{"id":37092,"date":"2022-02-03T11:36:32","date_gmt":"2022-02-03T16:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/?p=37092"},"modified":"2022-02-03T16:05:33","modified_gmt":"2022-02-03T21:05:33","slug":"the-nadir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2022\/02\/03\/the-nadir\/","title":{"rendered":"The Nadir"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nAs far as culture and entertainment, it often feels as if we are living through the worst of times. Old cranks like myself constantly opine that entertainment is not entertaining either through the sheer ineptitude or the callous disregard of its purveyors. Instead, I’ll don those rose-colored spectacles to look backward to cherry pick some superlative example from the past.<\/p>\n

Those were the days, my friends!<\/em><\/p>\n

Sometimes I come across something that resoundingly slaps those pink lenses from the bridge of my nose and forces me to gaze upon unfiltered reality. Such is the case with Real People.<\/em><\/p>\n

Real People<\/em> was an hour long collection of vapid human interest stories hosted by a quintet of milquetoast personalities that seemed to have been dragooned from news rooms and comedy clubs. Videos of skateboarding dogs, geriatric gymnasts and other shaggy dog stories<\/em> would unspool while the hosts read quips from cue cards. The audience of starstruck tourists visiting California robotically responded with either laughter or applause. It’s all filler — a time waster. It like the networks had cynically given up. It’s as if they felt that they had a corner on the market so where else was a captive audience going to go? It was good enough! Watch, you slobs!<\/p>\n

It’s no wonder that cable television and home video exploded in the years following this era.<\/p>\n

I caught Real People<\/em> on the DistroTV<\/a><\/em> channel available on the Roku. The channel acts like a virtual cable television with a number of different streaming options available. The sub-channel within DistroTV<\/em> is called Classic Reruns TV<\/em> which shows a number of different television shows from the past. Some of it’s good. Others are like Real People.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As far as culture and entertainment, it often feels as if we are living through the worst of times. Old cranks like myself constantly opine that entertainment is not entertaining either through the sheer ineptitude or the callous disregard of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3456,5084],"tags":[1338,5264,5263,5265,185],"class_list":["post-37092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weird-world-of-the-roku","category-whats-on-tv","tag-1338","tag-distrotv","tag-real-people","tag-rerun","tag-roku"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1ed1x-9Eg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19987,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2015\/11\/17\/i-want-my-power-records-tv\/","url_meta":{"origin":37092,"position":0},"title":"I Want My Power Records TV!","author":"Joe","date":"November 17, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"...and thanks to the Roku, you can have it! Back in the 1970s before the home video revolution and well before the advent of the internet, the only accessible entertainment that kids had besides the feeble offerings of broadcast television was comic books and records. Power Records, an offshoot of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blast from the Past"","block_context":{"text":"Blast from the Past","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/blast-from-the-past\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/man-wolf-leaps.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/man-wolf-leaps.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/man-wolf-leaps.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":19572,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2015\/09\/08\/not-fade-away\/","url_meta":{"origin":37092,"position":1},"title":"Not Fade Away","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"September 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I've sung the praises of the Roku set-top box before. For the uninitiated, Roku's website can be found HERE or you can chase down articles I've written for this site HERE and HERE. The short story of the Roku is that it's a tiny box that hooks to a television\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Joe's Garage"","block_context":{"text":"Joe's Garage","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/computers\/joes-garage\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Roku_stack.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Roku_stack.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Roku_stack.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":22730,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2017\/11\/04\/look-out-sister\/","url_meta":{"origin":37092,"position":2},"title":"Look-Out Sister!","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"November 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a fascinating curio from the late 1940s that I discovered on the Internet Archive channel on my Roku box. It's a low budget Western featuring an all black cast and starring The King of the Jukebox -- Louis Jordan! The plot is a threadbare cliche about a struggling\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Movie Matinee"","block_context":{"text":"Movie Matinee","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/movie-matinee\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/movie-matinee-header.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/movie-matinee-header.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/movie-matinee-header.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4190,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2015\/03\/05\/wonderfully-weird-channels-roku\/","url_meta":{"origin":37092,"position":3},"title":"The Wonderfully Weird Channels of the Roku","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"March 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm starting a new category that could be considered for cord-cutters or folks looking to save some serious cash by giving cable TV the heave-ho. I could be considered a cord-cutter in a way although I never had a cord to cut in my current residence. Back when the city\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Stuff Joe Likes"","block_context":{"text":"Stuff Joe Likes","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/stuff-joe-likes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-08-18-at-12.20.52-PM.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-08-18-at-12.20.52-PM.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-08-18-at-12.20.52-PM.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-08-18-at-12.20.52-PM.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-08-18-at-12.20.52-PM.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-08-18-at-12.20.52-PM.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":44047,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2024\/11\/05\/is-it-over-yet\/","url_meta":{"origin":37092,"position":4},"title":"Is it over yet?","author":"Joe","date":"November 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"14 years ago when I purchased my first Roku box, the whole concept of streaming video was in its infancy and it was great! For a fraction of the cost of a cable television subscription I could watch what I wanted when I wanted. Sadly, the notion of streaming caught\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Weird World of the Roku"","block_context":{"text":"Weird World of the Roku","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/weird-world-of-the-roku\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/REV-RCA_Indian_Head_test_pattern.jpg?fit=1152%2C864&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/REV-RCA_Indian_Head_test_pattern.jpg?fit=1152%2C864&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/REV-RCA_Indian_Head_test_pattern.jpg?fit=1152%2C864&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/REV-RCA_Indian_Head_test_pattern.jpg?fit=1152%2C864&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/REV-RCA_Indian_Head_test_pattern.jpg?fit=1152%2C864&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4072,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2011\/09\/09\/year-roku\/","url_meta":{"origin":37092,"position":5},"title":"My Year With the Roku","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"September 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"1993 was the last time I had cable television. I was moving into a new apartment and couldn't come up with a compelling reason why I wanted another bill to pay. Taking a day off from work to play cable installer roulette held no particular appeal for me either. I'm\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Stuff Joe Likes"","block_context":{"text":"Stuff Joe Likes","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/stuff-joe-likes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Roku-TV.jpg?fit=640%2C828&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Roku-TV.jpg?fit=640%2C828&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Roku-TV.jpg?fit=640%2C828&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37092\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}