Television for Dummies

Deal or No Deal? -- Picture courtesy Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
In 1961, FCC Chairman Newton Minow gave a now-famous speech to the National Association of Broadcasters in which he described television content as a "vast wasteland". Upon reading his speech in college, I thought it was overly dramatic; surely he couldn't be indicting everything that was on -- certainly not Dick Van Dyke. Now let's roll the clock forward 46 years. I'm looking at the Nielsen TV ratings in Entertainment Weekly. I'm shocked to see American Idol occupying spots 1 thru 3. Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? takes up 4 thru 6. The news hardly gets better as you run down the list. Deal or No Deal is #9, Extreme Makeover #14 -- tied with Survivor Fiji.

I was prompted to look at the ratings because 30 Rock, a savvy, hilarious sitcom is going into 'hiatus' (TV term for pre-cancellation). I've already blogged about this Emmy-winning show created by ex-SNL writer Tina Fey. There are a number of good, scripted shows barely making a blip anymore: The Office, New Adventures of Old Christine and Scrubs to name three. Sometimes marketers are OK with a sub Top-10 show if it gets the right demographic (e.g. affluent young working women). But when a show falls out of the top-25, it needs CPR (commercial profitability resuscitation) in a bad way.

What's happened to America? My own conclusion is that affluent people now have too many choices: cable, satellite, internet, wii, Playstation and Netflix to name a few. People can purchase their diversions now; the "Big 4" networks (ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC) all now seem to cater to the lowest, truly the lowest common denominator. The unscripted, moron-level pabulum that rules the airwaves is a shame to America and its corporate sponsors. What will we have next -- a show where you make armpit fart noises or one where you watch fraternity boys compete in a chug-a-lug contest? Does network television have any obligation whatsoever to challenge as well as amuse? If it ever did, that requirement is gone.

I can only hope that 30 Rock will be picked up by a cable network, or at least continued as an offering on iTunes. I'm not a snob nor am I a puritan. I enjoy silly things and bawdy humor -- those things don't preclude wit, subtlety, nuance and intelligence. I could even tolerate things that are retrograde and stupid if they didn't shove my favorite things out of the way. None of this bodes well for the Big 4 Networks -- apparently the old maxim is true. You get what you pay for. And I need to loosen my wallet and pay for some premium cable channels if I want to rise above the level of survivors eating bugs or Howie Mandel working a deal on a game show.

© 2007 blogSpotter