Commenting Policy
An important note about commenting:
All discussions are welcome. However, the following rules apply:
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2. Racial, ethnic, homophobic slurs/comments, slanderous and libelous statements will not be allowed.
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Any violations of these rules may result in permanent banishment from this site.
Keep in mind all comments are still subject to approval. But 99 percent of the time, your comment will be posted (there are periods where comments may not go up immediately. Please be patient, they will be posted eventually.)
If you have any questions, feel free to send me an e-mail at terehend@tdogmedia.com.
Thank you and happy commenting!
Sincerely,
Terence Henderson
T Dog Media, Inc.
Dear Terence,
I don ‘t care about the color of people’s skin…but I do care about quality. And I think by and large – the upset of those leaving negative comments is more about Dabl appearing to pander to the lowest common denominator in terms of programming with these changes.
Whether young or older viewers, the thing we all loved about Dabl was that is was the only life style show on regular TV and had a brilliant British lineup of shows that were entertaining and cultural at the same time. Many have their favorite nostalgic TV shows of the past, whether while or black viewers. But to say that the commenters disappointment over the changes is about ‘color’ is very short sited…as this is NOT what is at the bottom of their feelings of betrayal over loosing their favorite channel. No, its really about quality, relaxation, education and the DIY type shows that teach and encourage creativity. And also shows like Escape to The Country that I guarantee appeal to MANY demographics…as it was beautiful to watch and caused people to dream about better things and places to live.
How do old sitcoms compete with that? Intelligent, inspiring entertainment is not easy to find these days, and Dabl stood apart as something that anyone from anywhere could enjoy, as it as classy entertainment.
Sincerely,
Barbara
LiteBringer@mail.com
Hello Barbara:
The reason why I closed the comments section because I didn’t feel like dealing this kind of stuff right now, especially two weeks after my father passed. Even though I wasn’t a regular viewer of the old Dabl, I can appreciate viewers being loyal of programming and networks – as one who’s written the Chicago media scene for more than 15 years and followed for nearly 40, I’ve seen the same kind of reaction after a local radio station flips formats – that’s why I included two examples at the beginning of the story (you probably didn’t know this, but there was a huge backlash in late 1978 when Chicago WDAI-FM flipped from rock to disco – and among them was the station’s star DJ, Steve Dahl.)
Believe me, I can relate. As for the sitcoms, I didn’t watch them much when they were originally on as I didn’t have the time to watch, but they are available on other platforms, including cable TV and Netflix. Outside of The Parkers (which I hated because I can’t stand Monique), the shows weren’t junk — well, compared to stuff like “Small Wonder” and “Out Of This World” from the 1980s. Of note, one of my friends landed a guest shot in one of those shows, though “Half & Half” certainly won’t be confused with “Everybody Loves Raymond”.
The sad part is, a format like Dabl’s is hard to make successful on broadcast TV. Old reruns of sitcoms and procedural crime dramas are cheap to run and (supposedly) make more money – which explains 98 percent of the digital subchannel space. CBS’ parent company is about to go under, but I don’t think you care about that, nor you should – maybe that’s why they made the change? I don’t know. But give CBS credit for trying something different.
Thank you for reading the article and the blog.
Best regards,
Terence