Tuned to TV Truths
There are four things I know about television that are absolutely true. 
1. If you make a reality show about your marriage and allow a TV network into your home, your marriage will not survive. This is not a slight to any of the couples, or their relationships, this is simply common sense. If you let millions of people see what your life is like, through the eyes of what the network wants people to see, your marriage will inevitably fail. Plus, there’s the whole intimacy thing. How can you be truly intimate and honest about who you are as a couple without privacy? Not gonna work.
It doesn’t even matter what your circumstances are — newly wed? Sorry didn’t work for Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson. Long-standing couple? Sorry, really didn’t work for the Hogans. Bound by eight bundles of joy? Sorry, even 160 perfect fingers, toes and shared DNA can’t hold those parents together.
2. If there is a new, stunning breakthrough about to hit the medical world, it’s no surprise to Grey’s Anatomy fans. Here are just a few of the “reruns” we’ve seen in real life that appeared on an episode of Grey’s before any doctors scubbed in. In season five of Grey’s Anatomy a plant-loving guy receives a fully successful face transplant from plastic surgeon Dr. Sloane. And, in a real hospital, after 30 surgeries including a 22-hour session with real life hero Dr. Maria Siemionow and a team of doctors, Connie Culp received a face transplant after nearly dying from a highly disfiguring gunshot wound.
Never thought a woman could get pregnant by two different men? How about having a double uterus? Count it – happened in season three and in real life this spring (though the woman in Michigan conceived her babies with her husband only). Speaking of being preg-o, what about the episode in season two where that guy thought he was with child? I read about phantom pregnancies by men and even a live pregnancy by a transgendered man in the news twice this year. Double bubble baby — check. Man with fetus — check.
I think I also heard about a kid who swallowed magnets posing a threat to his digestive system, which also happened in an episode from season four.
3. The best TV writers will make the best big screen blockbusters. Case in point, J.J. Abrams.
4. Highly skilled acting and creative writing for premium network shows will always be artistically superior to regular network series. The one exception to this truth, artistically speaking, is Mad Men. I don’t know if it’s because premium networks like HBO and Showtime can afford better writers, have bigger budgets or simply appeal to better actors, but for whatever reason, those shows are crafted very well. They are some of the most amazing and thought-provoking programs I’ve ever seen. (Counter cable examples are totally welcome.)
Let’s start with some oldies, but goodies Sex and the City, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under and Curb Your Enthusiasm. And now we have: Big Love, Weeds, In Treatment, Flight of the Conchords, United States of Tara and Nurse Jackie. Each of these shows has a unique and interesting execution combined with superb acting you can’t always find on prime time cable.
Now, I’m not an HBO or Showtime snob, I truly love all of my ABC and NBC shows (clearly from number two above), but the writing, camera work, costumes, sets, acting and general arc of these narratives are consistently better in these shows than, say, the wannabes other networks made to recreate their success (Lipstick Jungle, anyone?)
You’re so right about premium network shows vs. regular network shows. I often wonder if the difference lies in the fact that HBO (and others) seem to put their trust into their writers and give them a chance to develop their shows with few boundaries (i.e. True Blood, Weeds). Regular network shows seem to just be pushed out in the hopes that a following will develop, and if after six episodes, there isn’t a good enough audience…cancelled. Regular networks just aren’t in it for the long haul like the premiums are…the regs are hoping for the next Seinfeld or Everybody Loves Raymond to fall into their laps. That’s just not going to happen without some effort…
Great blog!
I think Entourage is right up there with Sex and the City. I haven’t seen Mad Men yet but I just got it on DVD so I’m curious as to the quality since I’ve heard nothing but raves about it.