I just caught up on some reading. Checked out Scott Berg’s blog where he made some media predictions for 2008. (Scott is the Worldwide Media Director for HP.) There were some interesting notes in there that play into some feelings I’ve been having about the unhealthy drive to find the bigger, better form of advertising (i.e. mobile marketing). But I just spent all day working and have at least two more hours ahead of me as we prepare for two days of focus groups. So, that being said, let me talk about something really important that Berg mentions – the writer’s strike.
He feels it will be over soon; I’m not so sure. Every day more and more reality shows are being introduced to compensate for no more new shows. In fact, ABC will announce a completely new line-up for January. This is horrible; as much as I love New York, I need some real TV back. And I’m not even a fan of a lot that’s on right now. Beyond ‘The Office’, ‘Grey’s’ and ’24′ I don’t care about much else. However, we can’t be forcefed reality show TV all the time. I can’t have the lines blurred between real life and TV life.
That being said, I have a suggestion. Instead of rolling out more reality TV, dig into the vault and roll out the shows that helped you make your mark. Give us timewarp weeks until the strike is over. Here’s how I’m thinking this would work: each week the network picks a year and shows what would have been on TV in that year. They could run promos around some of the more famous nights. Here’s three that I think would be really good:
CBS Saturday, 1973: All in the Family, MASH, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, The Carol Burnett Show
ABC Tuesday, 1978: Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Three’s Company, Taxi, Starsky and Hutch
NBC Thursday, 1984 – 86: Cosby, Family Ties, Cheers, Night Court, Hill Street Blues
I would do this with the understanding that we would be subject to TGIF again, but I would like to vote for early TGIF. You know, with Perfect Strangers? Maybe dust off some episodes of Mr. Belvedere? We need more Christopher Hewitt in prime time. I would even watch the terrible shows, like My Two Dads and Blossom. Anything to avoid shows like Clash of the Choirs.
*Line-ups courtesy of TVSquad.com
I was enjoying this post until you suggested Perfect Strangers. That is one of the worst shows ever! Aside from that, I think this is a great idea. I would love to watch old Night Court and Family Ties episodes. And how about Wings? That was another classic.