TV jumped the shark...

[Harvey]

People didn't seem to care when Boston Legal was repeatedly nominated for best drama, when that series' worst kept secret was that it was a comedy. There's plenty of fuss being had over series that aren't nominated at all that I wouldn't expect television critics to focus much attention on a series that was could have been better nominated in a different category.

 

[Level 2 Diagnostic]

There's plenty of fuss being had over series that aren't nominated at all that I wouldn't expect television critics to focus much attention on a series that was could have been better nominated in a different category.

So, which Emmy category do you think Mythbusters belongs in, if not reality TV?

 

[Harvey]

I can't say. I'm no expert on non-scripted programming or the categories it can be submitted to for the Emmy Awards. I'm not even sure it does belong in another category.

The point I was trying to make was this: so many deserving shows (in the eyes of critics, not audiences) go without acclaim that it is likely to divert attention from a dispute such as this, because, in the end, Mythbusters was nominated for something. Critics are much more likely to focus their anger and attention on the greater oversights of shows that are not nominated for anything.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Also, wasn't LOST directly inspired by Survivor?

If it was, it sure doesn't bear any resemblance to it now (or when it premiered for that matter). More like an unholy cross between Gilligan's Island and The Twilight Zone.

Also, there are a lot of literary influences.

 

[Level 2 Diagnostic]

Also, wasn't LOST directly inspired by Survivor?

If it was, it sure doesn't bear any resemblance to it now (or when it premiered for that matter). More like an unholy cross between Gilligan's Island and The Twilight Zone.

Also, there are a lot of literary influences.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1538635,00.html

In 2004, ABC was fourth in the ratings. One series in its pipeline was based on an idea by then chairman Lloyd Braun: a fictionalized Survivor.

I have no idea what the show is like now (I gave up on it after season two), but clearly LOST owes its existence to Survivor.

 

[Level 2 Diagnostic]

Going back to Mythbusters, I found this in an interview with Jamie Hyneman...

http://www.mythbustersfanclub.com/mb2/content/view/220/48/

One thing that I could mention was that given the success of certain other reality based shows, we were encouraged- in fact instructed- to snipe or argue with each other on camera.

Call me crazy, but he seems to be saying that Mythbusters is a "reality based show", otherwise known as a reality show. But hey, he's only one of the hosts, what does he know?

 

[Hermiod]

^It's a reality based show in so much that the people in it are real people doing real things rather than following a script (most of the time). If shit goes wrong, they don't edit it to make it look any different.

Jamie and Adam do argue sometimes on camera and from the specials it seems that's how they are off camera. Jamie is considerably more practical than Adam and believes in simplicity while Adam occasionally has ideas that are too grandiose and aren't workable. According to Jamie, Adam also has a blood sugar problem that causes him to get overexcited sometimes (at which point Jamie will tell him to "go have a cookie").

There are a few scenes that I can remember where there's been some problem with somebody's work and Adam and/or Jamie have expressed that. Kari and Scottie had to build a wall once and it took longer than Adam thought it should so he questioned them on camera. There was also a scene where Jamie was not impressed with the quality of one of the Mythtern's work (I can't remember if it was Christine or Jess) and the fact that she had damaged some equipment which then had to be thrown away.

Adam was also visibly angry with Tori when they rigged up the "Ark of the Covenant" to a device designed to electrify fences and tricked Adam in to touching it.

On the other hand, I don't think I've seen the build team ever argue about anything.

 

[Kirkman1987]

overall, I'd say television has improved. The top tier shows of today (HBO/Showtime, 24, etc.) are produced on an almost film like level and tell serialized stories, which was rarely done before the 90's.

I think we tend to forget the bad shows of the past, and focus on the classics. We also lend some older shows we are attached to far too much credit.

 

[Level 2 Diagnostic]

^It's a reality based show in so much that the people in it are real people doing real things rather than following a script (most of the time). If shit goes wrong, they don't edit it to make it look any different.

