Television: The Year in Review 2006

Back in the day writing about the past year in television was much easier. Three major networks offering shows like "Bonanza" or "The Love Boat". A smattering of UHF channels (you've heard of your parents and teachers talk about "rabbit ears" haven't you, children?) that brought Three Stooges reruns, studio wrestling and late-night Chiller Theatre with "Frankenstein vs. The Blob". Sports on the weekends. And waking up to "The Star Spangled Banner" and a test pattern after Carson went off at 12:30 a.m. And then nothing but static until the next test pattern around 6 a.m.

To look back at the past year in TV it's important to recognize the way that the technology has affected our viewing, the content being offered and the way (or ways) we have to view it. It's not just 200+ channels on digital cable. I haven't had cable for a few years, but I enjoy almost all of the best HBO and Showtime series such as "Deadwood", "The Sopranos", "Weeds", "Big Love", etcŠ on DVD.

While there has been a lot of loose talk and lame rant about the way that TiVo has revolutionized viewing, much of this is hyperbole. Have we all forgotten about the VCR gathering dust in the corner? Looks kind of quaint, doesn't it, with those clunky plastic VHS cassettes?

But remember, it was the VHS videocassette recorder that beat the pants off of the higher quality Betamax VCR and became the dominant format in the early Eighties, allowing television viewers to record programs and watch them later. That was truly the revolution, which allowed people to tape and watch programs at their leisure (if they were technically competent enough to set the clock and program the recorderŠif you couldn't you could just throw a six hour tape in and scan for the program later).

Between TiVo, Dish network, and Internet streaming and downloading, the ways of accessing and enjoying television shows is constantly changing and for the most part, improving.

Still, there are growing pains that just make you want to scream. Remember how outmoded audiocassettes became when CDs came out and you had to replace all your favorite music? Then remember how outmoded VHS videocassettes became when shiny new DVDs hit the Wal-Mart and Family Video outlets?

Well, get ready for Round 3: Blu-Ray vs. HDDVD. I'm not kidding. The new high-definition plasma displays have twice the number of lines of resolution as the former NTSC standard, and since more and more middle class homes will have them in the coming years as prices drop, there is a new battle coming.

Blu-Ray drew first blood by getting loaded as the format of the new Sony Playstation 3, which would be more significant today if Sony was able to put more than about a dozen of them in the stores. Still, from in-depth research I did recently while watching a trailer about HDDVD on the new "Miami Vice" movie DVD, this writer has gleaned that the alternative Hi-Def format will offer instant play and access to menus while the movie is playing.

But enough about all this digital jazz and tech talk, let's get to the shows:

Do You "Get" Lost?

A friend of mine from high school once put forth the proposition that there was a cyclical nature to popularity, not unlike Hegel's dialectic of historical movements.

Take "Star Wars". When it hit theatres in 1976 it was hotter than a Farrah Fawcett poster. But over time it became so big & popular that a backlash developed and it became hip to hate it. My pal's brilliant observation was that after this backlash, another movement comes along and decides it's cool to like it again because now so many people hate it.

That's been on my mind a lot the past few years as a major "Lost" fan. The series, along with "Desperate Housewives", "Grey's Anatomy" and that dancing show really boosted ABC's ratings. And the first two seasons of "Lost" renewed many viewers faith that network television could still deliver the occasional surprise of an intelligent, original well-crafted show that drew an audience and was allowed to grow.

Some of this may be due to the fact that producers and networks don't have to make all their money from advertising and syndication. A decade ago, before everything from "MASH" to "Laverne and Shirley" was released on DVD, hour dramas sold poorly in syndication compared to half hour comedies like "Seinfeld". If they didn't grab an audience, or if they got scheduled against a colossal hit like "Survivor" they rarely made it past a half dozen episodes before the plug was pulled.
Season Two brought fans the mysteries of The Vault, Desmond, The Tailies and the death of some major cast members. Plus a kick butt season finale/cliffhanger. This Fall has been all about The Others in a six-episode arc that will lead to the main season returning without repeats in early February. It's not too late to rent Season 1 and 2 on DVD to catch up.

