A Nod to TV's Past While Contemplating Its Future - Ed Martin - MediaBizBloggers

Where does television go from here at the start of this uncertain new decade Iamp8217m afraid to ask My new year began with the sudden shocking disappearance of HGTV and Food Network from my cable service without a corresponding reduction in my monthly bill Whatamp8217s next The possibilities pro and con are endlessAs is often the case the more I ponder the future of television the more I began thinking about the past My recent musings sent me in search of my final column of 1999 published just before the turn of the last decade In it I reflected on what television had meant to me throughout my lifetime and the changes I foresaw and in some cases feared at the dawn of the new millenniumIn hindsight that column reprinted below reads like the calm before the media explosion to come Happily the concerns I expressed therein about broadcast and cable networks failing to distinguish themselves in the new media landscape and losing the emotional and cultural impact they enjoyed in decades past proved inaccurate In fairness to me there was no indication at the time I wrote it that The West Wing and The Sopranos both brand new shows at the time would actually usher in a thrilling new Golden Age of Drama Further there was no sign on the horizon of Survivor Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and American Idol three shows that would dramatically revive the faded reality genre and change the face of television in the process Interestingly my thoughts about the emotional engagement of the eBay experience in its infancy would be reflected and reinforced in the rise of social networking and viral videos throughout the amp821600s Together they proved to be formidable new competitors for media from another eraThe Ghost of Television PastOriginally published in The Myers Programming Report on December 23 1999Here I am at my computer trying to pull together some thoughts on the changes television will undergo during the next millennium and all I can think about is The Mary Tyler Moore ShowMary is on my mind because Nick at Nite is running Mary marathons every night this week as part of its current programming event Marathons to the Millennium As I watch these episodes I can often recall sitting through them when they first aired on Saturday nights on CBS during the early amp821670s surrounded by such top shelf fare as All in the Family MASH The Bob Newhart Show and The Carol Burnett Show Friday was date night or party night or movie night but Saturday belonged to CBS Mary was the sparkling centerpiece of the evening for seven years from 197077Sometimes I watched Mary and the other shows with my family at other times with friends and occasionally I watched alone in my room on an old black and white television This was the same set I had watched Star Trek on years earlier in our living room I was stunned to later learn that Trek had originally been telecast in color In hindsight Mary was a multipurpose show A fine shared family viewing experience a great show to enjoy with friends and the perfect private pleasureMary isnamp8217t the only show that can bring forth a flood of childhood and adolescent memories Whenever I come across an old episode of Batman Iamp8217m immediately transported back in time to my neighborsamp8217 living room circa 1966 They had the only color television on the block at the time and all the kids on the street would gather in their home every Wednesday and Thursday at 730 primetime started earlier then to watch the adventures of the Caped Crusader on ABC All the parents came too but they didnamp8217t watch The mothers drank coffee in the kitchen the fathers drank beer and played pool in the basement Similarly reruns of Dark Shadows remind me of countless mad dashes home after school to watch it at 4 pmIamp8217m sharing this nostalgic wallow because as I ponder the future of television I realize that it cannot continue to exist at least as we know it unless it continues to create a past amp8211 and I donamp8217t see that happening at presentThe broadcast networks hindered by slashed budgets despite a booming mediafueled economy a shrinking talent pool despite record employment in Hollywood and a perceived need to be increasingly edgy despite outrage by viewers and political leaders repel as many viewers as they attract Among my family and friends those with children have in recent years largely banned broadcast television between 810 pm because they donamp8217t want to expose their kids to its toxic values they sayMeanwhile the basic cable networks offer pockets of interesting programming but there is little to feel truly passionate about No cable network currently has the essential allencompassing energy that MTV had in the early amp821680s Even pay cable had begun to fade until HBOamp8217s Sex and the City and The Sopranos came alongThink about it Despite a dazzling array of programming choices custom designed for all ages and all tastes viewers everywhere made the phrase amp8220One hundred channels and nothing to watchamp8221 a mantra of the amp821690s Admit it Youamp8217ve mumbled it yourself Iamp8217ve mumbled it all week Thatamp8217s another reason why Iamp8217m watching the MarythonLooking forward thereamp8217s no reason to assume that their sentiment is going to change even if the number of available channels multiplies into the thousands Delivery systems will certainly dazzle but little of the original programming to come I fear will have the emotional and cultural impact on future generations that the programming of the past had on baby boomers and their parents who came of age as television was born There was an intimacy to television then which broadcast networks have lost in their hardscrabble efforts to compete in todayamp8217s crowded arena by eliminating series theme songs among other transgressions and cable networks have never managed to achieveAlternatives to both have entrenched themselves and will continue to do so Which brings up another point about the future emptiness of the viewing experience With more technology more networks and more programming outlets virtually everything will be available to everyone at any time This is already the situation with movies and holiday specials I remember when the annual telecasts of Rudolph the RedNosed Reindeer and Itamp8217s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown were major events in young lives amp8211 because they only came around once a year and they had to be watched when they were on For that matter the occasional telecasts of the Universal horror movies of the amp821630s and amp821640s including such classics as Frankenstein Dracula and The Wolfman were also the stuff of significant social gatherings Decades ago in the greater New York area several local stations aired these films on Saturday nights often quite late On summer Saturdays when neighborhood kids would be allowed to come over at 11 pm and watch with us on that old black and white set lifetime memories were madeThe past to come amp8211 the present that is currently poised to influence young people and become the dominant entertainment vehicle of their adulthood tomorrow amp8211 is the Internet Iamp8217ve given in to it myself An hour or two browsing on eBay often proves more satisfying to me than an hour or two in front of the tube As with all online communities the more time one spends on eBay the more users one gets to know As eBay grows its users are beginning to entertain themselves devising increasingly clever ways of packaging and presenting their auctions encouraging repeat viewing even by those who donamp8217t buy When users are able to add video presentations to their auctions eBay will grow even moreI wasnamp8217t even aware of eBay one year ago I wonder what Iamp8217ll discover online next week or next month that will become a part of my life by this time next year As online video delivery improves and users by the thousands or millions begin creating their own homegrown programming I wonder what will catch on and who will stand out in the ensuing media chaos Iamp8217m looking forward to sampling some of the littleknown online series programming that already exists once I upgrade my computer and all of the programming to come How will it differ from broadcast and cable network fare If it isnamp8217t significantly different is there any point to its existence at all Will it fill consumersamp8217 needs or just those of corporate egos As wideranging as all programming media will be will they offer anything specialI guess as I look to the future Iamp8217m really not sure where television will fit in Iamp8217m not even sure what television will be I only know what it wonamp8217t be That has me feeling even more attached to The Mary Tyler Moore Show and even more grateful that I was around to enjoy it and so many other wonderful programs the first time around on simple basic overtheair television

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A Nod to TV's Past While Contemplating Its Future - Ed Martin - MediaBizBloggers

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