Television
has undergone major changes since its first golden age which we saw in the late
1940’s-1960’s. Shows like I Love Lucy changed the entertainment world and
opened the minds of many to what television could ultimately become. Present
day, we are in television’s new golden age. But how did we get here? Well, a
lot of factors contribute to this new era.
Social
media plays a sizeable role. Fans are able to connect and bond via social media
platforms. Any successful television show has their own Twitter, Instagram,
Facebook page, Tumblr, YouTube channel and maybe even an app. This allows fans
to follow and access their favorite shows whenever they want. This brings
people all over the world together to converse over who got the last rose on
the Bachelor or who was voted off of Dancing with the Stars. When a show is
airing a new episode, fans can have a live discussion about it while the
episode is airing. Shows take advantage of this by encouraging fans to live
tweet their new episode. They will often put a hashtag up on the screen during
the episode to encourage this.
Merchandise
also helps. AMC’s The Walking Dead for example, has infinite amounts of
merchandise. From apparel, to playing cards, fans have no limit to how much they
can represent their show. The Walking Dead even has an app where you can “dead
yourself” and see what you would look like as a zombie. HBO’s Game of Thrones
fans have similar opportunities. House Stark flags, bedspreads and laptop
decals are only some of the endless GOT products that fans can show off. If a
television show wants to be successful in 2016, it better have masses of
merchandise that draw in viewers to become dedicated fans.
We
now have so many more ways to access television than our parents did growing
up. Whether its on cable, a network’s website, a streaming service, or DVR, we
have endless options of what to watch and when. What to watch is always a
question that I have because there are literally endless options. In 2015,
there were 409 scripted comedies and dramas aired (Adalian). And that is only
scripted shows. Non-scripted (reality) shows dominate networks such as E! and
Bravo. In 2016, there are more shows now than ever. Part of the reason why
there is an increasing number of television programs is contributed to a trend
we have begun to see a lot of in recent years, spinoffs. AMC has created Fear
The Walking Dead as a prequel spinoff to its hit series, The Walking Dead. AMC
took another hit of theirs, Breaking Bad, which ended in September 2013, and
created Better Off Saul, another prequel spinoff that aired last February. But
spinoffs aren’t just for our scripted shows. We cannot forget about reality
shows. Bravo’s Real Housewives franchise has essentially taken over the
network. Even the Kardashian’s love a good spinoff. When E! first launched
Keeping Up With the Kardashian’s in 2007, the focus was the entire family.
Since then, they have put out numerous spinoffs on E! like Kourtney and Khloé
Take Miami, Kourtney and Kim Take New York
and Kourtney and Khloé Take the Hamptons. Khloé Kardashian just came out
with her talk show on the FYI cable network, Kocktails With Khloé. ABC’s hit
show Full House was on for ten season before the show ended. On February 26, a
new spinoff show, Fuller House will begin streaming on Netflix with almost the
entire original cast. A recently widowed DJ (the oldest daughter in Full House)
needs help raising her three sons. So her younger sister and best friend move
in to help raise them. It’s a flip on the original series premise. Long time
fans of the show came out to watch the live taping of the premiere episode at
Warner Brother Studios were some audience members cried (Dyball). Fox is also doing this with its hit series The X-Files. It comes back
to the idea of if you can lure in loyal fans, its essentially a successful show
and money in the bank.
With all of these new shows, where
do they fit in on television? The number of television programs is constantly
increasing but the number of hours in a day still stays the same. Often, there
is overlapping in programming. Increasingly more and more shows are aired on
streaming networks such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. So then what does this
mean for television? Thursday nights on ABC are essentially three hours of Shonda
Rhimes’ top rated shows: Grey’s Anatomy at 8, Scandal at 9 and How to Get Away
with Murder at 10. The lineup returned on Thursday February 11th after
a three-month hiatus and ABC was disappointed in its viewers. Grey’s Anatomy
went down a tenth of a point, Scandal was down three-tenths, and How to Get
Away with Murder was down a half of a point from its fall ratings. On its first
night back, that is troubling. The night has been named TGIT due to the steady
viewers it brings in, but what now? (Sandberg) Where did these viewers go? Did
they forget it was coming back on? Did everyone just record it? Or are they
waiting to watch it On Demand? With all of this new content, will some shows
suffer while others thrive? This is a rapidly expanding time for television. But
can this golden era be sustained or will we see a decline on television in
years to come?
