The times, they have a-changed
I write a TV column for my school newspaper, and for the senior issue I'm doing a piece on how TV has changed since we were freshmen. There's general industry stuff, such as the WGA strike, the rise of DVR, and the HD switch (along with other acronyms), but a lot of it is going to be show-specific. When I started high school in August 2005, President David Palmer was still alive and no one had ever heard of Benjamin Linus.
This is where I need some help. I'm aware of a lot of shows, but don't watch all of them. If I've never seen an episode of NCIS, for example, it's going to be difficult to talk about how its changed in four years.
Here are my notes for the article. If anyone has any suggestions, or info for me about a show, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Lead
Tuesday, August 16, 2005: teens across the nation walk into high school for the first time. They struggle through crowded hallways like a salmon upstream, check and double check schedules and maps, and act warily towards the upperclassmen, fearful of teasing and wrong directions. After a long, strange day of school they go home and relax in front of the TV.
Notable network shows for that night were Boston Legal, NCIS, Law & Order: SVU, and Gilmore Girls.
Four years later, those awkward freshmen are now thriving seniors. They know the shortcuts and can navigate their school building like their own home, know every step of their schedule, and are at the top of the high school food chain. While they're too busy with college and scholarship applications to watch much TV, the world in the box continues without them. The Gilmore Girls said goodbye in 2007, and Boston Legal ended this past December with Alan and Denny getting married. Law & Order: SVU is still going strong, but faces some cast changes, and NCIS is as popular as ever.
The class of 2009 has changed and grown over their four years of high school, and the television world has done the same.
TV as a Culture
*Recording shows on DVRs and watching them on network websites were around in 2005, but are even more prevalent now. We also have iTunes and Hulu to watch our shows with, and illegal downloading has grown in popularity. Netflix, where you can rent hundreds of shows on DVD, is also more common. In 2005 we may have still had tape trading.
*WGA strike
*WB merges with UPN, becomes The CW
*HD and Digital
Comings and Goings
*In: Heroes, 30 Rock, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Mad Men, True Blood, Dexter, The Mentalist, Doctor Who revival, Bones, Supernatural,
*Out: Battlestar Galactica, Boston Legal, ER, Stargate SG1, Alias, The Sopranos, Arrested Development, The OC, The Shield, The Wire
*Celebrity Deaths?: When we're freshmen, The Bernie Mac show is still on. When we're seniors, the man is dead.
Changes in Major Shows
*Lost: At the start of our freshmen year, we'd never heard of Desmond, Ben, Juliet, or the Dharma Initiative. Being such prolific elements of the show now, it's hard to image they weren't always there.
*CSI
*Grey's Anatomy
*24: David Palmer's dead, the US has a female president, Chloe's a stay-at-home mom
*Desperate Housewives:
Misc.
Simpsons hit 20 years, and the 400 episode milestone, in addition to their feature film.
Continuations - X-Files and Firefly had movies, Arrested Development is probably getting one soon, Buffy has comic books
Where I see TV going in the next four years: (Comedic elements)
In the show's series finale, Dr. House wins the Nobel prize for medicine.
Friends Reunion Special!
The Office?
I like the idea of theorizing about where TV is going in four years. Where do see the characters of The Office in 2013?
This is where I need some help. I'm aware of a lot of shows, but don't watch all of them. If I've never seen an episode of NCIS, for example, it's going to be difficult to talk about how its changed in four years.
Here are my notes for the article. If anyone has any suggestions, or info for me about a show, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Lead
Tuesday, August 16, 2005: teens across the nation walk into high school for the first time. They struggle through crowded hallways like a salmon upstream, check and double check schedules and maps, and act warily towards the upperclassmen, fearful of teasing and wrong directions. After a long, strange day of school they go home and relax in front of the TV.
Notable network shows for that night were Boston Legal, NCIS, Law & Order: SVU, and Gilmore Girls.
Four years later, those awkward freshmen are now thriving seniors. They know the shortcuts and can navigate their school building like their own home, know every step of their schedule, and are at the top of the high school food chain. While they're too busy with college and scholarship applications to watch much TV, the world in the box continues without them. The Gilmore Girls said goodbye in 2007, and Boston Legal ended this past December with Alan and Denny getting married. Law & Order: SVU is still going strong, but faces some cast changes, and NCIS is as popular as ever.
The class of 2009 has changed and grown over their four years of high school, and the television world has done the same.
TV as a Culture
*Recording shows on DVRs and watching them on network websites were around in 2005, but are even more prevalent now. We also have iTunes and Hulu to watch our shows with, and illegal downloading has grown in popularity. Netflix, where you can rent hundreds of shows on DVD, is also more common. In 2005 we may have still had tape trading.
*WGA strike
*WB merges with UPN, becomes The CW
*HD and Digital
Comings and Goings
*In: Heroes, 30 Rock, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Mad Men, True Blood, Dexter, The Mentalist, Doctor Who revival, Bones, Supernatural,
*Out: Battlestar Galactica, Boston Legal, ER, Stargate SG1, Alias, The Sopranos, Arrested Development, The OC, The Shield, The Wire
*Celebrity Deaths?: When we're freshmen, The Bernie Mac show is still on. When we're seniors, the man is dead.
Changes in Major Shows
*Lost: At the start of our freshmen year, we'd never heard of Desmond, Ben, Juliet, or the Dharma Initiative. Being such prolific elements of the show now, it's hard to image they weren't always there.
*CSI
*Grey's Anatomy
*24: David Palmer's dead, the US has a female president, Chloe's a stay-at-home mom
*Desperate Housewives:
Misc.
Simpsons hit 20 years, and the 400 episode milestone, in addition to their feature film.
Continuations - X-Files and Firefly had movies, Arrested Development is probably getting one soon, Buffy has comic books
Where I see TV going in the next four years: (Comedic elements)
In the show's series finale, Dr. House wins the Nobel prize for medicine.
Friends Reunion Special!
The Office?
I like the idea of theorizing about where TV is going in four years. Where do see the characters of The Office in 2013?