It's time to rethink network television: A suggestion.

I want "telenovelas," just because that's a fun word to say.

Great article! I don't know much about American television stations, but since we get the same shows broadcasted here, I have some stuff to add. Arrested Development is one of my favourite shows of all time, coming in second to maybe only F.R.I.E.N.D.S., which is, sadly over.

This thing that's been going on, about channels not giving enough credit to good shows, it happened here too.
Monk (also one of my favs.) was getting in low ratings so they stopped in the middle of season 2! It was horrible. They just started airing Zoe Buisik or something instead. It was so irritating. This is why I think mainstream media won't work for long in today's digital world of the Internet, iTunes and File Sharing. There's some stuff that will always have mass appeal and some that will never. Arrested Development, is sadly part of the second group. I don't think shows like this should stop filming just because they aren't getting the ratings in America. They need to air them in other countries and offer them for download with ads, thereby not losing out on the revenue. There will always be people who will cut out ads and such and rebroadcast it over the bit torrent and gnutella networks. They can't be stopped. What I'm saying is, give it to us with the ads. There are some of us who don't mind. As long as we're getting the show for free, just like on television. And since we'll be archiving these (at least I will) downloaded episodes, they'll be archived with the ads. Mainstream media can learn something from Podcasts like Rocketboom and Diggnation. They might not be earning much right now, but it's defnitely going to increase. Can you imagine the potential for something like the eBay auction Rocketboom carried out, but for a TV serial like Arrested Development? They'd make millions each week! My belief in podcasting is strong and I really think we're on the brink of a revolution here. Which company wouldn't want a commercial of its product archived for eternity on a customers computer? They'd pay millions.

Companies, producers, TV houses and other media corps. need to realize what they're missing and wake up to the sound of Adam Curry's burp. If that guy can earn dough burping Senseo (or is it Earthlink now?), I can't even begin to fathom the ammounts of cash Arrested Development could roll in. I really hate to see great shows get choked out like this. We need to do something, though I don't know what.

What do you think of my ideas Brian?

PS: another option would be to charge for a podcast, but this I'm strongly against. I think it would be okay to charge for another version of the podcast, that excludes ads. Ricky Gervais is treading the wrong path right now.

Finally I get some credit for your article ideas!!

Well I'm not so sure about podcasting, but i think offering pilots on the iTMS is a big step in the right direction. This may eventually lead to downloadable episodes of cancelled shows or whatever. Though, as a jobless teenager with no credit card, I would greatly prefer free ad-supported content like Simran mentioned.

My biggest beef with American television is that, frequently, shows start off incredibly strong, but, as they acheive success and extended seasons, their quality deteriorates badly. For example, when Desperate Housewives started off on american television, I found it fascinating simply because of the remarkable writing and execution. The writers had their finger right on the sweet spot of the housewife psyche, and could adroitly manipulate the emotions of their audience. Come the second season, it deteriorated into weeping women running out into the streets in wedding gowns, with the funny music playing in the background! Shows starting out strong and ending up rubbish are innumerable (F.R.I.E.N.D.S, The O.C., Will and Grace)

For this reason I really like the idea of predetermined series lengths. Part of the reason I loved Firefly was that it never got old enough to get out of the honeymoon period and become tiresome. If writers are prepared with sufficient material to make sure the series can run its course respectably, then I will be much much happier.

As you have mentioned, other countries have obviously already thought of this. As any animé fan knows, the famous series Cowboy Bebop was planned from conception for a single season of 26 episodes. Despite the fact that the show gathered massive popularity, and fans relentlessly clamoured for a second season, the director famously refused, in the interest of the integrity of his artistic work. Its been close to a decade, and theres been no sign of him giving in, other than a theatrical release devised as a compromise for the legions of fans.

The japanese also offer a whole new distribution model. Due to the astronomical costs of producing animated features, necessity has forced them to come up with Original Video Animations (OVAs), which are essentially straight-to-DVD television series. Each episode is released on an individual DVD, and their sale contributes to the subsequent production of episodes. Quality series that can gather a large enough fanbase earn huge production budgets, and the fans get stellar entertainment. In addition, they sidestep a lot of the problems of regular television : no networks, no FCC, no advertising, no time-shuffles.

Of course, online video, if it breaks a few more critical barriers, can become the ultimate democratic medium for obtaining entertainment. I have big hopes for this iTMS.

I never watch prime time dramatic or sitcom stuff. I do put on MSM news at supper, just to not become a neanderthal hermit, and then BBC, or French News in subtitles. Although I liked Fox at first, I find their cartoonlike aggressiveness a pain in the butt, so it's over between me & Fox. After that, if CSI or Law & Order in rerun have one I've not seen, I'll stick around there for an hour.
Then I check my blog links & walk the dog.

