Television programmes

i confess to being hooked on x-factor, what will i do now?

apart from x-factor i don't mind what i watch just as long as the sound is off.

rob

i watch home and away  religously at the minute  five have took it off  i would go mad if i ever  miss it like  ive never missed it in the  last 14 years  i like alf best  i also watch neighbours  coronation street thats it really

Hello everyone,

When I was little, I used to watch cartoons a lot, particularly on Cartoon Network. Many of the more recent cartoons from Cartoon Network (CN) are not quite as good as the old 90s era. In the late 1990s, CN used to have Dexter's Laboratory, Cow and Chicken, and Tom and Jerry. But these days, many cartoons have poorly written jokes and badly designed characters (E.g. Ed, Edd and Eddy and Adventure Time). 

Because of the lack of good cartoons, I watch less TV, and more YouTube and Netflix. I do watch a few TV shows every now and then, like Alias (Action) and Garth Marenghi's Darkplace (Comedy). Nowadays when I do watch stuff on the TV channels, I tend to gravitate mostly on cooking shows, such as Great British Bakeoff and Masterchef. I think the Masterchef with Lloyd Grossman was good to watch as well. I occasionally watch the Food Network channel, because sometimes they show old episodes of Nigella and Keith Floyd. 

Hello, MichaelaS.

I used to watch many children's programmes in my 1980s childhood. When I was born, in 1981 in fact, there were only 3 channels available (BBC1, BBC2 and ITV). Channel 4 was introduced in late 1982, when I was 1 1/2 years old. Nowadays, there are hundreds of channels available - where there used to be a dedicated period of children's programmes (i.e. Children's BBC or Children's ITV), there are channels specifically broadcasting that category of programming.

The children's programmes I watched were indeed predictable like you said. For example, 'The Sooty Show' is all child-friendly activities, and the presenter (i.e. Matthew Corbett) stopping the characters from messing about and being silly. I loved 'Button Moon', especially the exciting countdown, launching and landing sequences. I used to watch the 'Warner Brothers' cartoons, but I loved the 'Dangermouse' cartoon series, featuring that distinctive yellow flying car.

There was one programme that particularly inspired me in the early 1990s - Thunderbirds. The episodes were originally in black and white, they were formed of two 25-minute parts each, and they were originally broadcast, in black-and-white, in 1965/66. In the 1990s, they were broadcast in colour, and in their 50-minute entireties, for the first time ever. I loved the drama of the various vehicles taking off and landing. It was that programme that inspired me to become the loyal, helpful person I am today.

Hello everyone

I like to watch Downton Abbey as I like the clothing and the decoration inside the houses (i'm currently renovating an 1820s house and i keep spotting paint colours i like on Downton!).  I like a lot of sci fi too, and love the Big Bang theory as it reminds me of my university days. 

Mostly we watch things on DVD or prerecord them so we can fast forward through the adverts.

My two children have lots of favourites, mostly relating to trains (chuggington) or childrens characters (peppa pig, in the night garden).  i find them very relaxing because they are predictable and follow a set pattern, and also because they are quite short.  peppa pig I find very funny because there are jokes about family life which the children don't understand but my husband and I find funny (e.g. "daddy pig is working hard in his office" when he is sitting reading the newspaper).

I dont like a lot of adverts but there are a few I love, like the Guinness ones especially the one with the horses in the waves.  And that old Flake one with the roll top bath which was overflowing - that definitely worked as i always wanted to eat a flake when I saw it!

The Little House on the Prarie, The Waltons, The Chase, Mastermind, Tipping Point, University Challenge, Eggheads (though I dont like Jeremy Vines voice at all), Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Springwatch (and programs like that) David Attenborough programs (though I dont like his voice either) Masterchef

I do like the meerkat adverts too! I forgot about those. And the one about the toilet with a built in water fountain is funny too. The R Whites lemonade is an old one I like to watch on youtube. I wish they would tell you now if they're taking something off the air :( I cope with things so much better if I have advanced warning. I don't have my own TV right now (I live in a supported house, so I'd need to go into the communal room for that) but I have a laptop so I can watch things on iplayer, youtube and itvplayer.

Hello, nmr1991.

I watch classic game shows on Challenge TV a lot of the time, because there are many aspects of these old programmes which still appeal to me today. For example, the darts-based quiz show Bullseye may contain a lot of general knowledge questions based on then-recent news stories, but everything else makes the programme much more than a straight quiz programme. As a kid, I loved imitating the sound of 'Bully', the show's mascot character, as well as some of presenter Jim Bowen's family-friendly jokes.

In my opinion, modern game shows are not quite the same as the classics in terms of the distinctive sound effects they use, such as the 'uh-uhh' sound from the Family Fortunes programme. Because I could pause, rewind and fast-forward live television broadcasts these days, whenever I see or hear something I like, I could replay the moments concerned a few times over. How I wish I was able to do that in my 1980s childhood.

It's so sad to hear of your story of being in a small bedroom, with no TV, and a relatively old computer or gaming console. In my opinion, autistic and non-autistic people should be treated fairly in equal measure. If one member of any family receives something special for Christmas, other members of the same family ought to be treated the same. I would not want any member of my family to miss out on anything desirable, whether it's presents, gift card vouchers, or even simple greetings cards for that matter.

Hello, Autist.

In my 1980s childhood days, there was an instant mashed potato advert featuring the martian characters. How I used to love attempting to imitate their robot-like voices back then, and even today for that matter, as there are some online videos available of classic adverts, TV programmes etc from the past. The only recent advert that I am even slightly interested in is the meerkat advert, where the main character would talk in this Russian accent. However, whether I'm referring to old or new adverts, they're not so bad when played on the odd occasion, but when they are played several times per day, per week or whatever, they annoy me.

