End of An Era . . . And Quality Television

Kathleen and I watched an episode from the 3rd season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer last night. Since last summer, we've been slowly making our way through each of the seasons--we're about halfway through the Season Three DVD collection. As the episode ended, Kathleen remarked, "It's kind of depressing to realize that there won't be any new episodes of Angel or Buffy next year." I agreed.

I've ranted about this repeatedly, but I'm going to say it again. As the following link emphasizes, through a farewell to Angel oddly enough, quality television is on the verge of extinction. The corporate money mongers of the media giants don't care about quality, only profit. Quality, thought-provoking television with small, but dedicated, fan-bases simply doesn't bring in enough cash. For whatever reason, the majority of the U.S. public isn't interested in sophisticated television. Instead, viewers are content to consume the crap that is reality television. Aaarrrggghhh! The very thought of another season of Bachelor, Bachelorette, Average Joe, or American Idol drives me nuts!

Anyway, here's a great piece about the end of Angel . . . and quality television.

Reality television is taking over, make no mistake, and it’s primarily because it’s so inexpensive. Point a camera at some exhibitionistic moron and let it run. No need for writers or story editors or effects people or even actors. And because people just keep watching and watching this stuff, the ad revenue keeps pouring in, and with a smaller production cost than even your most low-rent scripted show, the profit margin is immense. It makes sense. It sucks, but it makes sense.

The casualty is quality television, of course. Television that challenges and moves while it entertains, television that utilizes the medium’s inherent serial nature to really connect an audience with characters’ lives, television that goes beyond what television normally tries. Just look at Joss Whedon’s recent history: Buffy ended at seven seasons through a mutual agreement between Whedon and star Sarah Michelle Gellar, but his fledgling (and fantastic) Firefly was unceremoniously dumped after half a season, and Angel was hacked off at the knees during one of its most successful runs.