I am not sure even how interesting the article is. The author says he became a full time critic 2 years ago, and his photo at the bottom makes him look like that was maybe around the time he graduated from high school. The argument in the article itself screams the callowness of youth.
I wrote a post some months ago that argued that the most recent "Golden Age" in TV was 1999 - 2010. If that is even close, the complaint that it is now 2013 and we want another Golden Age already reeks of adolescent ADHD impatience - or perhaps just the ADHD spawned in those who only know a world in which they expect to get everything they want whenever they want it. I know 20-somethings who throw a tantrum if they can not stream live some trendy new content that premiered in Prague the day before at 2:30 in the morning eastern standard time. If a phrase like "Golden Age" means anything, it has to mean a level of excellence that is significantly greater that what came before or followed it. You can not really argue in any coherent way that any creative medium should be turning out "Golden Age" quality material every year - or that if more than 3 consecutive years go by that do not meet somebody's standards of "Golden Age" that the medium has failed. That is not only not an interesting argument, it is a silly argument. It is also silly to claim that Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead have turned television into a content-devouring machine that cares more about ratings than quality and is willing to use as much sex and violence as possible to get it. To anyone who was shaving before the turn of the century it is obvious that television has always been a content-devouring machine that cares more about ratings than quality, and it is even more obvious that GOT and WD are in the very top echelons of popular entertainment used by television to sell soap (or subscriptions). On Thu, Nov 7, 2013 at 10:05 AM, Tom Wolper <[email protected]> wrote: > On Thu, Nov 7, 2013 at 11:13 AM, Ron Casalotti <[email protected]>wrote: > >> *"It's good to be in something from the ground floor. I came too late for >> that and I know. But lately, I'm getting the feeling that I came in at the >> end. The best is over." - *Andy Greenwald via Tony Soprano >> >> Are we at the end of a TV era? Are landmark shows like the Sopranos, >> Homeland, Breaking Bad and the Walking Dead the last of their breed, >> relegating us to derivative versions of shows gone by? Interesting >> arguments for the affirmative. >> >> TV Eats Itself: Welcome to the end of the Golden >> Era<http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9933512/the-sopranos-walking-dead-end-tv-golden-age> >> > > It is an interesting article and certainly worth discussing. My first > observation is that Golden Ages flame out quickly and if that is what > happened in TV, it is no anomaly. As much as we would like to see this > wonderful creativity continue, it is just possible that another Golden Age > is not around the corner and we will have to satisfy ourselves with more > mediocre content that echoes the groundbreaking previous work. We can find > Golden Ages for all of our entertainment: movies, TV, rock music, Broadway, > newspaper comic strips, comic books, etc. The fact that there was a time > that the creativity welled up, under whatever circumstances, and then > flamed out does not mean that it is no longer worth our while to see a play > see what is on TV tonight. > > Greenwald notes that TV of the '00s followed Hollywood in the '70s: "In > both cases a combination of bravery and desperation led to the empowerment > of the sort of idiosyncratic hotheads the studios (and especially the > corporations behind the studios) would normally prefer to suppress or > avoid." I wonder if there are analogies to be made with other Golden Ages > like the Renaissance or classical music. > > Another point is that this Golden Age came when the TV model is going > through a huge disruption and what the influence of the disruption is on > the beginning of the age and on the end of it. And if disruption due to > technological change plays a role in past Golden Ages, like the printing > press on the Renaissance or the crafting of musical instruments on > classical music. > > -- > -- > TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "TV or Not TV" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. 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