TV wins the decade

The aughts have been kind to television.

When we look back three or four decades from now, I think this will be thought of as the best run in the medium’s history. Every single one of our top 10 and many of our top 20 would be found on any “best of all time” lists.

This was the time that television became “legitimized,” as it moved away from the passive, mind-wasting “idiot box” to a place where skilled storytellers could craft compelling and fulfilling arcs that rival (and many times surpass) anything seen on film. Thanks to a number of industrial and cultural changes, television became legen ... wait for it ... dary.

As the mainstream film industry became more obsessed with first-weekend box office figures, rolled over midsize releases, continued to emphasize big-budget visuals over story and became more expensive for audiences, television was there waiting with story and character.

Throw in the migration of big-name producers and minds to television, the emergence of scripted cable programming – and not just on HBO, Showtime, AMC, TNT and USA – and the numerous ways we can now watch – TV on DVD, OnDemand, etc. – that allow people to catch up whenever they want, and here we are.

Television has reached a whole new plateau of quality.

While I am clearly biased, it seems there are more seminal, important television programs this decade than mainstream films. There are certainly more memorable films, but that’s because of the way the individual industries operate.

But again, when we look back at this decade in the future, I think the general public will feel more connected to “The Sopranos,” “Lost,” “Mad Men,” “The West Wing,” “The Wire” and even “24,” “The Office” and “30 Rock” than the likes of “The Dark Knight,” “Lord of the Rings,” “Almost Famous” or “Wall-E.”

Again, I’m blinded by the tube, but at the least, the best television programs of the decade mean more to the medium as a whole than the best films do to that medium.
While television moved toward narrative complexity and more artistic freedom, mainstream film was worried about how to blow something up in a new way.

And that’s why television wins the decade.