And to slip back into tech talk for a minute, one other interesting development of 2006 was the rise of websites that cater to fans and their obsession for certain shows. The creative team behind "Lost" launched a website where fans can dive as deep as they want into the show's mythology. Each episode has a threaded message board where they post their comments and theories. Minutes after a show airs, avid fans are posting vidcaps grabbed from their TiVos. I kid you not. The site is www.thefuselage.com.

Viewers can go there and emails questions and comments to their favorite actors such as Michigan native Terry O'Quinn who plays the enigmatic and tortured John Locke.

"Get On the Floor! Do It Now!"

There used to be a college drinking game called "Hi Bob" where you would watch "The Bob Newhart Show" and every time someone entered the room and said "Hi, Bob" you would drink.

And the game works for every series he's starred in. A friend from work and I came up with a new drinking game for the hit Fox drama "24". Every time CTU super agent Jack Bauer pulls a gun and screams "Get on the floor. Do it now." Or "Drop the gun. Do it now."Šwell, you get the idea.

The pleasures and rewards of "24" are so numerous; it's hard to know where to begin. The brilliance of producing a season of 24 one hour episodes so that you view events, as we are reminded every episode "in real time", seems obvious now, but it might have just been another gimmick that didn't work if it didn't have veteran film producer Brian Grazer on board and a cast full of terrific actors.

Jack (Emmy winning Keifer Sutherland) is always going to be tougher and more courageous than Clint Eastwood infused with the soul of a 17th century samurai) so the trick to making the show new each season is mixing up the supporting cast at CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit), introducing a new love interest and serving up new and convincing bad guys to yank Jack's chain.
"24" is the favorite show of right wing radio blowhards like Rush Limbaugh and Laura Ingram, but interestingly the villains often turn out to be right-wing cabals and power hungry presidents and their aides.

Red state fans get to see Jack cut fingers off dangerous-looking ethnic types. Blue state fans find their suspicions that right-wing mercenary interest's fuel global conflicts confirmed. Everybody's happy.

And their hook of premiering after the Super Bowl and running without repeats has influenced other shows like "Lost", "Prison Break" and "Heroes" to go on hiatus, returning in 2007 without reruns.

More Network Drama

During the heyday of "Seinfeld", "Friends" and "Frazier" it appeared that sitcoms were king, on network TV at least. Audiences looked to pay cable like HBO to deliver edgy and provocative drama, like FX's "Nip/Tuck" or HBO's "The Sopranos" and "Deadwood".

But the past year has proven that hour drama is alive and kicking on the major networks. Fox's "House" blends the best parts of procedural shows like "CSI" with traditional medical drama elements ( i.e. life and death struggles, playing God, family melodrama) adding the brilliant Brit Hugh Laurie to deliver the funniest misanthrope since Archie Bunker.

The twin juggernaut franchises have "CSI" and "Law and Order" each have at least three versions on the air at any one time. And the limited network schedule has found time for not one, but two beautiful investigators who "see dead people".

Medium" with Patricia Arquette and "Ghost Whisperer" featuring Jennifer Love Hewitt, offer up a Betty or Veronica choice to viewers.
The new CW (and we don't mean The Dixie Chicks)

2006 saw the debut of a new station on the menu: The CW. Finally, people without cable could see shows like "The Gilmore Girls" and "Smallville" to see what all the fuss is about. The merger of the UPN and WB networks retained the best programs and also carried some evening WWE wrestling shows and sometime Red Wing hockey.

Random Notes

Happily "The Simpsons" is still on in what feels like it's 49th season, but still funnier and smarter than almost any other show.
"Dexter" features a serial killing officer of the law and is one of the most talked about new shows on cable. "Deadwood" finished its third and final full season. It will return only as two two-hour features, which will reveal the characters futures lives.

 Reality shows became an increasing part of the prime time schedule on both network and cable, due in equal parts to their high ratings and low production costs.

America Ferrera proved that a show with the title "Ugly Betty" featuring a "plain" lead actress in braces could top the ratings. "The Office" and "My Name is Earl" brought back "Must See TV Thursday" to NBC.