1) The WGA Strike: The biggest television story of this decade is easily the Writers Guild Strike. Initially most people didn't believe it would happen, that some how it would all work out in the end. However, the closer and closer the industry got to the deadline, it all became more foreboding. Then before we knew it, it happened, the Writers Strike. Lasting for over 3 months it made the normally strong television month of January non-existant, and not until February was it resolved. However, what people haven't really discussed was how much of a failure the strike was for the Writers side. In the end, the writers gained nothing more in the deals then the initial offers. In the end they completely caved in to the demands, because the longer they waited the worse it will get. As a television writer, you are already scared of the industry because of the increase in reality shows, but to basically kill a season of scripted shows makes it even more likely for television networks to pick up reality shows so they don't have to work with writers anymore. Also, the strike is still affecting tv to this day, as this upcoming season has less new shows then in the past, because writers weren't able to produce quality new shows during that 3+ month span and that the new shows remaining were either rushed or in production over a year ago. The last main effect of the strike may be the most unpredictable part, how it affects the new shows that did not return post-strike like Chuck, Pushing Daisies, or even Dirty Sexy Money. These were shows that never really had the chance to get a consistent audience, and it is definitely worrisome whether they can come back after 8 months off and keep the same ratings.
2) Fox Domination: For the first time ever, Fox was the number 1 television network this season in total ratings. Not only did they win the year, but they were the only network to actually increase ratings during this strike filled year, as they had over 14% more viewers this season then last season. Initially it seems surprising, because Fox is overall void of any scripted hits. However, they had one of the five highest rated tv shows this season in House (which had no rating droppage unlike other medical shows like Greys) Prison Break (which does just enough to somehow survive) and Bones, along with a few comedies that pick up decent ratings. What helped them get the increase is that they are a dominant force in the reality department. Hells Kitchen gets better ratings then you would expect (I was surprised), sadly Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader is one of the most popular gameshows right now, and then there is American Idol (*sigh). It also got huge rating boosts by the Superbowl and in the end it did enough to have a great year. If you told anyone in the mid 90's that Fox would be the top network they would've laughed at you. Maybe there is still hope for the current fledgling network...
3) CW's utter failure: CW would give anything to just be around in ten years, let alone successful like Fox became. There are already rumors floating about the network going under, and while there does not seem to be urgent merit in them, it definitely isn't great news for CW either. They are unable to pick up the ratings they desire, particularly in the areas they want. CW is trying to go after the 14-20 year old female range, and besides Gossip Girl they have struggled to get it. They hope the 90210 sequel can gather that fanbase as well. There are a few good things going for CW... Supernatural has become a cult hit with actually a decent rating-base for the channel and the critics thought they did a good job with their 3 new shows (Reaper, GG, and Aliens in America) although Reaper won't return til January because of ratings problems and Aliens in America was canceled. It may not be panic time yet, but CW has got to get moving quick towards their goals.
4) Year 2 of a Lack of Big Name Finales: I though last year was a bad year for series finales with basically only Sopranos, but this year was even worse. The biggest finale of the year was likely The Wire, and that was definitely a great series finale but I expected nothing less from the genius that is David Simon. However, besides The Wire, no other major finales occurred. Scrubs was supposed to end this season, but ABC picked it up to give it one more year and The Shield was supposed to finish up its 7 year run this summer, but it was postponed to the Fall Season. And that was it. However, cancellations there were a lot of, as more than half of the new shows that came about in the Fall have been canceled. The high cancel rate is likely the reason for so few series finales nowadays, because odds are you are going to be canceled way before you get to your end date.
5) Televised Sports Triumphant Comeback: Last year I talked about how poor Sports ratings were in everything that wasn't Football. Well, this year things are looking a lot more positive. To begin with if I thought the NFL ratings were through the roof last year, the Patriots helped create one of the highest rated Superbowls ever (once again) and throughout the playoffs and even regular season brought insane ratings. However, it doesn't end there. Both College Football and College Basketball brought ratings pleasing to the NCAA, and the NBA finally got to where they want to be rating-wise, thanks to a Lakers-Celtics finals. The other sport that actually experienced a rating increase was surprisingly the NHL. Experiencing some of their highest ratings sense the early 2000's in the finals on NBC is something the sport needed. This could be their ticket to be picked up on ESPN at least a game a week, but we will see on that. Golf was up in ratings for the US Open, but those will probably decline greatly from here on out with Woods' injury. All in all sports ratings are up, and that could be both a good and bad thing for television.
6) Cable Networks Rivaling Regular: Cable networks are getting noticed more and more as the place to go for quality (no longer just the paid channels like HBO and Showtime). To begin with the Emmy favorite comes from little known cable network AMC in Mad Men (surprisingly also the first season-long scripted show for them). You also have Closer, which absolutely dominates in the rating department, and in the summer even rivals the major networks in ratings. Battlestar Galactica continues to be a popular television show on the SciFi network in its forth critically acclaimed season. But the quality doesn't even end there with Burn Notice earning a second season. The only issue for cable networks this season, was one of the major networks, FX, had to hold over their major summer shows because of the Strike, so no Shield or Rescue Me coming up. And the quality doesn't end there, as critics love both Greek and Middle Man both ABC Family shows (although The Secret Life of an American Teenager supposedly is horrible). All in all, its time to start paying attention to whats on cable as much as mainstream networks. All of this is not mentioning the Disney Network which is a force itself in the child's department, plus High School Musical 2 was less than a year ago, and the records that created won't likely be matched (until HSM 3 probably).
