It’s worrisome that the 2010-11 season is off to a bad start, because TV doesn’t tend to bounce back easily — good TV tends to beget more good TV (note the golden age that spiked in 1999 and the mini-golden age that spiked in 2004), and bad TV begets more bad TV.
The past couple years I’ve expected the worst, but found silver linings (“Fringe,” “Privileged,” “Star Wars,” “Life Unexpected”) even as TV in general declined in quality. But this year it’s hard to find positives (there are a few, which I’ll address later in this post). In fact, I think this is the worst season for new TV since the dawn of the era when we had at least five networks (1995 to present).
This fall, we were in particular need of a few great shows because so many legends ended or were canceled last spring (“Lost,” “24,” “Law & Order”). But that hasn’t happened, as Zap2It’s Rick Porter points out in his column on this same subject.
I’ve retained two freshman shows on my DVR: “Law & Order: Los Angeles,” just because I need an “L&O” fix, and “No Ordinary Family,” a featherweight show with an immensely likable cast. But neither of those will make my end-of-year top 10. Sadly, a lot of the list will include shows that are no longer on the air, or might not be on the air much longer.
Out of boredom, I already canceled all the other freshman shows, plus returnees like “Gossip Girl,” “The Cleveland Show” and “Family Guy” from my queue (although you know I’ll be back for the “Return of the Jedi” episode in May). I also feel like the fun is slowly but surely draining out of “Glee” and “The Office” (although this week’s Halloween episode was great).
I am primed for something new and good (or something old and good, which is why I’ve been dipping into my DVD collection lately — early “X-Files,” anyone?). But TV isn’t delivering as of late.
There is some hope for midseason (remember, the last midseason produced “Life Unexpected” and “Parenthood”). The superhero-themed “The Cape” hasn’t gotten a lot of mainstream buzz yet, but it’s the new Summer Glau show, so you know I’ll be tuning in. Also, to perhaps assuage my pining for more “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” is the thinly veiled remake “Mr. Sunshine.”
As a sign of how far TV has fallen, those two shows probably wouldn’t have been on my radar during the first golden age of the modern era. I was too busy watching future classics like “Freaks and Geeks” and “Buffy” to settle for something merely above average. Today, I can’t be so picky.
Are there any future classics on the air right now? Yes, I know there are shows we both like, but I’m talking about that elite level, shows we’ll be looking back at with admiration in 2020 — the “Fireflys,” the “Arrested Developments,” the “Curb Your Enthusiasms.”
Do you think the current down period will lead to an explosion of creativity soon? Or will these dark days be around for a while? Share your thoughts below.