Every story has a beginning, a middle and an end. My favorite part is the middle, that is the teeth of the matter, the heart. Then again I love a good beginning, the set up, laying out the scene, preparing me for what should come. The end however, not so much. Here is where we are sometimes met with a let down, the climax is over, and to be honest if the book is good enough I hate to say good-bye to the characters. The same is said for a good movie, or television show. The key to all of these things is good writing. You have to have a story teller, to convey the idea to people. It can be fiction or fact, everything has a story. Thank God for that, otherwise my lofty goals are for naught.
However, there is a growing systemic problem that is beginning to corrode the creative process of producing good works on film and television. What is this purveyor of doom in the modern world? Reality television. I know I am sounding off like a scene from The Music Man shouting "what's wrong right here in River City", but it is the truth.
They say that television is a reflection of society and what it values. I have to say if it is, we are collectively in trouble. Please understand I am not complaining about Talk Shows, Variety Shows, or Cooking shows, not even the news (although I do have a beef with the media, and we will get into that in a moment), this is a complaint about watching self indulgent adults behaving badly. This is what is being passed off as television. Little by little I am watching the erosion of quality scripts, being quickly replaced with what some feel is "REAL".
Let us examine what the networks are calling "Reality". Allegedly unscripted shows with scripts and takes to be edited. I will not call out any one particular show, they all seem to follow the same format. Pretty young women, handsome young men, someone yelling and fighting, getting attention. Maybe toss in something scandalous or salacious for good measure. This is NOT quality. I do not know of one single parent who catches an episode of any of these shows and thinks; "Gee I hope my son/daughter can grow up to be just like Reality Star X." Nor do I know of anyone that is glad to have another well written show cancelled.
It is a systemic problem, and to be truthful the only reality that is being reflected is the greed factor of the Network executives saving money by producing trash. In the 1990s we would call this kind of television "Garbage TV". Shows like Jerry Springer were not must watch TV, but viewed as televised train wrecks. Now we have these same people, who were once viewed as pathetic out of control lost souls, becoming the modern day celebrity. They have not won an Oscar or an Emmy, nor would their talent for trash talking and table tossing be considered for a SAG award, yet here they are gracing the Red Carpet at these same events. I think the final straw for me was upon visiting colleges with my daughter, one mentioned that "Snooki" spoke at the school. Seriously, this was a selling point? To mention that a woman whose highlight is that she got punched in the face by a guy in a bar, was a speaker at the school is not impressive!
This past Friday night I had to say goodbye to a good show, not great, but it had good bones. In Plain Sight had its series finale. I didn't understand why a show that had good ratings, by all means viewed as a hit is being cancelled. It appears that the horses have left the stables on this one, and if we the viewers do not get riled up we will have more nonsense on the boob tube, finally earning its moniker. If we took action, which by the way is not yelling at the networks, but boycotting the sponsors, attention will be paid. This is one area where we hold the power, because the bread and butter for every network is in its advertisers. Second to that are the ratings. So I am imploring you all to cut it out with riding the "reality television" bandwagon and demand that we have quality shows once again. Unless of course you enjoy having over one thousand channels and nothing new to watch that truly engages you, not just titillates you.
There must come a time when we draw that proverbial line in the sand, I believe the time is long over due. When technology has allowed us access to so much, why are we willing to settle for so little. Earlier I mentioned I had a few words for the news outlets as well., here it comes. They (news media) are not helping us in this fight, if anything they seemed to have hitched their wagons to the that of Reality TV. When I was learning about journalism one thing sticks out in my head that the professor told us, news should be Fast Accurate Correct and True and inform the public of the events that effect everyday life. Today, top news stories include snippets from TMZ or some reality star's newest relationship. This is not news, back in the day we called this gossip. I am certain that the likes of Edward R Murrow and Walter Cronkite are rolling in their graves. It is a sad day in America when it is not the economy or presidential election that leads the news, but Snooki going into labor. I believe we are on the cusp of such a thing occurring, so brace yourselves because it is a straight shot into hell when that day finally comes.