There's no "script" in the sense that there's no piece of paper that says "Jamie says this", "Adam says this", etc. But everything they do is staged and planned out in advance, obviously. They wouldn't be doing these experiments if the cameras weren't on them. It's not like Mythbusters is a documentary about these guys' daily lives. The show is unscripted, but staged, which is pretty much the definition of a "reality show".

 

[Hermiod]

^My point was that the reality element comes from the fact that they show it when things go utterly wrong instead of just doing it again for the benefit of the cameras.

 

[Hermiod]

^My point was that the reality element comes from the fact that they show it when things go utterly wrong instead of just doing it again for the benefit of the cameras.

 

[Orintho]

I didn't watch much TV in the 90s because, to me, it wasn't that good...

Really? You must have exacting standards. I found shows like B5, DS9, X Files, Northern Exposure, Homicide, ER, Xena, Seinfeld, Twin Peaks, etc. to be quite excellent.

I think things like cheap reality TV and the lessening of advertising restrictions have hurt TV quality overall, although there are still good shows made. There is just a lot less of them.

 

[Harvey]

I found shows like B5, DS9, X Files, Northern Exposure, Homicide, ER, Xena, Seinfeld, Twin Peaks, etc. to be quite excellent.

I see Homicide: Life on the Street, and although I enjoy it, I can't help but feel that the more realistic The Wire on HBO is a far better take, unencumbered by NBC's demands. I enjoy Seinfeld, too, but to me Curb Your Enthusiasm is far more hilarious because Larry David is no longer kept under control by NBC's demands, too. Babylon 5 and Deep Space Nine are both great, but you have to wonder what they'd be like if they had the budget and creative freedom of science fiction shows on basic cable (like Farscape and Battlestar Galactica).

Network TV just has too many strings attached, even when they have brilliant creators behind them and good actors.

 

[byron lomax]

I see Homicide: Life on the Street, and although I enjoy it, I can't help but feel that the more realistic The Wire on HBO is a far better take, unencumbered by NBC's demands.

I've watched nearly all of the Wire by now, but I still prefer Homicide personally. The main strength was in the characters; the Wire has good characters too, but I haven't grown to love them in the same way.

 

[ToddPence]

I've always said that TV jumped the shark with the switch to color. Not that switching from black and white to color was in itself bad, but the mid 1960's marked the point at which advertising industries took over the medium. Basically TV got a lobotomy at that point. You look at television pre and post about 1965, and while there are certainly exceptions, scripts are not nearly as literate or adventurous as they were before that point.

 

[Navaros]

TV jumped the shark the first second the public didn't reject 'reality tv'.

And it won't ever recover until the public starts rejecting it across the board.

 

[Broccoli]

Adaptations provide seasons worth of source material so you don't have the concern of writers getting tired around the middle of season 3, which is where most network shows tank creatively (Lost, Heroes, Grey's Anatomy, and on and on...). The only non-cable show that's an adaptation that I can think of is Legend of the Seeker and it's very good.

I guess it depends on what one would consider an adaptation.

You have Smallville as a adaptation of the Superman comics. There was the BBC Robin Hood series that recently ended. CW is coming out with Vampire Diaries (based on the novel series) and they also have Gossip Girl. There was Kings last season of NBC, and there is also Human Target coming to FOX, but that seems to be a very loose adaptation.

Not to mention the many cartoon series based on comic book superheroes.

 

[RobertScorpio]

TV jumped the shark the first second the public didn't reject 'reality tv'.

And it won't ever recover until the public starts rejecting it across the board.

I disagree...I actually prefer HELLS KITCHEN over some the of the idiotic so called scripted shows.

Rob

 

[Level 2 Diagnostic]

TV jumped the shark the first second the public didn't reject 'reality tv'.

And it won't ever recover until the public starts rejecting it across the board.

So, what you're saying is that TV would be much better if more people watched Hannah Montana, According to Jim, The Bill Engvall Show, Two and a Half Men, and the Jonas Brothers show instead of reality TV? I mean, those are all scripted shows, so they must by their very nature be great TV.