Where Do We Go From Here?

Remember back when shows and cartoons like the Jetson's showed the world in the year 2000 and it was crazy futuristic, we have for decades been promised flying cars... well I am still driving a grounded piece of...truck. Anyway, who would have predicted that by the year 2007, a large chunk of television would be dedicated to watching other people live more exciting lives than ourselves?

Reality TV is a sign that the future of TV is increasingly unpredictable. In a time where there is a cable channel directed to nearly every viewer niche and shows continue to push the limits of what is acceptable on broadcast television, thanks to a virtually useless rating system (like a little M in the corner of the screen is going deter your kids from watching Jackass.), who knows what the future holds for TV programs.

The following scene from the 2006 Mike Judge film, Idiocracy explores this very question with it's view of TV programming in the year 2050:


There's only so much ground that sitcoms have yet to cover, when was the last time you saw a truly innovative TV show? Sure there are a few groundbreaking shows out there like BBC's The Office, or LOST, but isn't a show like the inexplicably popular Grey's Anatomy essentially just a sappier rehashing of ER?

If what is on the tube is a sign of the times, we are in trouble people. The Brady Bunch and Leave it to Beaver were a reflection of conservative 50's and 60's America and we watch those shows with a snicker at parents sleeping in separate beds and cheesy songs. But how will people react when looking back at the shows of our time seeing people eat pig anuses on Fear Factor or gruesome crime shows like CSI?

Another aspect to consider is the method in which TV will be delivered in the near future. Already TIVO and similar services are making it so that the standard TV format of "you will watch what we want you to when we want you to and suffer through the ads we want you to," is becoming obsolete. There are now several places on the internet where people can download or stream TV shows after they have aired. This type of file sharing is not being pursued as much as music or film copyright infringement because the networks aren't seeing much of an effect to their revenue given that advertisements are still how they make their money. Given that people can bypass these ads in various ways now, product placement will most surely become more prominent.
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The internet is also now starting to provide alternatives to TV programming with series of homemade or low-cost production pieces hosted on YouTube or similar sites. These types of programs can be distributed seamlessly to nearly anyone with access to a computer and the internet, and more importantly, are free. With more news being geared towards the multi-faceted arena of the internet, sitting down to watch the evening news broadcast just seems tedious.

I know this post is kind of all over the place and only poses more questions without answers, but I'm online, I have the TV on, have music playing through headphones and someone is playing XBOX in the other room. How am I supposed to concentrate? I'm a product of my environment, people. Deal with it.

*1 image is borrowed from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:American_Idol_judges.jpg and falls within the guidelines of Fair Use.