I think it boils down to a few things: production values, luck and educated America growing tired of the same old crap.
The brass at HBO definitely knows how to spend a buck, but it's like any other business, they must be very lucky in that they have a core group of intelligent decisions makers who were smart enough to pick up the right shows at the right time from the likes of Dave Chase, the Sex and the City Woman, etc. I mean, The Sopranos wasn't a new idea by any stretch of the word, but the production values are through the roof. Carnivale and Deadwood are both way off kilter from mainstream TV, but after growing up watching Alf and Family Ties on the boob tube, I know I've been searching for something different. My generation with "that internet thing" is going to need a lot better entertainment on our hi-def TVs if you want our money. And right now, HBO has it. (HBO and Cartoon Network, of course.) Tyler On Sun, 6 Mar 2005 23:09:21 -0500, David Churvis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I think that HBO (and some of the networks to some extent) are realizing > that in order to get quality television, you actually have to spend money. > > But then, they also seem to realize that great TV doesn't necessarily mean > great ratings :( > > Dave > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Jim Davis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "CF-Community" <[email protected]> > Sent: Sunday, March 06, 2005 10:26 PM > Subject: Is TV Getting Better? > > > I don't know - it just seems like TV is actually getting better (at least > > parts of it). > > > > We just watched the season premier of "Deadwood" - which was so very ,very > > good. Now I'm watching "Carnivale" which has been unbelievably good as > > well. > > > > Then I got to thinking "How come HBO/Showtime series - pretty much every > one > > of them - are SO good? Why can't the networks get it?" "Deadwood", > > "Carnivale", "Six Feet Under", "Huff", etc. They're all really excellent > > despite the fact that they cross genres completely - it just seems like > > whatever subject they try, they succeed in. > > > > Then I got to thinking - at least this year the networks (at least some of > > them) DO seem to be getting it. Shows like "Desperate Housewives" and > > "Lost" are really good. Even some of the tsunami of crime dramas > > ("Numbers", "CSI", etc) are really actually good. "Battlestar Galactica" > > has been surprisingly good. > > > > Even some of the older shows seem to be getting better. The last bunch of > > episodes of "Stargate SG-1" have been some of the best of the show's eight > > year run. "Monk" is another one that's never been better. "Arrested > > Development" is still just as good as always. > > > > I know that we're still glutted with bullshit reality, hackneyed sitcoms, > > derivative knock offs and general crap. But this is the first time in a > > really long time that I actually feel like there's simply too much really > > good stuff on. > > > > Jim Davis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Find out how CFTicket can increase your company's customer support efficiency by 100% http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=49 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:149347 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
