Fall Television Season

I admit that we don’t watch nearly as much TV since we traded our cable box for an antenna, but we do still watch it. However, I have mixed feelings on how invested I want to be with the lineup.

There are shows I will resume watching this year; Chuck, Parenthood, Community, Bones, Desperate Housewives and finishing off Brothers & Sisters. But I don’t see much promise in many of the new series broadcast TV has to offer. With the original Law & Order off the air, and yet another incarnation taking its place, albeit set in Los Angeles, I don’t know if that would be a draw for me. We may check out an episode or two just for good measure before making a decision, especially since Terrence Howard is in it. While neither of us were impressed with the one episode of Glee we watched, which, admittedly, I didn’t understand the appeal until Jane Lynch’s character had a tirade, we still plan to catch the season two premiere tonight before making any final judgments.

Honestly I think the problem is that too many programs are reality based, I remember when cooking and game shows were the only Reality TV on the air. I also remember the original draw to Real World, which faded quickly because you could tell that every season beyond the first was contrived in some way or another negating the raw interest the show held. Now it seems every channel on broadcast and cable television has some reality show or their entire lineup is filled with people being complete asses of themselves because they have an audience. I mean, c’mon, if I wanted to see that I’d simply go to The Most Evil Corporation in the World and people watch. But that would also require me to break my code of ethics.

I don’t think that reducing the offerings available on television is necessarily a bad thing, as I remember a time when every night but Saturday was spent in front of the TV for hours. Oh wait, Saturday was reserved for the shows that overlapped during the week that I recorded. However, I wonder if the networks have decided to cater to the lowest denominator in their programming efforts. This also seems true in their marketing campaign. The Event, for instance, had the hokiest campaign to make the show seem mysterious, but came off corny at best. I can’t imagine any show’s producer feeling like that was a good idea, so it must be studio execs using their status to influence program marketing, which, let’s be honest, how many executives have a clue how to be relevant to an audience?

Then again, if we want to watch something interesting, we usually watch OPB, our local PBS station. History Detectives, Nova, and Ask This Old House just to name a few of our favorites. I guess my point is that television simply doesn’t hold the same interest it once had for me. If any of the shows I mentioned were cancelled I wouldn’t mourn them because, honestly, some of them are barely pulling me in as it is.