"Quality" TV Being Phased Out?

[D'Snowth]

I don't think TV was ever free to begin with... cable bills are proof of that, lol.

 

[frogboy4]

I don't think TV was ever free to begin with... cable bills are proof of that, lol.

Well that's true.

 

[dwmckim]

Even if you could care less about soaps, anyone interested in this thread may want to check out my thread on Supporting the Daytime Drama Genre - there's an incredible amount of parallels between the basic issues regarding the other kinds or programming discussed here and the rapid dying out of the American tradition (and even longer tradition of serialized storytelling) of the daytime drama.

Just as American seasons may need to take on more of a British model - i don't see network soaps staying on the air beyond five-ten years unless they change format; most likely moving to a primetime variation becoming a weekly series rather than daily. I make a lot of comparisons between One Life to Live and Sesame Street in the thread but one thing i left out was that when Sesame Street started they followed a very soap-production style production schedule - aiming for FIVE new episodes a week for half a year (130 episodes a season) - and over time we've seen that reduced to 26!

 

[Drtooth]

As for television's future - it's bleak. Here's what a show needs to survive today: cheap or cost effective to produce, instant and consistent ratings right out of the gate, a loyal following that grows rather than shrinks, consumer interest from people who actually buy products advertised.

Dude... if in 3 years TV isn't just radio with infomercials and news reports, then I'll totally be surprised.

That's the problem... you know the phrase "the crap has hit the fan?" Well, as far as TV is concerned, all possible crap hit the fan at ONCE. The rise of reality shows, the fall of ad revenues, the writer's strike, bonehead network heads, and the recession. CBS is one of the most watch networks, and even then it's losing money. You know, because a Coke ad is more effective on the internet, in a movie, in an internet pop up, on it's own website, on a person's T-shirt, and on a billboard than it is on certain TV shows. Maybe I should have got into accounting... at least to save myself from the total mental warp that causes.

Same crap went down with kid's TV... FCC regulations of the 90's (which came back and bit hard on the butt), well meaning, but selfish action groups making kid's TV unprofitable, the rise of the Tween market, and the rise of 3 cable channels. Not to mention the fact kids are busy with their massive video game systems and computers to bother watching a dang half hour show. Now a Kid's show is only important if A) it introduces an ethnic character devoid of personality that speaks it's native tongue in broken tourist phrases, B) it stars some prefab musician in some horrendous Monkees clone, and C) if it's the fakey toy commercial anime of the year (and it's only important to retailers).

There are new challenges to keep TV going... and often, they're met with ignorance (people who have no clue what's going the heck on), apathy (network heads who are only working there as a pitstop to something else), greed (replacing everything with infomercials... no one watches and they make a trifle amount of money by slacking off), or a cocktail of all three.

There has to be some dramatic change to the way these people get money to save TV. Legal TV sites don't work unless you have Fios, so watching it online is only good if you miss an episode... and frankly, I have yet to see an internet only cartoon that's worth watching... other than Homestarrunner of course...

 

[GonzoLeaper]

and frankly, I have yet to see an internet only cartoon that's worth watching... other than Homestarrunner of course...

ha ha- yep! True dat!
(love Homestar Runner!)

 

[D'Snowth]

and frankly, I have yet to see an internet only cartoon that's worth watching... other than Homestarrunner of course...

Does anyone remember that B. Happy Cartoon Network webtoon from several years ago? That was pretty good, I thought, lol.

But yeah, you have a point... does anyone, other than pyschos actually watch Happy Tree Friends?

 

[Drtooth]

Personally, I HATE "College Humor.com" cartoons... or should I say "We ripped all our jokes off of first and second season of Family Guy Cut scenes, and made them 90 seconds longer.com"

 

[Ilikemuppets]

I love all those new "what a cartoon type deal toons" on Cartoon Network and their website! there's some very funny stuff and one of them was green lit that was very funny. I forget the name.

You know Snowth? Jerry Seinfeld made 100 million on the Forbes lists this year from some reason? he's been consistent like that sense the show ended. And he and Larry David have made half a billion individually when the show was one.