Works Cited
1 Adalian, Josef. "There Were
Over 400 Scripted TV Shows on the Air in 2015." Vulture. N.p., 16
Dec. 2015. Web. 13 Feb. 2016.
2 Dyball, Rennie. "'Fuller House'
Family Reunion: Candace, Jodie, and Andrea on What's Changed 20 Years
Later." Entertainment Weekly's EW.com. N.p., 11 Feb. 2016. Web. 13
Feb. 2016.
3 Sandberg, Bryn Elise. "TV
Ratings: 'Grey's Anatomy,' 'Scandal' and 'Murder' Down in Return." The
Hollywood Reporter. N.p., 12 Feb. 2016. Web. 13 Feb. 2016.
4 "THE X-FILES | What If | FOX
BROADCASTING." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2016.
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It’s easy to be discouraged when thinking about what the New Golden Age of Television means for cable t.v. and networks. Josef Adalian from Vulture reports, “streaming shows nearly doubled, jumping from 27 in 2014 to 44 in 2015. Basic cable expanded much more slowly: There were 181 shows in the category in 2015, up “only” 12 from 2014’s 169. Broadcast (147) and pay cable (37) were basically flat, with just two more shows each.” However, I predict that this new golden age of television has made it possible for greater programming to be aired. This is just the start of this wave of better programming that has yet to fully hit cable networks yet.
ReplyDeleteIn a sense this new revamp of shows is the best thing that could have happened to audiences. With audiences leaning toward the non-traditional mediums to watch shows, audiences are now being exposed to shows with better quality acting, writing, and production value. Meaning, that big networks now have to conform and make better programming to get their viewers back. No longer do we see the same show over and over again, now the variety and types of scripted shows we get are becoming higher quality. This can be seen on the USA Network that now has to accommodate specifically to millennials viewing preferences. The Hollywood Reporter states, “Mr. Robot, a hacker drama with an anti-establishment lean, is as much a departure from USA's past aesthetic as it is emblematic of its planned evolution into a destination for edgier, more serialized shows with, its execu¬tives hope, a younger-skewing audience” (O’Connell.) She continues, to state how this new type of show is coming after researching the different themes that millennials are identifying with such as perseverance and self-confidence. This has all been geared to their new self-proclaimed, “F--- Society” marketing in order to gain this new audience. This is because major hits such as Breaking Bad and House of Cards are demanding attention. How? By being darker, edgier, and perfectly executed in all of the right ways. USA Network has done a great job of redefining their network and keeping up with the times with other this such as Suits.
All of this research seems to explain that in order to keep networks from going under, better content is a must. In order to succeed it is necessary to take these risks for traditional television networks to stay relevant. I personally, love all the different options there are for streaming now because this means more competition for the bigger networks. With there being more places for us as viewers to get their product, T.V. shows and other content, bigger networks now have to up their game just to keep up. And you know what’s even better? Is that these streaming services are kicking the networks ass. I am definitely a millennial in the sense that I love seeing an underdog succeed. No one thought these small streaming companies would eventually dominate and now dictate the television landscape and meanwhile that’s exactly what’s happening. The New Golden Age of Television is here to stay.
Works Cited
Adalian, Josef. "There Were Over 400 Scripted TV Shows on the Air in 2015."Vulture. N.p., 16 Dec. 2015. Web. 15 Feb. 2016.
O'Connell, Lacey. "USA Network Goes Darker to Court Millennials." The Hollywood Reporter. N.p., 18 June 2015. Web. 16 Feb. 2016.