Perhaps it is the writer in me that is frustrated, or the fact that as I approach middle age, nostalgia makes me yearn for a time gone by. Whatever the reason, the issue still exists, and to be completely honest with you, this is not the legacy I want to leave my kids. Bad enough I am sure my use of AquaNet in the late 70's and early 80's has attributed to Global Warming. Regardless of the whys, hows or the guilt of global warming, it is important that something is done before we are no longer contributing to our society with great performances,
Tonight's quotes on the subject of television;
It is a systemic problem, and to be truthful the only reality that is being reflected is the greed factor of the Network executives saving money by producing trash. In the 1990s we would call this kind of television "Garbage TV". Shows like Jerry Springer were not must watch TV, but viewed as televised train wrecks. Now we have these same people, who were once viewed as pathetic out of control lost souls, becoming the modern day celebrity. They have not won an Oscar or an Emmy, nor would their talent for trash talking and table tossing be considered for a SAG award, yet here they are gracing the Red Carpet at these same events. I think the final straw for me was upon visiting colleges with my daughter, one mentioned that "Snooki" spoke at the school. Seriously, this was a selling point? To mention that a woman whose highlight is that she got punched in the face by a guy in a bar, was a speaker at the school is not impressive!
This past Friday night I had to say goodbye to a good show, not great, but it had good bones. In Plain Sight had its series finale. I didn't understand why a show that had good ratings, by all means viewed as a hit is being cancelled. It appears that the horses have left the stables on this one, and if we the viewers do not get riled up we will have more nonsense on the boob tube, finally earning its moniker. If we took action, which by the way is not yelling at the networks, but boycotting the sponsors, attention will be paid. This is one area where we hold the power, because the bread and butter for every network is in its advertisers. Second to that are the ratings. So I am imploring you all to cut it out with riding the "reality television" bandwagon and demand that we have quality shows once again. Unless of course you enjoy having over one thousand channels and nothing new to watch that truly engages you, not just titillates you.
There must come a time when we draw that proverbial line in the sand, I believe the time is long over due. When technology has allowed us access to so much, why are we willing to settle for so little. Earlier I mentioned I had a few words for the news outlets as well., here it comes. They (news media) are not helping us in this fight, if anything they seemed to have hitched their wagons to the that of Reality TV. When I was learning about journalism one thing sticks out in my head that the professor told us, news should be Fast Accurate Correct and True and inform the public of the events that effect everyday life. Today, top news stories include snippets from TMZ or some reality star's newest relationship. This is not news, back in the day we called this gossip. I am certain that the likes of Edward R Murrow and Walter Cronkite are rolling in their graves. It is a sad day in America when it is not the economy or presidential election that leads the news, but Snooki going into labor. I believe we are on the cusp of such a thing occurring, so brace yourselves because it is a straight shot into hell when that day finally comes.
Perhaps it is the writer in me that is frustrated, or the fact that as I approach middle age, nostalgia makes me yearn for a time gone by. Whatever the reason, the issue still exists, and to be completely honest with you, this is not the legacy I want to leave my kids. Bad enough I am sure my use of AquaNet in the late 70's and early 80's has attributed to Global Warming. Regardless of the whys, hows or the guilt of global warming, it is important that something is done before we are no longer contributing to our society with great performances,
Tonight's quotes on the subject of television;
"Television could perform a great service in mass
education, but there's no indication its sponsors have anything like
this on their minds."
~Tallulah Bankhead
“Real love involves a foundation of respect, honesty, and trust,
concepts wholly missing from the pale imitations hawked to us by the
folks who script 'unscripted' entertainment.”
― Jennifer L. Pozner
― Jennifer L. Pozner
“History is gossip that's been legitimized, and that's really the case
when you get into some of the Roman historians. Wow! They'd be right at
home on reality TV.”
―
Esther M. Friesner
"If I wanted to watch cat fights, see the latest tacky fashion and hear people scream all day I would never have left the city"~ TV Blog commentator (when asked about Real Housewives of New Jersey)
No comments:
Post a Comment