The Evolution of Television

There's no denying that the quality of Television shows has increased dramatically over the past 10 years. We are entering the golden age of T.V. due to strides made by various companies. This isn't to say that all shows are improving, we are still overloaded with filler comedies and terribly acted dramas, but if you look through all the fluff you will be able to find quality work that is on par with some of the best films. We are at a moment in time where the line between television and film are starting to get blurred, and it is no longer necessary for audiences to go see a movie in order to find quality entertainment.

As many critics have said before, the show to start this revolution of quality t.v. was "The Sopranos." What I consider to be the best television show of all time has paved the way for any station to create premium programming. "The Sopranos" which ran on HBO from 1999-2007, gave movie quality episodes every time. The acting was phenomenal and the directing and production value was on par with modern day movies. The scope of the show exceeded any show that had come before it. HBO revolutionized the way people thought about t.v. shows, and they continued to do that by following up with shows such as "The Wire" and most recently the phenomenon "Game of Thrones."

However, HBO didn't remain the only place to see quality premium television. That's where AMC comes into play. AMC was the clear next step in this television revolution, by making it clear that audiences won't need to pay a subscription fee and own premium cable channels in order to get that type of quality. They started with "Mad Men" which from one episode you would think belonged on HBO or Showtime, and they just kept rolling by following up with my current favorite show "Breaking Bad," then again with "The Walking Dead." All three of these shows are excellent television series and provide the same thrills, excellent characters and emotion that one would go to movies to find. The best part is, the world apparently feels the same way. AMC took a huge risk when producing "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad." They didn't have subscription fees like HBO does, so when they put huge amounts of money into these shows, they risked losing a lot more money than HBO would have. But the risk payed off, AMC's premium shows are all some of the most popular shows on television, and now they had the rest of television's attention.

Movies and T.V. used to be almost completely separate entities, but now it is a common thing to hear about famous film directors creating and directing new television series. Even famous actors are starting to come on board, such as Sean Bean in "Game of Thrones, or John Malkovich who will be the lead on an upcoming pirate drama called "Crossbones." All of the major T.V. networks are jumping on board to create premium shows with varying degrees of success. NBC just recently started a controversial show about Hannibal Lector, and while the ratings for the show aren't all that great, it has been the subject of critical acclaim and I personally know how great it is. FX is another network that has found a lot of success in this area with shows like "The Americans" and to show this change isn't restricted to dramas, take a look at FX's "Wilfred" a fantastic comedy about a man in a dog costume.

Then next stage in this evolution of T.V. is clearly coming from Netflix, who made their mark in the television world with their hit show "House of Cards." The show, created by the hugely successful and talented film director David Fincher, stars Kevin Spacey (once again, another extremely famous film actor) as a corrupt politician. The crazy thing about this show though, is it isn't even on television! Netflix has been slowly breaking into the original programming with shows such as "Lillyhammer" and their new horror show "Hemlock Grove." The amount of viewers these shows have drawn is amazing and is created even more pressure on popular television networks. Just look at NBC's fall lineup for fall 2013. They picked up a series by film director Alfonso Cuaron and J.J. Abrams, another high profile series with Cuaron directing the first episode.

It is no longer rare for film talent to become involved in television and even make entertainment on television that is just as powerful as their film work. This trend only seems to be getting more and more popular and I hope it continues to do so.