And on the Eighth Day, God Moved Onto His Next Project

Creators create shows. They write the pilot, executive produce, and if the viewer is lucky, they stay heavily involved in the story direction and development of the series. Some, like Aaron Sorkin, even write the majority of the episodes or at least do a heck of a lot of rewriting. Unfortunately however, a creator may decide to shepherd a show for only so long before she decides to move onto a new project. That's a perfectly acceptable decision, except for the fact that it often means the show is going to be left in less capable hands, or at least in the hands of people who might not have the same storytelling ability or vision as the creator.

Yet another disappointing episode of Smallville got me thinking about all this the other day. I began to wonder how much of a role the creators are still playing in that show. They are both still listed as executive producers, but how actively are they involved in the week to week running of the series? I ask because Smallville has turned from a show for which I would eagerly await each new episode to one I find myself watching purely out of obligation. They continue to recycle tired story lines and ridiculous plot gimmicks. Clark becomes less mature with each passing episode. At this point he will have finally developed the traits that make him Superman around the time he is starting to collect Social Security. The show's first three seasons were spectacular. Even if the show was written towards a younger demographic, there was reverence for the characters and the mythology, there was an appropriate amount of knowing references to future of the characters, and the show incorporated a slight darker tone at times.

Starting with season four though the show has been on a long, very long, downward spiral. Clark is less mature as a college sophomore than he was as a high school freshman. His decisions are rash, stupefying, and often end up causing more harm than good. Lex isn't nearly as cool or as three dimensional as he used to be. In fact, character development has essentially stopped and caricature development has started in its place. (For another example of this phenomenon see seasons 5+ of Friends).

How much of this has to do with the creators moving onto other projects and focusing less time on the show is debatable, but when you look at other series where a similar situation has taken place it seems the creator plays a vital role in maintaining the quality and tone of a series, especially in regard to serialized dramas.

Alias went sharply downhill when J.J. Abrams moved on to other projects. Again, he was still an EP of the show, but he was also working on Lost, plus other shows and directing Mission Impossible 3. This was another show where it felt like deja vu sometimes, with recycled story ideas or plots and characters finding themselves in exactly the same situation as in earlier episodes. The show also started to veer from its mythology, to its detriment.

After Aaron Sorkin was canned, The West Wing should have been. Season five of that show was a complete disaster. Sure it got good again in seasons six and seven, but it never equalled what it once was.

When Larry David left Seinfeld after season six it remained a ridiculously inventive, funny, and great show, but it wasn't the same one that it had been for the previous six seasons.

And though I would disagree with them, some might say the same about Lost. If you look closely it has become a slightly different show than when it started, but not that different and not really in a bad way. I think that's because most of the people originally involved in it are still on board.

These are just of few of some recent instances that came to mind, I'm sure there are dozens of others. Obviously if someone wants to move on they're going to. And it really only seems to be a problem for serialized shows, and that's why maybe TV execs need to rethink the whole series development process. Rather than try to keep a money-making show on the air for as long as possible (all the while draining it entirely of its soul and originality) why not purchase shows that have a distinct beginning and end, and a defined season length? For example in Smallville's case I would have made it a four year show, just focusing on Clark's high school years. It would have allowed for greater freedom in storytelling and a greater consistency of quality since the writers wouldn't have been saddled with creating what are essentially filler episodes.

Such a scenario would still allow a creator to move on to another project, but it would also leave a defined blueprint for his successors to follow, which would be a big benefit for the audience who has invested so much time in someone's work.

Playing Catch-Up

Thank goodness for DVRs. I've been away from the couch for the last couple weeks and upon my return the DVR was 98% full. Never could have recorded that much stuff with a VCR. Needless to say, the last few days have been a haze of office romance, mushroom clouds, grease fires, and singing.

Let me start with the first four hours of 24. Wow! Pretty good stuff. I loved Jack biting a guy to death; I totally think he was paying homage to his Lost Boys role. I was super surprised to see Curtis get killed off, especially by Jack; he'll be missed. And while it was definitely shocking, I wasn't really surprised that the nuke went off. I'm more confused by what Fayed's endgame is, since he literally blew his wad with 20 hours to go. I have a feeling the season will deal with a lot more than just stopping the other suitcases. According to the previews it looks like Rocket Romano's mysterious ringleader character from Season 5 will get his due tomorrow night.

Two great episodes of The Office were waiting for me as well. The sales call episode was right on, with Stanley and Ryan's Excellent Adventure being the high point. Oscar's return was also spot on, and it looks like Jim and Karen are headed to splitsville.

30 Rock continues to get better and better every week. How awesome was it that Liz's new guy was like her third cousin or something? I can't imagine anyone saw that joke coming.

Top Chef continues to be compelling as yet another contestant was sent home for non-cooking related hi-jinks. This season's group of aspiring chefs really seem to be lacking in professionalism, both in and out of the kitchen. I can't stand Marcel either, but it really isn't cool for one adult to hold another adult in a full nelson so yet a third adult can shave his head. Grow up guys.

Smallville continues to slightly disappoint; they need to rely less on the soap opera antics and more on the action. The Justice episode was a step in the right direction. Can't wait for the return of the Martian Manhunter.

The Scrubs musical episode was pretty good. I don't think I liked it nearly as much as a lot of critics seemed to though.