So TV has declined its way right out of my existence, kind of.
When I was a kid I wanted TV 24+ hours a day.
Now, I'm seeing the same shows that were on then.
The damn medium has used itself up.

I do have one idea for it, though and it's this....
no-voiceover travelogues,
cruising through a different town each hour,
simulating as much as is possible, a genuine trip.

No commercials, no talk, and a separatable music channel,
so you can author your own traveling music.
And paramount in this--
NO INTERRUPTIONS FOR ANY REASON.

A defeatable RSS strip at the bottom,
with printed explanations of where the town is, etc.,
which I can access if I get curious about anything,
but turn off most of the time.

If you can provide that for me on my 60" HDTV,
I'll pay you $100 per month until you run out of new towns!

Shows starting out strong and ending up rubbish are innumerable (F.R.I.E.N.D.S, The O.C., Will and Grace)

Dude! Friends was awesome till the last minute. Anyway, this just proves that everyone has their own likes/dilikes and tastes and to discontinue a show, a station has aired for a while is wrong. They've built a fan following, who're gonna be majorly angry when they pull it off.

For example, when Desperate Housewives started off on american television, I found it fascinating simply because of the remarkable writing and execution.

Sure it wasn't something else you found fascinating, Karn? (hehe)

Of course, online video, if it breaks a few more critical barriers, can become the ultimate democratic medium for obtaining entertainment. I have big hopes for this iTMS.

I agree with you, about it being a democratic medium, but iTMS? Nah... I don't think they're the future. Charging for iPod video quality shows is not something I'm very happy about. If they were to offer seasons of shows for free, with a few minutes of advertising, I wouldn't mind. Actually, many people would be paying to get the ads since many people have Internet connections that are charged per MB. I'm on an unlimited connection, so I have no qualms, but it's the public we've also got to think about here.

Also, I think the Internet will allow and facilitate world wide releases, so people like me aren't forced to Bit Torrent shows and be called pyr8es, which we're not.

Just FYI, Simran, Monk is still doing well in the cable ratings in the USA on its originating network, USA (part of NBC Universal now). The series' fifth season has just begun.

Yeah, I know. It's doing well here too now. It wasn't earlier.

don't watch it religiously, but I liked Tony Shalhoub's obsessive-compulsive detective character from the first time I saw the show, and the backstory of how he got that way (available on the show's web site) makes him even more interesting--and also provides a possible out for the series, namely, Adrian Monk goes into therapy and figures out how to deal with his demons from the past. (The new Randy Newman theme song is also very funny.)

Yes, I love the whole story too. I've been looking for a download link to that song for ages now. Anyone know where I can find "It's Jungle Out There" online? Is it on iTunes? Contact me via my column please. I have the old theme song. It too was equally good.

Its so very difficult to avoid stealing shows when you drop juicy little tidbits like that, MarketStei.

And I know this isn't my personal discussion thread, but I have to reply to Simran. Season 10 of friends was so bad i wanted to cry. The acting was terrible, the dialogue was terrible, the plot was terrible. The characters were getting old, they were resorting to one-liners and it just felt like everyone didn't want to be there anymore. Though that probably isn't a problem with every TV show.

And of course I would be very worried if iTMS becomes the main hub of digital content for the future, as apple is known to turn evil when the get powerful, but for now they are simply the most promising option available. They're the only ones who'll be pushing to get the pilots and cancelled series extensions and all that other stuff.

And also, the "per MB" plans are pretty much unheard of overseas.

Well, Karn, I'm gonna let the Friends comments slide for now. I'll let the hordes of fans flame you. At 'em mateys!
We can't let this "Champloo" insult our Friends, now can we? Where are Chandler's jokes when you need them?

I didn't know the "per MB" plans are India only. How strange. I guess it doesn't make sense for people, who spend large ammounts of time online (me!).

I'll give you that. iTMS is the hot place for song video downloads.... for the time being. I don't like their "iPod only DRM" though, even though I have an iPod. It's not fair at all. It's making them a giant ton of cash in iPod sales, but's also furthering the decline in popularity of other players. I don't know if I want Apple to win that court case. Maybe they should open the store up to all players.

Sorry to hijack your threads comments Brian, but I simply cannot let Simran have the last word here.

So I'm going to keep it simple:

Boing

(Take that Simran)

On a side note, I never noticed my writing was so cryptic and unnecessarily complicated. It seems to subconsciously deflect the reader's attention. Sorry about that!

ps:yes yes i've flagged this post as "no value"

Arrested Development isn't officially cancelled yet though, just because FOX wants to mess with us. I hope Showtime or NBC pick it up, since they've shown interest in continuing the show on their network.

