[Cerek]

Originally Posted by Variol (Farseer) Elmwood I'm finding so many of the newer shows have the music way too loud when people are speaking. Both my wife and I notice it all the time. Anybody else? ..drives me nuts!

Can you name some particular shows? I'm not really familiar with any that run music during the dialogue. Then again, I don't watch nearly as much TV as I used to. I don't watch any sitcoms and very few drama shows anymore.

I have noticed that the dialogue on some shows is incredibly low, or at least seems that way to me. So I do have to turn it up, just like VR does, and keep the remote close at hand to either mute or turn down the commercials.

Commercials have always been louder than regular programming. Part of it is to catch your attention. Part of it is to make sure you still hear the message while you're in the kitchen getting your snack before the show comes back on. That's how early VCRs could be programmed to "skip" commercials. As soon as it detected a certain rise in volume, it "turned off" until the volume went back down to the previous level. This wasn't a perfect way to skip commercials, because some shows like Miami Vice would have volume increases during the show, but it worked fairly well for the technology at the time.

The best advice I can give is to watch reruns of Andy Griffith and I Love Lucy. Good, wholesome programming that was also very entertaining. Then mix in lots of UFC action for the current entertainment.