Television fashions
I feel as though I'm right on top of the latest thing when it comes to television. The Emmy Awards pit my favorites against my other favorites nearly every year. We're living now in a golden age for the medium, and I count myself a fan of so many shows: 30 Rock, Community, Parks and Recreation, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Big Bang Theory, Boardwalk Empire, Treme, Curb Your Enthusiasm, True Blood, Eastbound & Down, Modern Family, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Hot in Cleveland, and Dynasty (no, that one's wrong). Someday I'll catch up with The Office and How I Met Your Mother, and I want to investigate Mr. Sunshine and Justified. Late night TV is so good that I can watch roughly half of the talk shows I want to watch on a good night.Now, having said that, here is a list of the Nielsen Top 25 ratings from a recent week (March 7-13)...
1) American Idol (Wed)
2) American Idol (Thu)
3) The Mentalist
4) NCIS: Los Angeles
5) CSI
NCIS
7) The Big Bang Theory
8) Glee
9) CSI: Miami
10) Undercover Boss
11) Blue Bloods
12) Secret Millionaire
13) House
14) Survivor: Redemption Island
15) CSI: NY
16) Bones
60 Minutes
18) Two and a Half Men
19) The Bachelor
20) Harry's Law
21) The Amazing Race
Rules of Engagement
23) Mike & Molly
24) Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior
25) The Defenders
Do you see where I'm going with this? I'm certainly out of step with mainstream audiences, but mainstream audiences are also out of step with television critics and TV academy award voters. It wasn't always this way. I pulled the Nielsen Top 25 list for the 1987-88 season, when I was in the 7th grade (Jesus, I'm old). It looked like this for the year. The shows I watched are in caps...
1) THE COSBY SHOW
2) FAMILY TIES
3) CHEERS
4) Murder, She Wrote
5) THE GOLDEN GIRLS
6) 60 MINUTES
7) NIGHT COURT
8) GROWING PAINS
9) MOONLIGHTING
10) WHO'S THE BOSS?
11) DALLAS
12) NEWHART
13) AMEN
14) 227 (that's caps, in case you were wondering)
15) Matlock
16) CBS Sunday Night Movie
17) NBC Monday Night Movie
18) Monday Night Football
19) KATE & ALLIE
20) NBC Sunday Night Movie
21) L.A. LAW
22) MY SISTER SAM
23) FALCON CREST
24) Highway to Heaven
25) Dynasty
It's amazing I did any homework at all.
I suppose one would argue that the big difference now is cable television. Audiences have splintered, and for the most part, I have wandered off with many of them into cable's gated community. It's not just that I'm out of the mainstream. The mainstream is going dry. The #3 show on the 2011 list, The Mentalist, had 14.3 million viewers on the measured night of March 10th. That number, as an average for the season, wouldn't have even placed it in the top 30 in 1988.
We've also changed the way we watch television. It was a very real thing at school in the 1980s to talk about TV shows we had watched the next day. This happened all the time. Now, still associating with men and women my own age and general demographics at work, I find that this never, ever happens. We all have our favorites, and if you do happen to share a program or two in common with someone else, chances are that one of you still plans to watch it online or on TiVO in the coming days or weeks, or will watch it 6 to 12 months from now on DVD. I've seen every episode of the six-year run of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," alternately on DVD or online, yet to this day I could not tell you what night of the week the original episodes air on FX.
There's still a breadth of marvelous, engaging programming out there. Better than ever, like I said earlier. But we're losing the communal experience-- the 'water cooler'-type event-- almost entirely, except for the Super Bowl, the occasional big series finale, such as "Lost" most recently, or a true television programming phenomenon, such as "American Idol," which sucks. I don't miss the uniformity of programming of the old days. There's more diversity on television than ever, and truly something out there for everyone. Yet that shared "event television" thing was pretty great too, and I often find myself missing it. My general melancholy is probably best epitomized by the difference between a Johnny Carson-hosted Tonight Show and a Jay Leno-hosted Tonight Show. It's been a slow fade dating all the way back to Milton Berle.
posted by CM @ 8:33 PM
3 Comments:
I don't quite agree. Yes there are many more shows (channels) and more opportunities to watch a particular show BUT, people still talk about current television programs. I cannot turn on the radio without hearing them talk about American Idol or Dancing With The Stars. Glee has become some sort of hit that bars even have viewing nights. The fact is, your taste has evolved past that of the mainstream. Face it, reality shows and crime dramas aren't your cup of tea. And they weren't the mainstream's back in the late 80's. Comedies don't interest the mainstream like they used to.
Your point's well-taken, but it does seem indisputable, based on the numbers, that there has at least been a splintering of the audience. The top shows don't have as many viewers as the old top shows used to have.
Thank you for the compliment of suggesting an evolving taste on my part. Yes, I am quite sophisticated and I was reluctant to include that fact in my post.
No bars that I go to feature a Glee "viewing night," but maybe you and I just go to different bars, anonymous stranger.
This posting backs why I love the TV festival so much. People that didn't grow up with shows have a chance to share them with other generations, while those who hold the previous years shows in high regard, are introduced to some of the new.
When I was in college I would drive to a neighboring city and watch South Park at a bar. The whole place roared with laughter as Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny were introduced to the masses. Comedies will always be mainstream, it's just a different form of comedy.
I feel sad for us a whole when shows like Jersey Shore and John and Kate Plus 8 are popular shows. Our attention span has crumbled to mere seconds and we are so consumed with other people's lives that we fail to recognize our own.
I got the point you were making CM and you drove it home. You've always been high brow which is something I appreciate about you because it makes me think above the level that I normally do. Odds are I have brought you down to my level a time or two and I'm 100% sure you've enjoyed it.
If I walked into a bar that had Glee or American Idol on the telly, I'd turn around and go somewhere else. If I want to hear bad karaoke there are other places I can go.
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