch it. If I can pay to strip commercials and it is quality i will. I feel the same way about journalism. If I am not contributing to salaries they need to make it up with advertising which usually means they are beholden to advertisers.
I meant that as a joke or sarcasm. I got rid of cable a long time ago. Cable was me paying a premium for a lot of channels I never watched. And the channels I did watch, had commercials. Now everything I watch is Streaming. For the most part, I don't watch or read about the news anymore. Way, way too tired of all of the political craziness. If I want to hear about politics, I just go see some of my family for some time. A short period of time. Covid controversy also. And so on.
I remember doing that about 6 years ago, I was playing full whack for Virgin, for channels I never used, I switched the customer service now is good, ok broadband speed is not as good for the laptop, but the saving.......🤗🤗🤗🤗I have not a clue what streaming is [unfortunately will eventually find out, kicking and screaming 😤] UK and especially N.I. are being kicking and screaming into politics whether we like it or not😤at the moment🙄Local news is always best and much more topical and relevant👍
Ok, I'm in the US, and I read the previous replies. But I have been told by several people, that the BBC News....covers the News. Without Drama or Political Spin, or playing some sort of crap for ratings. Is this true? Do the people in the UK believe this is true? Or is American TV news just......different?Not a part of a reply to the original question. But is the politics in the UK as crazy as in the US?
True it has a good reputation across the world, and for good reason, my wee sister worked for them in London for 13 years. It does cover abroad impeccably, but in the UK itself it is beginning to show a few cracks [but that is my own personal opinion] I have said before I live in Northern Ireland [I do not believe in religion, incidently] but news shown in London, is mainly for the English viewers, this can be rather embarrassing as it always has heavy English overtones, sometimes Northern Ireland is not mentioned at all in their 30 minutes spot, I suspect something similar for Wales and Scotland. It is the BBC local news spot that I listen to no complaint there👍BBC is gradually being weened off its former top spot, by rival overseas, cable [technological break throughs in communication - progress?] etc. thus the ordinary UK citizen has to pay £159 yearly licence, but this due to technological rivals is probably going to stop in 2 years? At this very moment I have never been to US but certainly in UK and Northern Ireland the political situations are a bit colourful!😤😆🙃
"politics in the UK as crazy as in the US?" Yes per my observation. I was in London when there were a bunch of resignations in Parliament and protests over Brexit. I almost ran right into one of them trying to avoid a reporter. On news... I read it or listen to a podcast. Other than one show they just don't tell the story in between commercials. I cut the cord when Netflix started streaming. I had a PC hooked up to my TV and I watched old british and australian shows. I don't really experience FOMO
In UK a yearly tv licence is paid for to BBC, with the likes of Sky, Netflix, Amazon etc, now having 'dominance' it is just a matter of a few years, this system will cease? Yes some of those commercials can be a real pain in the posterior! A usual half hour designated program, a third is commercials🙃🙄True some commercials can be entertaining, the worse is when watching a good film, especially with good music, especially at the end some twerp buts in spoiling the ambience of whole film😤😤
I think maybe it will start to cease. I get annoyed when they show the first programme of a new series on something like C4 then tell you that the rest of the series will be on a streaming channel. Which I don't have. I know what you mean about the butting in at the end 🙄 Drives me mad .
What the 😤😤 is streaming, now taken for granted, five years ago about Brexit🙄never heard of it? can the ordinary person even afford it? That is technology, brought in, six months later, mainline, six months later "What you have not got #######, everybody has it, you have not got it? you need to be upgraded!" but that costs money, an old fogey has not got it, I CANNOT AFFORD IT, and quite frankly could not care if he/she will have it, in six months it will be upgraded again, and it goes on , and on, and on🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
I think I prob got the terminology wrong. One of those channels like All 4 where you have to connect to the internet to get it. You're right about all this upgrading. When Freeview and digital TV came in we got a new TV. My mate was saying he couldn't get an ordinary TV , just a so called 'smart' one where it all goes through the internet. When it went wrong recently, he had to get the broadband company to deal with it.No good old getting the aerial man in to go on the roof to fix it 🙄 He's nearly 70
Sorry when I said "an old fogey has not got it" I meant an old fogey like me! It terrifies me on the news, they used to say when 'the electricity has gone out due to bad weather affecting 50,000 people' now 'the electricity has gone out due to bad weather affecting 30,000 broadband users'🙄😤that's technology for you, never mind the electricity, its the broadband users who are the most important? 🙄🙄
I beg to disagree, in the UK what we are offered is a load of rubbish, even if I could afford it, which I can't! I want tv to the person over 35, when I can see decent tv turning the on button, if I don't I am able to turn to another channel, if not I might be able to find something at a later time? I cannot afford cable, on demand, or any technological crap, etc, I live on £130 a week for EVERYTHING, I am not going to lower my standards, despite Covid, to watch such utter drivel, most of which is available is for the under 35's, OR repeats!
