78c
Subj : Re: Vote for Star Trek
To   : alt.startrek,alt.tv.star-trek.tos
From : Roderick Rutlidge
Date : Wed Sep 21 2005 11:31:36

From Newsgroup: alt.tv.star-trek.tos


"Steven L." <sdlitvin@earthlinkNOSPAM.net> wrote in message 
news:IBdYe.1184$zQ3.96@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> ToolPackinMama wrote:
>
>> http://richlabonte.net/tvvote/
>
> The "Best TV Shows Of All Time"??
>
> It's obvious from the list of the front-runners that most of those voting 
> must be young sci-fi fans.

Your analysis is ignorant. Clearly nerds are voting, that much can be said. 
But the fact that Xena: Warrior Princess is currently winning suggests that 
for the most part, groups of nerds are stuffing the ballot box with joke 
votes. I'm sure there is a thread in some NG somewhere that says, "Fellow 
nerds, vote for Xena and blow everybody's mind!"  I believe the votes for 
Star Trek and Simpsons are legitimate, as only nerds would actually take 
something like this seriously and would therefore vote for their favorite 
show.


> Any poll that doesn't have "All In The Family" as one of the top TV shows 
> of all time is clearly skewed beyond hope of repair.
>

Not really. That humor was directed at a specific demographic at a specific 
time in history. It does not have the staying power or perpetual relevance 
of, say, the Stooges or Star Trek. A bunch of jokes about Meathead's 
liberalism and Archie's 60's-70's era racial conservatism will never really 
land with an audience again because it was so specific to that period. It is 
just not funny if you weren't there. People who say this is the greatest 
comedy series ever are the ones who were alive in that time period and of an 
age where the jokes were relevant. It will be like in 20 years when I tell 
my kids that The Simpsons was so super funny and then they watch it and 
wonder, "What the hell is an internet?"

.

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