Where did all the good TV go?

My hubby and I flipped through the dozens of TV channels last night to discover that MTV has yet another ridiculous, sleazy TV show--I Love Money. It's basically all of the leftovers from various seasons of I Love New York, Flavor of Love, Rock of Love, and others grotesque reality shows that feature men and women who make total fools of themselves as they try to win the "love" of a pseudo celeb. What ever happened to real TV, the goodies, the oldies?
On occasion we'll stumbled across a retro night special on a random station that feature programs like classic drama Law & Order, or funny Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, or, my hubby's fav Tool Time (don't ask me...) and get overjoyed starting with the singing of the theme songs and chiming in along with the audience laughter. We chat about how young they look, comment over the corny jokes and lighthearted dialogue, and wondered “Where did all the "good" TV go?”

One of our very favorite TV shows was American Dreams. It's a classic American tell-all dreamt up by Dick Clark and aired several years ago on NBC. It is set in the early- to mid-60s and features a middle class family in Philadelphia. Shows racial strife, political scenes of its time, teen, family and marriage struggles, and the effects of war on families. We bought the first season on DVD and luckily found the remaining seasons (three) on the web from some brilliant fellow in New Jersey who lucky for us Tivo'd the episodes. We happily bought them and enjoy them regularly.

It's certain to be a show we share with our girls, though they'll surely turn their head in disgust because of it's "old" feel. Heck, by the time they see it the show really will be old, but my thought is that it could actually serve as a lesson in history, and if nothing else, an excuse to get together in front of the TV to watch a program that where strippers are not shedding their clothing for a chance at $50!

Don't get me wrong, there are several reality TV shows that i actually do find entertaining but more that i wish would head for the hills. The Hills, isn't that one of them?

Until network execs find that reality TV has reached its hay day i suppose we'll watch reruns of American Dreams courtesy of our shady Jersey friend, and hope that our girls will enjoy it too.