So Called New Television Shows

My wife saw a commercial for a show that we had seen in the past and really liked, so she recorded it.  It stated that it was an all new series so we were excited about it.  What a disappointment we had when finally got to sit down and watch it.



This show in particular is being aired on DIY, it is called Frontier House.  The premise is that they are going to do an experiment with modern families by putting them in the life of the 1800's when all you needed to do was pay a small filing fee, stay on the land for 3 years, and it was yours.  At the end of the 5 months, a group of experts would determine which family had the best chance of survival in the harsh Montana winter.  Excellent concept to show how easy we have it in this day and age.  It is a great series if you have a chance to check it out!


So what's the problem?  We watched the "original" series on PBS back in either 1999 or 2000.  The problem is that back then it was a new series.  What is being aired now is not new, it is the original.  Nothing has changed except that they have taken something that was 25 minutes on PBS (no commercials) and made it into a 30 minute show with commercials, meaning 20 actual minutes.  What a real disappointment we had when we first started it and saw that we knew all of the people and how it ended.  I won't divulge that as I truly believe it is worth watching if you haven't seen it.  I can't believe that they are allowed to call it an all new series!


But this highlights the overall issue that there is with television and writers these days.  I may have talked about this before but it seems that all the writers can do is update the old shows and movies.  Where is the originality?  Go ahead, point out movies like the Avengers.  All I have to say is wake up!  The movie is based on a comic book series, there is very little originality for the writers of the screen play.  All they had to do was adapt the comic books to work for screen play.  The originality is in the comic book!


It seems that most producers want us to continue to be fascinated with one of three things: "reality" television, where the point is to become famous; highly predictable dramas and sitcoms; or remakes of old series.  Don't get me wrong, there are a few things out there but they are becoming fewer and farther bewteen.