It wasn’t too long ago that we were celebrating a second Golden Age of television. But lately, network television seems intent on driving off a creative cliff. Take, for example, Tuesday’s Hollywood Reporter story that NBC is revving up a cross-country reality show called Great American Road Trip. What’s the problem? Well, ABC had recently announced their own road-rage reality series, Crash Course (in which contestants navigate an obstacle course in cars), and CBS has the McG-produced Thunder Road on the reality assembly line. Three car-driven reality shows?! Is this part of Detroit’s bailout package?
The dearth of originality is seeping into the networks’ scripted shows as well. While upstart AMC has filled a void with two of the most daring and riveting programs around (Breaking Bad and Mad Men), Fox just announced Mental, a new hour-long medical drama whose title and concept couldn’t be more derivative. Chris Vance (Prison Break) plays "a dynamic, young psychiatrist" who uses "unorthodox methods" to treat "misunderstood and often misdiagnosed conditions," andAnnabella Sciorra (The Sopranos) plays his conservative boss. The Mentalist + House = Mental. I’ve yet to see any episodes, so, to be fair, perhaps it will completely reinvent the medical mystery drama genre when it premiers this summer. But I have my doubts. And I’m concerned about the apparent departure of creativity from network TV. I mean, could an innovative show like Lost have been launched in the present environment? I’m not so sure. Maybe if the Oceanic 6 drive a Hummer from the Washington Monument to the Grand Canyon, armed only with a thermos of coffee and 20 gallons of gas.
How about you, PopWatchers? Have the networks become even more tentative of late, or has this always been the case? Does a reality show about cars make you excited or car-sick? And who, besides AMC, is coming up with imaginative programming these days?
I think it’s the fact that CBS has every stinkin show have tens of millions of viewers (but not necessarily high rated) that networks are now striving for. Everything is episodic procedural shows now with somewhat interesting characters. The only procedural shows worth watching are Bones, Pushing Daisies, House, Mentalist, and Life. Castle pilot was very promising and Lie to Me is catching on…
Somehow audiences don’t want mythology and serial shows and deep characterization expanding throughout seasons. Serial shows allow creativity to be pushed because it can be about almost anything (Lost, Housewives, 24).
I love the new hybrid serial/procedural show Fringe though. JJ nows how to make SCI Fi come to life.
I really hope serial shows make their comback. I miss 2004 when Lost, Housewives, and Boston Legal all premiered. Amazing year in my opinion. It started the last stint of the second Golden Age.
I see Golden Age #3 coming in about 3 years
Mental sounds derivative, but interesting. I think part of the problem with network TV is that only 2 networks (CBS & Fox) consistently devlelop interesting, quality programming. ABC has only Lost and now maybe Castle. NBC has only Chuck and Heroes (which needs major retooling). On CBS, I enjoy : BBT, HIMYM, 2 1/2 Men, Mentalist, Gary Unmarried and Ghost Whisperer. On Fox, I enjoy: 24, Fringe, Lie to Me, Sarah Connor, Dollhouse and the 4 Animation Domination shows.
In terms of who is coming up with original shows besides AMC. I probably watch more shows on USA than any channel other than CBS and Fox. Namely; Monk, Psych, Burn Notice and In Plain Sight.
What a ridiculous review. NONE of these shows are the same… at all. They just happen to have vehicles involved. The content is totally different.