watching time pass via tv show

[trappedslider]

As I've noted elsewhere I binge Law and Order and you can watch the years go by the fact that they used pay phones to check in, to the police cars and even the type of cases, they worked on. Even NYC changed over time.

What other long runners reflect the passage of time that you've noticed.

 

[Mad_Jack]

Well, I suppose watching Noah Wylie slowly aging on ten seasons of ER counts, even if you have to look really closely to notice it...

 

[MNblockhead]

Doctor Who. The difference between the first season and the current, in terms of background tech is more glaring in its differences than the alien tech they try to depict.

 

[Marc Radle]

My wife and I often comment about that with shows like Friends. From the fashion, to the portable home phones with the telescoping antennae that they pulled up to make calls, or heck, the lack of cell phones in the countless situations that wouldn’t have happened if they could have just whipped out a cell phone to call for help or whatever …

 

[trappedslider]

Well, I suppose watching Noah Wylie slowly aging on ten seasons of ER counts, even if you have to look really closely to notice it...

just seeing the differences in tech and medical procedures between ER and The Pitt is amazing

 

[bloodtide]

You can see it so fast, for most TV shows that last more then two years.

Technology....phones and computers are the big easy to spot ones.

Before 2000 ish....no cell phones and pay phones and land lines.....or, well, you just did not call. After 2000 ish you can watch year by year as they get clunky cell phones....then flip phones...and on up.

Computers...again you watch and see the old desktops with 'towers' and tube monitors. Then bricks and flat screens. And onward.

 

[MarkB]

My wife and I often comment about that with shows like Friends. From the fashion, to the portable home phones with the telescoping antennae that they pulled up to make calls, or heck, the lack of cell phones in the countless situations that wouldn’t have happened if they could have just whipped out a cell phone to call for help or whatever …

There was a time in the 90s where writers seemed actively resistant to trying to adapt to an era of easy mobile phone access, especially in drama and investigative shows. It took shows like 24 that embraced them and showcased their potential as dramatic devices before screenwriters as a whole stopped being so wary of their ability to 'solve' situations too easily.

 

[aco175]

SORAS, it's a thing, but lets you think you missed something in a soap opera when the kid is now in college two years later.

 

[payn]

IDK about shows running so long but I saw some News Radio a few years ago and forgotten about CRT monitors…

 

[Scribe]

Watch the Bourne Identity franchise. The whiplash between the tech of the first one, vs the last, almost knocked me out.