7) Reinventing of Major TV Shows: Some would complain prior to this season, that television was beginning to become repetitive, whether it was original ideas or procedural. This year numerous shows tried to reinvent themselves to get that originality, some better than others. One example of this was House, who tried to create an entirely new supporting cast. This was not greeted very postively, because many fans were upset with the lack of appearances for Chase and Cameron. However, this idea does seem to be reappearing in other shows, as it seems NCIS is doing something similar with bringing in a new team to support the old. Lost reinvented itself with the predominantly flashforwards, something that people loved and it completely changed the dynamic of the show. At the end of the Desperate Housewives season, the show jumped 5 years into the future so it could create better storylines. Shows no longer wanted to be as stale and it can only be a good thing if this theme of reinvention continues.
8) Major Cancellations: As a mentioned before, while not a lot of shows had planned series enders, there was definitely a lot of cancellations this season, by far the most notable being Moonlight. Moonlight had decent Friday night ratings that consistently helped CBS win the night. Despite that, it was surprisingly canceled at the end of the Spring, only because the show was too original for the CBS mold (similar to Jericho, last year). There were a lot of save the show sites, however as of yesterday it seems that none of these shows besides Friday Night Lights was actually successful. Other notable fan favorite shows that were canceled were Aliens in America, Shark, and Journeyman. I guess not even ratings are everything now-a-days.
9) Show Shopping: The idea of picking up already established shows has become a lot more common this year, as channels are constantly making plans to pick up shows if the other network cancels them. The most common network doing this is ABC as they made a move to pick up Scrubs so it could get an actual final season and they had a plan already set up to pick up CBS' Christine if it was canceled (although sadly for ABC, CBS picked it up for another season). Other situations this year was how Direct TV made a deal with NBC to be able to air all new episodes of Friday Night Lights first in October with them, and then NBC would reshow them in February for people who don't have Direct TV. This was after extensive show shopping and that was the best offer for NBC. However, it hasn't gotten to the point of complete likelihood as previously mentioned Moonlight spent a lot of time trying to get picked up by SciFi, USA, and Direct TV which all failed. Don't be surprised, however, in the upcoming years as more canceled shows get picked up by other networks, cause it isn't nearly as difficult as it was in the past.
10) The Whimpering Fall Season: What better way to end this then a look towards the future. The Don Awards are about respecting the past year and looking at each show objectively AND the industry as a whole. Last year there was a lot of excitement coming into the Fall season with two new Schwartz shows in Chuck and Gossip Girl, and the amazingly promising Pushing Daisies. This year there is a lot less hope. To begin with, there is one tv show that the critics seem to like and looks extremely interesting from what I've seen and that is Fox's The Fringe. It seems like it is a more serious and serial version of the X-Files with the great acting talent of Lance Reddick (although sadly, Joshua Jackson is also in it). Besides The Fringe, you almost have to take a wait and see attitude, because every other show looks weak. CBS is bringing in the most new shows with two new comedies Project Gary and Worst Week, both of which seem to have nothing on last years big addition Big Bang Theory along with a group of new procedurals (although The Mentalist looks kinda interesting). ABC is barely bringing in any new shows, as their major move was bringing in a British show in Life on Mars. Similar to ABC there is few completely original shows on NBC, as their big move was to remake Knight Rider. Fox isn't bringing in any new shows besides The Fringe until January and CW is mainly bringing in the 90210 sequel (featuring Darcy from Degrassi and Tristan Wilds from The Wire, so I'll be watching that) . So at this moment, I only plan on watching 90210 and The Fringe with a floating eye on The Mentalist. Ah well, we knew the Strikes effects would last for awhile, huh.
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6 comments:
Don, Thanks for the heads up on the Lance Reddick show. I'm a big big fan of Lance--as you might have guessed form previous comments about my devotion to The Wire. I like how you put things into perspective in regard to the writers' strike. I had lost sight of that as a major factor in the upcoming television season.
If only I knew of a whole host of amazing writers who could give every one of the Wire alums a decent show worthy of their talent . . . hmmm . . . I was amused to see Amy Ryan land at The Office but would have loved to see Idris Elba or Lance Reddick or Wendell Pierce in the same room with Michael Scott--that just makes me smile even as I type. C'mon now!! What do you think?
Its clear that we won't fully get past the repercussions of the strike for a couple of years if not more. Hopefully television does recover, because while I may watch a reality show here and there, I would much rather have scripted shows. I think the most interesting thing about next season is how all these shows adapt to post-strike. However, all of that is to be seen.