As for the TV programmes, I would usually be notified in advance by the presenter or the TV magazine whenever the series in question is about to end. This was the case with the game shows of my 1980s childhood, but today's game shows tend to be repeated so often, that they don't do that. However, the more often a specific series or edition gets repeated, the more boring it becomes.

During the time when I was off school duty, I would watch the daytime quiz programmes that I wouldn't normally watch when I'm at school (i.e. Crosswits, Chain Letters, Supermarket Sweep etc - I'm not sure if you are familiar with any of the aforementioned titles though) I could have recorded them, but I didn't have my own television, or my own TV-Video combination until, I think, the early 1990s, when I would have reached double-figures in the age department. Not having my own television for much of that time was frustrating - I wanted to watch my favourite programmes, but if my parents were watching something else, I would get frustrated.

I used to love watching The Crystal Maze on challenge tv as a kid, tried to watch it when my parents stopped watching their programmes (eastenders, coronation street, that sort of thing) but it usually played during early morning hours when I usually wake up at 10am or later, sky+ wasn't around then so I couldn't record or the other reason would be I wouldn't have the TV to myself for more than an hour without someone else wanting to use it.

off-topic a bit:

As a child, my parents had higher priority over me, my brother however had his PC, I did not have one at the time, I was stuck with nintendo 64 and ps2 with a small tv in my room with no tv programmes on it at all. I never got what I want, whenever I wanted my own PC I always knew I would be 3 years behind my brother and whats more annoying he is younger than me, he gets all the cool stuff, and I get all the broken or old stuff that he used to have for my birthday or christmas because i've been such a disappointment to my parents regarding education and other stuff.

I like Arthur, Postman Pat, Sherlock, Pointless, Perfection, The Chase, Casualty and Vera but I get very upset when they're taken off TV for a while. Like perfection has been replaced by some stupid boring Indian Doctor show at the moment it's very upsetting. I like some adverts. My favourite adverts (most of them are older) are the Cadbury's advert with the gorilla, most Pimms adverts, the Hyundai advert, the kitchen advert with the labrador, Andrex adverts, a particular coca cola advert, the old PG tips adverts with the chimpanzees, twix with left twix and right twix, lurpak, coco pops, iams, Honda

I like programmes like Springwatch and Autumnwatch and also countryfile as I love Nature.I also love The Big Bang Theory and the hospital dramas  like Casualty and Holby City.

I used to listen to the radio, but the reception can be terrible in places. At a time when some or all stations are, or will eventually be, getting converted from FM to digital, there is virtually no reception on buses or trains. As with the TV channels, the adverts on commercial radio stations can annoy me. I would occasionally listen to some relaxing jazz or classical music, but I hate having that relaxation interrupted by adverts. Therefore, I would download various music albums, listen to the music, and relax without having to listen to the adverts.

I used to listen to I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, but although it was very funny in parts, the language can be a little bit rude in the odd part, and I am not warned of this in advance, unlike TV programmes or films. I also used to listen to another radio programme called Just A Minute, but I would avoid any TV or radio programme with any over-the-top or satirical content. I tend to be easily offended by any slightly rude comments, with or without any swear words.

Hello, longman.

Back in the 1980s, most TV advert breaks would last around 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. On one or two channels, they apparently last nearer 5 minutes, which in my personal opinion is way too long. Each advert would last about 30 seconds. I sometimes use the online Video On Demand (VOD) service to watch TV programmes I may have missed, but in the case of commercial TV channels, I would have to put up with up to 4 minutes of adverts. On some websites, there is a 'skip ad' function, but on some VOD sites, there isn't one, which really annoys me.

As I said before, so many of today's programmes on commercial channels are 'sponsored by' a commercial company. These 'sponsored by' messages are technically adverts, and if you were watching a film, or a live football match lasting a few hours, such messages can be annoying. One example of an advert that annoys me is any product that is seemingly compared to 'the next best thing', such as washing powder items. So many such items do more or less the same thing, that it's more a question of cost rather than buying that specific item.

As well as watching repeats of classic game shows, I occasionally watch daytime programmes that cover topics such as housing and antiques. I learn so much from these programmes. In the case of property make-over programmes, I could imagine what huge difficulties an autistic person would have gone through if they were faced by damp issues, cracks in walls, structural damage etc.

I tend to watch those channels with lots of repeats of old series.

What bugs me is that these channels really go over the top on the adverts nowadays. I'm sure the advert breaks were never as long as they seem to be now, though it was always said that they were a chance to go to the loo or make a pot of tea. Nowadays I can go off and do things and the adverts are still running when I come back. Often its adverts followed by future programme adverts. By the time they're over I've forgotten the storyline of what I'm watching.

Also I find it irritating that the same adverts get repeated ad nauseam. I really cannot believe that advert with the little girl making her first visit to a caramel shop can go on much longer. Many adverts are really banale, and were tolerable once or twice, but eternal repeats get beyond a joke. A pet hate are those dentists with the lame very segmented and unbelievable scripts to read, advertising toothpaste.

Do the advertisers really believe over exposed adverts make uis want to buy their product, or avoid it because we remember the silly advert and don't want to be associated with it? Or don't want anyone else to see us buying it?

I have certain programmes I watch with regularity and can meltdown if it doesn't happen.

I like nature stuff so natural history documentaries, things like Springwatch and Autumnwatch, anything David Attenborough.

That's it really but I do also listen to the radio a lot.

Even though I don't understand all of it I enjoy things like I'm sorry I haven't got a clue and the Goon show, stuff like that.

And I hate adverts. And most cartoons.