The Characters Are Coming!

In the 1950s TV was simple; usually live, primarily news and variety shows. Few people owned their own television sets. Entire neighborhoods stood outside the windows of hardware stores to gawk at the very small black and white moving pictures. Those few viewers would watch anything, even the test pattern.

Television changed.

By the 1970s most people had access to color TV, and these millions of viewers were smarter with more savvy. "Simple" was not what they wanted, and MASH signaled the birth of the ensemble show.

Television changed.

American television in the 2000s brought us Junk TV in the form of:

Reality shows
Ever-sillier Sitcoms with obnoxious laugh tracks
Animation and teen television
Prank Shows
Sleazy daytime talk shows

Not all of the above-mentioned qualify as Junk TV, but with multiple sets in almost every household at a time when even your great-grandmother has cable, there is an abundance of trash to watch. It's as if television viewers have choices targeted specifically to their IQs. Knowing Marketers, that is more than likely the driving force behind this type of television.

But if you're a thinker, don't give up, because even Reality TV has some bright spots, Science Fiction is close to Science Fact, and

The Characters are Coming!

Actors have found a way to showcase their talents on a weekly basis to millions of viewers without censorship by becoming their own Executive Producers. The stars get to do what they want, and we get to see intelligent, quality performances by characters more like ourselves than the one- or two-dimensional people of television days gone by.

The first two I noticed emerging were Amy Brenneman, star and producer of Judging Amy, and Kiefer Sutherland, star and producer of 24. These two served as pathfinders for the future of Thinking TV.

USA Network and TNT have cornered the market on TV dramas incorporating the best qualities of ensemble television with complex starring characters. The best of these are consistently Emmy nominees, and most are produced by the stars themselves.

USA Network:

Emmy, Golden Globe, and SAG Award winner Tony Shalhoub stars as Adrian Monk and serves as Executive Producer of the original series MONK.

Anthony Michael Hall serves as producer and stars as Johnny Smith in the original series THE DEAD ZONE.

TNT (Turner Network Television):

Golden Globe winner and Emmy nominated best actress Kyra Sedgwick stars in and produces THE CLOSER.

Holly Hunter transitions to television from the big screen starring in and producing the new series, SAVING GRACE, which is destined for multiple nominations.

We are well advised not to enter into relationships with these characters lightly, for they are not cut-outs and have lives just as messy as our own. By connecting with them, we are better able to untangle ourselves.

There are those who say that television is a vast wasteland, and in a way they are right. Most of television is Junk TV, as requested by the masses. But there are people out there who are doing their best to entertain and educate and uplift us with this powerful medium called television. We just need to find them and their programs and choose selectively. The rest we simply leave alone.