I
can always remember the first thing I would do upon arriving home from grade
school. I’d throw my backpack on the floor, grab a snack and head to the TV. And
watch what? The latest news from ESPN? Not exactly. I’d switch on The Discovery
Channel and watch Wild Discovery (I know, what a creative name). The show
focused on one animal every week, going through every imaginable tidbit that you
would ever want to know. Looking back, the enthusiasm with which I anticipated
this show seems a little comical now, but TV shows like this taught me things
that I would never have learned otherwise. They were informative, interesting
and intelligent. How I wish I can say the same for shows nowadays.
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly where the quality of television puttered
out like a car on its last dregs of gas, but the shift started around a decade
ago with various reality shows about, well, nothing. One that stands out from
the rest was The Simple Life, which chronicled heiress Paris Hilton’s
excruciatingly difficult task of performing low-paying jobs. What was the point
of this show? It’s hard to say, except for the fact that the audience wanted to
see someone with such wealth be forced to do menial tasks that normal people do.
At least The Simple Life has some sort of plot line (and I use that term
loosely). There are other shows, however, that seem to have no point whatsoever,
chief among them The Jersey Shore. This “reality” show revolves around a
group of privileged young adults who spend their days acting like immature teens
instead of the adults that they are. All the info that you would never want to
know is on display: The cast’s party habits, their relationships, and their
talents (or lack thereof). Inane reality shows like this seem to pop up all of
the time.
But reality TV isn’t just relegated to MTV and E! No, it
has infiltrated even the supposed “intellectual” stations, including the
Discovery Channel, the History Channel and others. On the
average week night there is a slim chance that anything to do with “history”
will be on the History Channel. Instead, it’s more likely that a reality
show about a specific profession will be airing. Two of the most boring (if
somewhat comical) shows are Ax Men and Swamp People. The former
show follows a team of loggers trying to meet their daily quota for timber,
while the latter focuses on several Cajun alligator hunters. Although these
shows do have an initial appeal (who even knew alligator hunting was legal?), it
quickly wears off after the fourth or so episode. One can only stand watching
men fell trees for so long. I will, however, concede that the “specials” that
air on these channels are quite interesting. One phenomenal program that
recently appeared on PBS was Ken Burns’ “Prohibition” documentary, which
not only talked of the 20th century prohibition movement but also
earlier, lesser known temperance movements. Another exception to the rule was
History Channel’s “World War II in HD” series. But unfortunately, these
programs are few and far between.
So who’s to blame for the declining quality of most television programs?
It would be easy to say the stations themselves and that’s part of the problem,
but most of the blame is carried on the shoulders of their audience. In other
words, us. Like any other business, television stations are out to make as much
money as they can no matter what the cost (be it showing graphic violence,
swearing, or sex). Television stations simply respond to what consumers want,
and evidently consumer tastes have changed from informative shows to purely
“entertaining” shows. Of course, this is broadly speaking. Shows like Modern
Family, The Walking Dead, HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and others are
funny, intelligent, and entertaining. Hopefully more will follow in their
footsteps.