We may have reached the end of television as we know it. What comes next? Find out why the three major networks will need to make some major changes if they want to survive, and whether niche programming and "choose your own plot" interactive options might be the future. Entertainment Weekly columnist Mark Harris has written an article for the September 2008 Conde Nast Portfolio called "Saving TV."
Weigh in: What do you like and dislike about today's network TV programming? What do you predict will be hot in the TV world 10 years from now?
Guests:
Mark. D. Harris
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Comments [3]
Most of the prime-time shows on the network broadcast channels aren't worth the watch. In order to save production costs, they've come up with so-called reality shows, which I consider basically garbage. "The Biggest Loser" is really the biggest LOSER.
Leonard, Please ask your guest about the impact of TIVO on all of this. My wife and I have a three year subscription and we watch what we like via TIVO and sometimes I don't even know what day the show is really on, not like the old days when Sunday night was All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Alice, Maude, etc... The only show that still rings true to a specific day for me is ER and that is in its last season. Thanks. Doug
I extremely enjoy character-rich shows like Mad Men that recognize all players and lives as viable in their own right, and, even more so in a show like The Wire that does the same for social strata. I hope for more fictional television that has the benefit of drawing from genuine personal experience (like Freaks and Geeks and The Wire) in accessing discreet worlds.
Even with "how to" programming and the worst reality shows, this is where I find television to be more engaging than the boilerplate, demographic-driven, movies flooding theaters. The story is in the details.
In terms of "gimmick TV" Al Gore's Current is a perfect example of turning viewer into programmer or creator and vice versa. "Choose your own adventure" may actually matter when it crosses with reality. It's YouTube meets BoobTube.
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