I am proud to admit myself as a retired person [will be officially on June this year] what I am saying persons of my age and older are not offered in the UK, a decent selection of TV programs, they are aimed at the younger generation. If there is any TV programs, cable or otherwise, that the older persons would like to see, they have to pay for it, which they cannot afford, plus us older folk are not as technological aware as the younger generation, thus we need more advice naturally to download, advised which selection we want, etc, etc. I AM IN NO WAY CRITICIZEING THE COMPETENCE OF THE OLDER GENERATION!!! I am terminally ill myself, I have been told after 400+ seizures "one more seizure will probably be your last! They are brought on by pressure and anxiety, I am suffering from "early dementia"!
I'm a squeak short of 74, and I understand completely.
I have a smartphone, but can I use it? Can I heck! I can just about make a call and send a text, although if I make a mistake, i get all flummoxed. Apps? forget it! Camera? this thing has 4!
Much the same with the Computer, Back in the days of Windows 95 and 98, fine, XP, yes then Windows 7, OK. Windows 10 I'm still struggling with and now there's Windows 11!
I have a new radio alarm clock which I have managed to set the time with , amongst great cursing, but finding the stations? getting the alarm to work? Nope!
Where's a Tardis when you need one?
Cheers, Midori
Showing my age have been using laptop's since 2002, this one is my eleventh [currently putting all my info onto my 13?] worktops even earlier, I was in a historical data base project, during the 1990's "Windows 95 and 98, fine, XP, yes then Windows 7, OK. Windows 10 I'm still struggling with and now there's Windows 11!" May I say I can cope with, still tying to wean a mate of mine off his Windows 7?This tv lark?
[Whew! trying to lower my blood pressure over an earlier post]
🥴😤😤😗😆😆Any room of that Tardis for another passenger?
Me too. And I want to be in that tardis too please!
Ha ha I had a smartphone and had the same problems. In the end I had to get rid of it as it was smarter than me!
I have Alexa.A Christmas present a few years ago. I use 'her' as an alarm clock. She says goodnight to me too.
I'm very much a luddite when it comes to technology! And I don't care! I only use the stuff for the bare minimum. I don't take my phone out with me, I resent being at everyone's beck and call 24/7. I could not cope with a Smart house!
I'd go live in a cave!
Cheers, midori
Very true, as shown during these particular replies!👍😆😆
I love the feel of a book in my hand when I read. But I’m interested in other things my I fart might have to offer. A coffee shop would be fun, but I doubt it will have that.
Cool!
I really don't think it is too risky anymore. If you are boosted the chances you get any symptoms is less than getting the flu and we never let that stop us. If you wear an n95 your chances of getting it is almost nil. There was a poll recently (actually more than one) that suggests people on the left are over conservative about the risk and on the right they are under estimating the risk. Hope that helps.
To clarify where I am coming from I am super careful and do a lot of hiking with friends partly because it is outside. i am still wearing a mask in stores though it is more about being in solidarity with the people working there. So I am very careful. The data and our collective mental health has changed my position on avoiding every indoor space.
Thankfully I do.not have, nor do I want a "smart" TV. If I miss a programme I can catch up on my laptop.. I actually like our.much maligned BBC. and ITV, both of which produce some good drama and BBC have some fascinating nature programmes. documentaries and the like. I have no desire to connect to Netflix or Britbox. I have plenty of freeview programs and Talking Pictures often comes up with some gems of old films. Oh and I do.like The Chase..I like "The Beast".😊
Mark is my favourite too! He can be my beast anytime. 😘😁
I'm a documentary fan myself. I enjoy Strictly, although it seems to be getting a bit daft now, although I loved John and Johannes and Gino and Amy? Fay? can't remember -don't watch East Enders!
Can't stand reality shows with their 'Insta-Celebs.' Not a game show fan, either.
I like certain police stories, Casualty, Attenborough's Nature Shows, some of the Period Dramas, archaeology shows, classic Sci-Fi, etc.
Cheers, Midori
My TV went in the rubbish bin 4 years ago ! best thing I ever did, my minds my own now !
I didn't. We all know someone who is an exception to the general rule on the same principle we all know a smoker who smoked 60 day all their lives and died at 96.
I was making the point that it is generally harder for most older people to understand more complex matters and that those who are younger will find this out when they get there themselves. Is this wrong then? Are you saying all older people are as sharp mentally as people half their age and it makes no difference? Not in my experience.
If you are referring to me I am not judging anyone. I am entitled to have an opinion and to state it so please leave me alone.
Jennifer Aniston is very talented. She did a great job in the one about the disabled person and she has been really good in the morning show. In that business if you run into luck you take it! But you really aren’t going to last if you aren’t that good or can’t get along with people. Important point on insurance. Young people didn’t build that system either. Don’t even get me started on my insurance!
That is it. I won't watch Friends again as it is really dated but she was good in that too. Morning show is on Apple TV which I feel like I am over mentioning 
but it is only 5/month and the shows are stellar.
For medical care I am actually paying another ~1200 for direct primary care because my deductible is $7k and they do a lot of the extra things like labs for really cheap or free. There is just no point in paying more when the chances of meeting the deductible is so low.
Friends has got homophobia. It didn't age well. Seinfeld is still funny.
That’s amazing! Great role model
👍👍👍
Good for you, wish I could do the same, no TV, no TV licence, is that possible, have plenty of DVD's and a good dvd player, catch up news on radio and laptop, very plausible?🤭👍
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