Television Shows And How They Have Changed Over Time
Most things in pop culture change quite rapidly, including what is on TV. A decade or two ago prime time TV was scheduled with family sitcoms following the life of teenage boy dealing with stress of high school. Now the prime time programming is home to a Las Vegas Criminal Defense Lawyer, a team of attractive medical students, a criminal forensic scientist tormented by a past case, and a hardened New York Detective. Television shows focused on a likable, intelligent, and daring character in a fast-paced job or life, like the Las Vegas Criminal Defense Attorney type, have the most success lately and have almost completely erased the character of the teenage boy dealing with his first high school dance on prime time television.
An obvious change in television programming is the sudden explosion and obsession with reality television. Reality shows have become one of the main types of programming on TV. Reality TV consists of a wide variety of subject matters. There are shows are concerned with survival, finding true love, cooking, or day to day family life. People find enjoyment in watching what is presented as normal people in real situations and production companies have used this enjoyment for profit. Most viewers, however, are not aware that production companies make these programs seem a lot more real than they actually are.
Another change in TV programming is the number and variety of sports that are broadcast now. Because professional athletes are reaching celebrity statues lately, there has is more revenue in creating more programming surrounding sports. In the past, there might have been one football game on TV, now there are two afternoon games and a night game, and there are potentially two games on for each afternoon time slot. Furthermore, a football game on TV is no longer just the game. They have created pre-shows and post-shows for football games and of course elaborate half time programming.
The new trend of creating extra programming around a game seems to be mostly around football, other sports are also gracing the basic channels more often. Soccer, tennis, baseball, and basketball are all broadcasted during their respective seasons. If you start considering cable channels, the more obscure sports are being broadcast on the multitude of sports only channels available, like bowling, archery, and rugby. There are even channels dedicated solely to college level athletics.
Recently a trend in television programming is surrounding talk shows. Talk shows have been a pretty steady type of TV programming; however, what types of individuals host the shows has definitely varied over the years. As of late talk show hosts, either during the day or late night hosts, are being picked because of their already established name of some sort. Moreover, talk show hosts, like professional athletes, are being recognized as celebrities. They are being featured on red carpets and being paid increasingly high salaries.