One thing I don't know a lot about is individual writers, and that is a shame. While I follow a lot of show runners that I like, when it comes to the writers it is just very difficult to follow because you can't put a face to a name, and sometimes its even harder to figure out who wrote what. Now to your Office comment, I used to watch that show consistently but I no longer do so (overall I am not a big comedy person, and right now the only thirty minute one I watch is 30 Rock, and even that is slacking at times). I think Amy Ryan could definitely fit in there, as I saw she got pick up as I think she can do that awkward seriousness thing extremely well. When it comes to Lance Reddick, I have never been disappointed in anything I have seen him in. He was good in "OZ", absolutely stupendous in "Lost" this season (although I wish we got to see more him) and we all know how good he did in "Wire". The thing about HBO shows is that they use many of the same actors from show to show (like all the Oz characters in The Wire) and I expect whatever big hit comes out on that network will probably pick many of them up. However, there were just so many great actors in that show, and any position that they find will likely be a great addition to the show. Although I am a wee bit concerned that Tristan Wilds will be on a show that really won't show his talent in 90210, because to be quite honest, he is too good for it. But besides Ryan, Reddick, and Wilds, I haven't heard too much about anyone else. We should have a better idea in a few months.
I appreciate your thoughts once again!! I have not caught on to the whole "Lost" phenomenon--but I'm sorry to have missed Lance Reddick on that--nor am I able to stomach straight prison drama, but I heard about the high caliber of "Oz"--which JD Williams was on as well, no? So, maybe I'll suck it up and try to catch that on Netflix or something--I do not subscribe to HBO.
Anyhow--I feel sort of protective of those kids who were on Season 4, for some reason and really would like to see t.v. writing rise to their talent. I am very skeptical of 90210. In fact, the whole scenerio Tristan finds himself in is very ironic on many levels--the first being that it appears the first project he was involved in after The Wire appears to be The Secret Life of Bees which puts a twist on the transracial adoptee theme and has an African American "family" adopt a white girl . . . but also that Tristan is going from a controversial portrayal of what some may consider a stereotypical gangster street kid to a stereotypical token black kid in a solidly white show.
Believe me, I'm not accusing The Wire of perpetuating stereotypes, but it seems as though there is narrow room for artistic justice or simply put, smart roles, for people of color. The age-old dilemma of American television which reflects our culture. But I'm rooting for Tristan--I'm glad he has work for the fall, at this point.
As far as moving on to "Oz", while I did watch all 6 season it was not the best HBO had to offer (similar Sopranos, it was good, but not great), and its all a VERY disturbing show. I don't subscribe to HBO, so most of these shows I watch through Netflix.
As far as the 90210 comment I agree full-heartedly. The show will not use Tristan Wilds talent nearly enough, but at least he is staring on a show, and hopefully this will help emerge his career even more so. Will I watch the show, probably, because I like some teen soap operas (mainly OC, and now Gossip Girl, but thats it) and I hope to see Tristan Wilds put his own little enjoyable spin on the character, instead of his character being paper thin.
Towards your comments about smart roles for people of colors, that has really come into a light this year. I know you aren't one of the "Losties" but Harold Perrenau actually brought up this idea that African Americans are used alot of time just for the skin color. Are their powerful African Roles, of course, look no farther than Lance Reddick and Lester Freeman in The Wire, who are powerful characters who break the mold, but television could definitely use more characters like them.
The best part about the roles on The Wire is that many of the actors did not specifically have to play to their racial stereotypes or if they inhabited a traditionally black role, they gave the character depth--example, Bubbles!! Also--my favorite character was Bunk. Usually, in that "salt and pepper" cop equation, Bunk would be a secondary character or "sidekick" (hate that over-used term), but Bunk is paired with everybody at one time or another. He was just that fully drawn--it was interesting to just simply watch him react to everybody.
We need more roles that aren't specified by skin tone or if they are--they're not secondary characters or displayed as the "token." That's what's bugging me about Tristan's role, and I'm sure I'm not alone as he is placed "dead center" surrounded by white actors in all the ads. I believe he can give that character depth--make lemonade from what appears to be lemons, at this point. People were protesting the portrayal of the black gangsters on The Wire, but we all know the depth of character and level of connection we all felt with each one. Amazing!
I'll skip on Oz . . . thanks for the candid remarks.
When it comes to HBO television I have only watched four of their shows. Sopranos and Oz were good but nothing spectacular. The Wire and Deadwood however have greatly impressed me. I have only recently started Deadwood (one season finished) but I love it, and I have already spoken about my respect for The Wire.
I personally prefer Showtime though (another channel I don't have). Dexter was one of my outright favorite shows this year, and I loved Sleeper Cell til it was canceled. I definitely would recommend those shows over the likes of Oz.
My favorite character I may have mentioned before as Detective Colvin. My two favorite storylines both revolved around him, and I loved his integrity and his belief to actually change things, instead of just playing for the stats. That was the one thing missing from season 5, although it made sense his absence because his life was resolved in a good way to himself.
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