I don't plan on writing about TV with any regularity, but I had to with this. I was looking at IMDb's studio briefs, and was pleasantly surprised to see NBC had won a night, Tuesday, and has been experiencing better ratings than it did during the year. Then I looked more closely, and found that this was the result of America's Got Talent and The Singing Bee. What disappoints me about this, beyond the fact that anything related to reality 'vote' competition shows' success makes me sick, is that this is bad news for TV all around.
I was quite the fan of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, a short-lived show last year about the backstage life of a show obviously ripped from Saturday Night Live. One premise of this show was that if networks stopped playing to the lowest common denominator, and instead produced quality, intelligent television, eventually that network would dominate. This show was killed by shows like The Bachelor and American Idol. The existence of Studio 60 led me to believe that its thesis was something that NBC was planning to attempt, and with it came such quality shows as Heroes, claimed by many (myself included) to be the greatest show released this season. My opinion, it is the best new show since House.
Sadly, it appears to me that the good days of quality TV is dead. I read an article last week that a new show, Masters of Science Fiction, was quite possibly the greatest show made in 20 years. Sadly, it was considered 'too smart' for its audience by network ABC (which, I'd like to add, uses brainless television to be the top network every week except those with new episodes of American Idol). Therefore, the show was pushed to be Saturday nights at 10 pm, a time slot sure to kill any show, no matter the quality. I even planned on watching it myself, but with such a time slot, I was unable to catch it, being out having a social life. Thus, even with my semiconscious effort (the most any TV show deserves), I managed to miss it. How then for those that just watch whatever is on? Unlikely they will be looking for quality television on ABC at 10 on a Saturday.
In conclusion: reality TV= the death to any chance that television will ever become accepted as a place to look for art and quality.
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2 comments:
Ah, if only you could afford DVR.... I'd record it for you, but I have no idea how to get it onto some sort of transportable medium. Not to mention the difficulty of trying to remember to watch it myself. And I don't even have a social life. sigh........
And lets not even mention Kid Nation. Best description of that I've seen is "upper middle class parents pimping their kids."
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