Who has the formula for success?

1.4.5

Over the years television has crafted its own formula for success.  A formula is like a recipe—what ingredients does one need to use to make things happen, and to make them successful.  While TV dawned in the mid-20^th century it invented itself and became a conventional tool for information and entertainment in American society.  With each new programming genre, the television industry steps out of convention to create a new viewing formula.

Television news has hewn out its formula following trends in public opinion and pop culture.  In the early years, the news was staunch and unbiased, but has become affected by the gleam of celebrity.  TV anchors and those they report about—politicians, the famous, and the infamous—all become stars in their own right.  Political news in general has become more about campaign strategy and creating celebrity than the issues themselves.

Television comedy’s formula had previously been to satirize the news, either by creating caricatures of stories, or developing fake stories that mimicked reality.  Recently, however, political satire comedy and news has melded in to a new formula invention that reports politics in an overt yet accurate way.  Shows like “The Daily Show” and  “Colbert Report” have redefined how America gets their news.  Even shows like “Saturday Night Live” and “The Simpsons” have treated the ridiculousness of things like Dick Chaney’s machismo or Sarah Palin’s naiveté in such a way that they helped to steer public opinion.

I hope that the current convention of reality TV does somehow lose its stability and a new framework emerges in prime time.  I believe that we will see a reduction in the amount of programming in the coming years, as the cable industry changes to a more a-la-carte model and we lose some of the fringe cable channels.  Will this mean an increase in the quality of what programming is left?  Let's hope so.