I began a new countdown today. Actually, to be honest, it began at 11 p.m. on May 20, 2001. By the time this issue hits, the premier of the fourth season of "The Sopranos" will be just about 158 hours away - but who's counting?
"Sopranos" fans have really waited a long time for a new episode to air. Creator David Chase has offered a few reasons as to why the hiatus has been so long: cast illnesses; the amount of time it takes to write, direct and edit each episode; a certain Soprano son getting arrested . but who's kidding who? For the first time ever, HBO is airing a new season of the show in September - right smack in the middle of what has traditionally been the month in which the broadcast networks debut their new shows. What Chase and HBO are doing is magnifying the fact that NOTHING else on TV right now - not even "ER" - can come close to the originality, directing, writing and acting that is a part of every episode about the North Jersey crime family.
The broadcast networks are in trouble. The networks' executives know they're in trouble. They would still be in trouble even if cable channels weren't producing much better shows. The quality of television (how's that for a contradiction?) seems to reach a new low with the debut of every new series (especially the ones on Fox). Any show that is a hit with audiences is sure to be copy-and-pasted on all of the networks with new titles, new 'talent' and more sex. It seems that every new show is the evolutionary next step of the following new genres:
A. A reality show featuring (exploiting) some outrageously uninteresting family (Original -"The Osbournes"),
B. A game show that is a cross between strip-poker and "Blade Runner" ("Fear Factor"),
C. Anything that was a big hit in Great Britain ("Who Wants to be a Millionaire"), or
D. A sit-com about some aloof (usually overweight) husband, his attractive wife, and their adorable kids who serve no purpose other than to give the real-life parents of said adorable kids something to push their children into ("Everybody Loves Raymond").
I'm not saying that the networks will never have a good show again. In fact, from what I hear, there were a few new shows last fall that were pretty original. I can't say I watched any of them, because I spent last fall watching cable. The broadcast networks don't appear to have found a magical fountain of originality.
From the promos I have seen so far, this year's new shows don't appear to be groundbreaking in any way. CBS is debuting a spin-off of its police-drama C.S.I., NBC is airing a show revolving around a morning news show (Murphy Brown, anyone?), and ABC has a new show that takes place in, of all places, a hospital. Let's just hope George Clooney isn't involved. And the creativity-drain may get worse before it gets better; CBS is producing a reality show based on the contemporary masterpiece "The Beverly Hillbillies" and a reality show based on "Green Acres" is also rumored to be in production. What's next? A reality show set in a high school based on "Saved by the Bell"?
HBO is the king of television right now, which is no small accomplishment for a station that only about a third of the country even subscribes to. "Six Feet Under," a drama following the lives of a family that owns a funeral home, received 23 Emmy nominations this year, paving the way for HBO to lead all networks with a total of 93 nominations. To put that in prospective, for HBO, a pay-cable network, to receive the most nominations is a little like UB being considered a great party school. It's just not supposed to happen. This is a network whose most creative show five years ago was nothing more than a bunch of cameras hidden in a taxicab.
According to everyone involved in the show, the fifth season of "The Sopranos" will probably be the last season. That is disappointing, but there is one thing keeping me optimistic about the long-term future of good television. As long as HBO is producing shows, I know I'll be interested. But, for now, I know exactly where I'll be on Sunday night: with Tony Soprano's version of the Cosa Nostra, counting down the minutes until the first fat guy wearing see-through socks is whacked.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
