Its that time of year again. Television Series' are wrapping up their seasons, and the Upfronts are quickly approaching. What that means for the Internets is the annual tradition of 'Save Our Show' campaigns. While I personally think these campaign's are a futile attempt (Jericho is the exception that proves the rule, and DirecTV saved Friday Night Light's, and Firefly is honestly a whole different kind of story), and really just prolong the inevitable.
What really yanks my chain though, is the fact that incredibly crafted Television gets canceled every year. I'd like to say "Thank Goodness" to the Cable companies, but I think they deserve some of the blame for this, but more on that later. Journeyman, Freaks and Geeks, Moonlight (Ok, I didn't like it, but if my mother reads this, so I'll hedge my bets), Wonderfalls, Eli Stone... These lists can go on and on, and, you know, on. And it looks like some good shows might join the list this year. At least Chuck, Life, and Terminator got a second season. Dollhouse didn't get off on the right foot, and never regained the audience it deserved. And Kings, I guess, both takes itself too seriously while being a little too smart for its own good.
What is wrong with people? We can tolerate 15 different iterations of Law and Order (And I'm not saying they are bad shows, but maybe a little derivative?), and "Who Wants to Sleep with My Sister," but smart writing and brilliant characterization go out the window when its about a kooky pie shop owner.
Where has all the good scripted television gone? More and more good shows are getting developed on Cable networks. The Closer, Dexter, Battlestar, Rescue Me, and the one that seemed to start the trend, the Sopranos, all have thrived both critically and financially (on that end because, I'm guessing, they have lower expectations as far as viewership goes). This is only going to continue... NBC is proving it with this idiotic Leno experiment. I won't be watching, but I'm sure many others will.
Ten years from now, will there even be any scripted network television?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I am about over this whole reality TV trend, though I do admit to watching shows like Idol (not too much anymore, actually).
ReplyDeleteIt all started with Murray-Bunim(?) and The Real World back in the early '90s and by 2000, the rest of the industry caught up. First with shows like Who Wants to be a Millionaire and then on to this ridiculous Bachelor(ette) series and worse. We, the public, love knowing we're just a chance away from being TV stars ourselves. As a whole, we like knowing all we have to do is dress awfully or be desperate enough to fall in love with whatever man ABC throws at us that it could earn us notoriety.
But I agree with you, so many good shows (Lipstick Jungle was a fave that went by the wayside lol) are being canceled these days. Meanwhile, reality TV (or just bad TV in general) prevails.