Why You See What You See

Television is occasionally very creative but every time a really original idea comes along, the next season we'll see attempts at replicating that innovation.  As old-time radio comedian Fred Allen once said, "Television is the sincerest form of imitation."  Thus we have Law & Order which begat its Special Victims Unit and Criminal Intent spinoffs and CSI which begat its Miami and New York clones, and for that matter inspired another procedural,  NCIS (spun off from JAG) which this season is spinning off NCIS: Los Angeles, oh my. 

The derivatives continue: Without Lost's mega-mysterious island plotlines, we wouldn't have last year's Fringe or this season's Flash Forward, both of which deal with long-term story arcs resulting from and /or heading toward seeming catastrophes.  And that coveted young adult demographic even has a whole network dedicated to sex and angst, the CW, home of Gossip Girl, the revived 90210 and now, the re-launched Melrose Place.  And so as not to miss out on the vampire bandwagon, CW is also bringing us The Vampire Diaries.  It's all practically incestuous—but it's safer than being original.

It's difficult to launch and sustain support for such complex narratives so, networks lean heavily on no narratives at all. Thus we get more cheap to produce and easily cast reality programming like The Biggest Loser.  Or, in a move that may be either a famous or infamous milestone in network programming history, NBC gave up on attempting to compete with the other networks in successful 10pm dramas and is putting The Jay Leno Show in every weeknight because it's cheaper to do one old-fashioned variety show all week than five scripted conventional dramas.

These factors are some of the main shapers of what you will—or won't see on television.  But stay tuned.  We hope to bring your attention to programs that might be worth your attention as we review what's out there this year.

Alex Wainer, Ph.D. teaches media and film at Palm Beach Atlantic University.  He is a regular contributor to theFish.com.