I sat back on Sunday night and watched "Modern Family" dominate the first third of the Emmys. I don't see a single show on the new fall schedule that makes me think "oh yeah, that's gonna be worth watching." I see a ridiculous number of posts on "The Bachelor" and "Dancing with the Stars" and "America's Got Talent" on my Facebook feed. It all makes me wonder if the current state of television is becoming more and more a statement on who and what we are as a society.
If you've ever brought up "American Idol" around me, you've more than likely heard me launch into a rant about how it's singlehandedly responsible for the degradation of our society. I'm half kidding, but seriously, I feel like the mindless crap that dominates network TV these days is at least partially responsible for the dumbing down of our society.
A simple search of the Googles will tell you that 18.6 million people tuned in for the season premiere of Dancing with the Stars last night. That number probably would've been higher, but 27.7 million people were watching Ashton Kutcher (yeah, the Punk'd guy) make his debut on Two and a Half Men. 27.7 freaking million people. By comparison, an absolutely brilliant episode of Breaking Bad aired on AMC on Sunday night. It drew 1.8 million viewers. Are you kidding me? 10 times as many people tuned in to watch Chaz Bono prance around than watched the best show on television? To quote Ron Burgandy: "I'm not even mad. That's amazing."
Critics and intelligent people the world over agree that shows like Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, and predecessors like The Sopranos and The Wire absolutely blow the crap that they're currently spewing on network TV out of the water. I understand that not everybody has cable, but that's no excuse to have only 1.8 million people tuning in to watch a masterfully written, directed, and acted television show on a Sunday night. I understand that people want to sit down in front of the TV and completely zone out. They want to watch a show that doesn't require you to think, or even pay attention, really. They want to hear people sing, or watch them dance, and then have someone tell them "hey, that guy really sucked at singing/dancing!"
Yeah, Modern Family has its moments. I watch it every week, and it makes me laugh at times. But it's really comedy that panders to the lowest common denominator. Watching Modern Family win Emmy after Emmy was explanation enough why shows like Arrested Development fail. Anybody can sit down and laugh at Modern Family without thinking too much. Shows like Community and 30 Rock require you to actually think, and it's why they get almost cancelled every year.
I guess my point in all of this is that people, by and large, are lazy. It's a chicken and egg kind of thing. Did people get dumb and lazy because of TV? Or did TV get dumb and lazy because that's how people have gotten? At any rate, it's very frustrating. Listen, I have my guilty pleasure shows just like everybody else. I enjoy a good episode of The Challenge as much as the next 17 year old. I just wish people would keep them at just that - guilty pleasure shows. Instead, you get shows like The Bachelor drawing 30 million viewers, while quality, well-written shows (Chicago Code, anyone?) get canned. The shows that should be guilty pleasures are what people are basing their weeks around, and that's just wrong.
I can only say "the crap that's on network TV right now is garbage" so many different ways. I just wish people would take the time and effort to appreciate good television shows as much as they appreciate the terrible reality and poorly written shows that they watch. I feel it's my civic duty to implore you to watch Breaking Bad, or Mad Men, or Justified, or Boardwalk Empire, or Parks and Recreation. Yeah, you may have to get some blood pumping to the brain in order to do so, but you, and society, will thank me.
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