Let's not forget Undeclared

I hate to say that I really didn't get the Arrested Development thing. It never did a thing for me. Sure there were a couple amusing lines here and there, but the story as a whole never got my attention. My wife on the other hand liked the show very much. I don't get it. Plus, I think there was another show on that I enjoyed more at the same time. Thank you DVR. :)

I'm not a fan of Lost by any means (I've only watched the first episode), but I always wondered that about my friends who do watch the show. Considering that they never get off the island, couldn't the show essentially go on forever?

And one more thing...The Simpsons is the first show I thought of when I read this post. It's now in its seventeenth season, and the quality has definitely seen a drop-off. There's no reason why this should shouldn't have been cancelled after even its fifth or sixth season. To see that it's gone and tripled that is astounding, in a bad way.

Quote from Simran:

There will always be people who will cut out ads and such and rebroadcast it over the bit torrent and gnutella networks. They can't be stopped. What I'm saying is, give it to us with the ads.

I absolutely, completely agree. Is having the ads on TV that much different than engraving the ads digitally into the show and making it downloadable on iTunes? It would save some hassle for me, and I'd much rather download the shows from iTunes with ads then download them from BitTorrent without them. At least I'd feel much better about myself...I wouldn't feel as much like a criminal.

I think if they really want us to see the products they are going to have to do a lot more product placement. When I record a show on DVR I forward through the ads. When you download a show the ads are usually gone. If they do product placement we will not have that choice. If done correctly I think it could work very well for both the companies and the consumers.

Very interesting piece, and I agree with your main point 100% (speaking of soaps, how long have all the US soaps been on for?)

I'd like to say that TV and movie studios are lazy by nature, but it's all part of the nature of the biz - they'll look for a profit wherever they can find one (even if it means watering down the plot of a show to get a couple more seasons out of it, or writing up a horrid script to a horrid sequel to any movie that makes a profit). The Firefly/Serenity example is a rare one - not too many studios would bother making a movie to a show with a small fan-base.

As long as it's profitable, studios don't care about entertaining ideas for new types of shows. After all, it's so much easier to make another copy of something that already works (um, how many versions of CSI and Law and Order are there?). I don't mean to rag on those shows (they have their moments), but the lack of new / different / daring ideas for shows is disappointing.

The show I am currently hooked on is Battlestar Galactica - a show that originally wasn't meant to be a show. The Sci-Fi channel made a miniseries, and there was such an uproar from the fans (on forums, emails, letters, smoke signals) that they decided to make it into a series, and they have done an excellent job of it. Studios should learn that if they have a good story that can be told in 3-4 hours, then they should tell it in 3-4 hours! Not every idea has to be turned into 20 episodes..... unless the fans demand it. :)

Hey you mentioned my 3 favorite shows. Everybody Hates Chris, The Office, and My Name Is Earl. My favorite line from Earl is when Earl's ex wife says, "I don't care if she's chinese or chucky cheese, I don't want her in my house" I busted a gut on that one. Fear Factor used to be my favorite show but sadly I think it has run its course.

I have to disagree with the Simpsons sentiment expressed a few times.

Early on, (as the show premiered when I was all of 6 years old) it was a great show that played out like any normal sitcom, albeit with an animated family, somewhere around season 5 or 6, it changed drastically (right about the time I was getting tired of it), and seemed to revolve a lot more around kooky plots and hilarious culture references, and stayed pretty solid for the next 4 or 5 years...and then, suddenly, got very bad.

I think something as loosely based as the Simpsons was, can easily survive for a long time, provided you have good writing, and I believe the show absolutely did, until about season 9 or 10.

That said, I agree with your basic sentiment, if more shows were produced with a definite end in sight, I think it'd make for much better TV overall.

Most of the best anime out there is, as someone expressed, similar to Cowboy Bebop, one or two seasons, with a solid beginning and ending in the creator's mind, and when it's done, it's done.

A possible alternative to having free shows with commercials might be to lower the price of the episodes that do have commercials. Of course, controlling the whole fast-forwarding thing would be a pain, but how many people would be willing to watch 5 minutes of commercials to lower the download price of the show?

Granted shows only cost $2 (and even less when bought in bulk), but if (for example) I got a 50% discount off the season price for watching 5-10 minutes of commercials per episode, I could buy 2 seasons for the price of one... and that sounds nice. :)

I'd be happy to pay for commercial-filled, or commercial-free (although, obviously for a higher price) TV in high-res, either streamed, or downloaded through the internet, at the time the show airs.

If, instead of turning on the TV to watch say, 24, at 9 o'clock, I could just click a link to purchase the right to watch the show at the same time others are, and at a quality resolution, I'd be happy to do that...and odds are, more money could go straight to the creative forces behind the show (since who knows how much money, if any, ever makes it back to the producers/directors/etc of a TV show after watching it through cable)

For the record, another good show was Babylon 5. It was pre-planned as a 5-year story arc and ended gracefully with most of the loose ends tied up.

Yeah, I'm commenting on a thread that's over a year old, but that's the beauty of the internet. :)