Television has changed over the past 20 years. From reality television to reruns, we can see a clear difference in how television has progressed. There are many major changes that have taken place, but it is also the minor changes that you would have thought has been on television forever. You can notice these changes in the writing styles or just simply when you are flipping through the different channels. From how long the typical season is to how many channels we have. These changes reflect the viewers and will keep changing with time.
Reality Television
Reality television constructs most of what we watch on television. From Survivor to Top Chief, Jersey Shore to True Life, we can watch the interesting lives of regular people just like ourselves. Reality television is such a common occurrence that we tend to forget that it always wasn't there, and when they first started they were no where near the intensity or dramatic situations that they are today.
In 1988 the Writers Guild of America suffered their biggest strike. Nine thousand writers and television producers went on strike. As a result new shows and movies were not being made or shown. To act quickly the studio hired about two hundred smaller producers to fill in. Later they would go on to reject their ideas and needed to put something on air. The program COPS came out in the spring of 1989 and the viewing audience immediately took a liking to it. Soon after many other producers would follow this idea and begin to create their own reality show. The series Nummer 28 which was broad casted on Dutch television was the first reality show to put strangers in the same environment and record the outcome. This had a direct affect on television. Soon after The Real World would follow this example and become a hit television show. It wasn't until the late 1990's early 2000's that reality television became so popular and so in demand.
Television Seasons
We all can't wait for the season of our favorite show to come on. We know what month it starts right down to how many episodes there are going to be. Some shows go straight through the season while others are split into two half season. We have new shows come on all during the year. We have our winter shows and our summer shows, but it wasn't always set to this schedule.
T.V. scheduling used to be one set schedule a year. Every show would start new in September and run straight into June. The season would last for 32 episodes then go on break. July and August were then full of reruns to give the writers and producers time to get their next season on track. It wasn't until the early 2000's where producers began to only write 24 episodes for a single season. The idea came from Joel Surnow who was trying to follow the theme of his show 24. 24 was the first season to have constant 24 episode seasons. After that change to 24 episode seasons, seasons began in September but only ran up to May. It wasn't until the late 1990's that television shows were being shown in the summer. A typical summer season now has 13 episodes and get picked up again during the winter break for another 13 episodes. The seasons typically air when other shows are going on their summer and winter breaks and thus only 13 episodes.
24 Hour Stations
News stations like CNN, CNBC, ESPN have been around for a while. Its not new that these shows are popular. CNN has been around since 1980 so it's not new to people. What has changed in the past decade is the pop up of 24 hour news stations. There are now channels devoted to each station. ESPN has its own channel that covers sporting news 24 hours a day 7 days a week. These play a big factor in the change of television programming because this leads to stations being solely devoted to one genre. Before this you had certain times of the day to catch the weather and news. Now any time of day or night someone can turn on the television and watch the news or see what teams are playing.
The 24 hour news station leads other channels to devote themselves to one thing. MTV is one of the biggest known contenders for this. At one time MTV was dedicated to bringing new music and videos to the homes of millions of people. This is significant because it was a channel that was aimed at a certain targeted audience. Soon after other channels started following this same format. Now we have stations like BET aimed at an African American audience, LOGO aimed at the gay and lesbian community, and HGTV which is aimed at people who are interested in home and garden. We also have stations like Disney and Nickelodeon geared towards kids and HBO which has shows aimed at adults.
Amount of Channels
The Amount of channels has increased over the past two decades. In 1985 the average person was able to watch about 18 channels. Today the average person has the choice between over 90 channels. For some people it is even more. Some television packages can include over 1000 channels. The amount of television that we can watch is overwhelming in regards to twenty years ago. We now have channels devoted to everything, and not only one channel but dozens.
Its easy to say that television has changed over the past 20 years. We can look at how far we've come in the advancement of television. Twenty years ago HD was the big thing to have. Now we are looking at 3D televisions. Only time will tell what changes are in store for us, but I'm sure we are no where near the end of our advancement on television.
Facts About Television
The first interracial kiss appeared on Star Trek.
I Love Lucy was the first T.V. program to show reruns.
Billy Crystal played the first homosexual character on T.V.
Mary Kay and Johnny was the first show to show a married couple in the same bed.
Leave it to Beaver was the first show to show a toilet.
I Spy is the first television show to star a black actor as its starring role. (Bill Cosby)
M*A*S*H is the first show to show male nudity.
Saturday Night Live is the first show to utter the F word on network television.