Finally, I caught a rerun of the Golden Globes on Bravo last night. Awards are awards and I'm not going to debate who should have won and who didn't (except to say that five minutes of every other show nominated in it's category is better than an entire season of Grey's Anatomy). My main focus was on the production of the broadcast. To put it bluntly, it felt amateurish. I know it's taking place in a hotel ballroom, but isn't there a way to film it so that it doesn't make the viewer feel claustrophobic? It also was paced horribly. They let all the beginning winners ramble on forever and then when they got to the major categories they started playing everyone off the stage because they were running late. There's no reason Emily Blunt should have more time to speak than Martin Scorsese. Suggestions: junk the ridiculous sideline reporting with inane facts nobody cares about. Also, spend less time introducing the nominees for motion pictures. There's no need for that production to have lasted 3 hours.


Quick Notes

Heroes returns tomorrow night. Sounds like it is going to get even more interesting.

The producers of Lost are reportedly discussing a defined end date for the series. This may just be a ploy to boost ratings (which is an insane statement, since the show still gets like 15 million viewers per episode), but decide for yourself by reading the full story.

Post-It Notes

The Washington Post's website has several interesting and, fortunately, short articles posted on it's television section. One deals with the rise of devices to seamlessly move programming from your PC (or Mac) to your TV and vice versa. I like the part where they talk about being able to move something from your DVR to another TV in the house that doesn't have one attached. The whole article can be found here.

Another article deals with some interesting Nielsen related fun facts. For instance, did you know that while Studio 60 doesn't do great in the standard "live" ratings, they actually do very well when time shifting is factored in? That means a lot of people are (like me) saving the show and watching it later in the week. So many in fact that the show's ratings jump by 11%. This might help to explain NBC's decision to pick up the show for a whole season. More interesting facts -including the not-so-surprising fact that Coke is the number one product placement- can be found here.

Also on the Post's website, Tom Shales shares a brief lament about the ways in which he believes the Internet serves to diminish or at least chip away at the integrity of traditional television journalism. CBS's 60 Minutes is his example.

Lisa de Moraes writes a piece that bemoans the lack of ingenuity and innovation among network execs who would rather beat a good idea dead twenty times over than take a risk on something that doesn't rely on a proven formula. My favorite quote is, "while imitation is the sincerest form of television, innovation in TV is the sincerest form of desperation". Ironically, or perhaps fittingly, it's usually the network that has the least to lose (because they are are already at the bottom) who takes chances, produces breakout hits with new formulas, resurrects themselves, and ultimately drives other networks not to innovate for themselves, but copy the innovation. Thus the glut of really awful reality programs and completely non-compelling game shows (see 1 vs 100).

Finally, if you would like a spot check on the health of your favorite freshman shows check out this handy chart.


Quick Notes

Speaking of game shows, Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune have been renewed through 2012. What is...good news, Alex?

Bravo has ordered a third season of Top Chef. Word is the second group of chefs is outperforming those from season one, at least ratings wise. I've yet to see anyone in this round with the talent of season one's winner, Harold.

Happy New Year!

You may have noticed that my last post was a few weeks ago. Obviously the holidays played a big part in my lack of posting, but that's not the main reason I haven't written lately. Quite frankly, there has been nothing to write about. There has been absolutely nothing on TV the last few weeks. I mean nothing. Not even good bad-movies. This past week was finally a bit of a reprieve because they started to show decent reruns on NBC, but there has really been a lack of anything interesting to watch the last couple weeks on either network or cable TV.

I don't usually watch a whole lot of holiday programming, though I was excited that TBS played National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation a couple times. That wasn't enough however, to make up for the lack of anything interesting. I'm not sure if programmers thought people weren't going to be watching television with their time off this year, or if they are just trying to rotate newer reruns and movies into their schedules, but even the cable channels didn't really pull out the compelling stuff. Heck, TV Land has a treasure trove of old shows they can pull from, and they love to do marathons, but all we got the last couple weeks were the same old episodes of Sanford and Son and All in the Family. Where was Cheers, Benson, Night Court, or Miami Vice?

A lot of times I'm not even looking for something to sit down and get lost in, but rather something I can put on as background noise that is at least a little entertaining. TNT came through today with a Law and Order marathon, but otherwise I was a little disappointed with this year's holiday offerings.

Luckily I got some TV on DVD for Christmas, including Seasons 1 and 2 of The Office. I can watch those episodes a million times and find something new each time. Last night was the first time I saw the "Office Olympics" episode and I realized that that episode is where the show hit its stride. They subtly shifted Michael's character from an oblivious jackass to an oblivious jackass with a heart. This makes a big difference, allowing the viewer to enjoy his outrageous inanity without being turned off. It's what makes this show one of the best on television. That and the origami doves Pam made for the closing ceremonies.

Overexposed

It's official, Rachel Ray is annoying. Confirmation came this morning when my wife caught a few minutes of her talk show and without prompting told me she had to change the channel; it was unwatchable. Sweet validation!!!

I can handle some of Ms. Ray's shows; for example $40 a Day is watchable. Other stuff she is in however, makes me cringe. For example, her mannerisms and overacting on 30 Minute Meals kills my appetite. It's her talk show however, that takes the cake. When I first tuned in during the shows first week on the air (everyone loves to watch a train wreck) I had to change the channel within two minutes; literally. She was so over the top in so many ways that it actually pained me to watch the show. It was bad, but I thought maybe it's really just a uni-gender show; women will get it, but it's not meant for me. Well, that theory is out the window thanks to this morning's chance viewing.

Watching her in this forum, you can't help but think of the girl in high school that wanted to be everybody's friend, but who nobody wanted to be friends with because she tried too hard. She may be a really nice person in real life (see $40 a Day), but her TV persona in most instances needs a few shots of a sedative. Not to mention the fact that she is everywhere. Someone needs to let her agent know how quick overexposure can kill a career.

Anyway, if you have a couple minutes and want to risk a head explosion, check out her show and let me know what you think.