Golden Age of Television (2000s–present)
In the United States, the current Golden Age of Television has been a period widely regarded as being marked by a large number of "high quality", internationally acclaimed television programs.[1][2][3][4] Various sources have identified the beginning of this period as the early 1980s,[5] the late 1980s-early 1990s,[6] the mid-to-late 1990s,[7][8] or the early 2000s.[9] It is believed to have resulted from advances in media distribution technology,[10][11] digital TV technology (including HDTV, online video platforms, TV streaming, video-on-demand, and web TV),[12][10] and a large increase in the number of hours of available television, which has prompted a major wave of content creation.[13]
Its name refers to the original Golden Age of Television which occurred in the 1950s. It has also been referred to as the "New", "Second" or "Third Golden Age of Television" ("third" being used when a period in the early 1980s is considered a separate second Golden Age).[10][14][15][16][11][17] The era has also been called Peak TV.
History
French scholar Alexis Pichard has argued that TV series enjoyed a Second Golden Age[18] starting in the 2000s which was a combination of three elements: first, an improvement in both visual aesthetics and storytelling; second, an overall homogeneity between cable series and networks series; and third, a tremendous popular success. Pichard contends that this Second Golden Age was the result of a revolution initiated by the traditional networks in the 1980s and carried on by the cable channels (especially HBO) in the 1990s.[19] Film director Francis Ford Coppola thinks that the second golden age of television comes from "kids" with their "little father's camcorder", who wanted to make films like he did in the 1970s but were not permitted to, so they did it for television.[20]
Shows such as The Sopranos, The West Wing (which both first aired in 1999), Six Feet Under (2001), The Wire (2002), Lost (2004), Deadwood (2004),[21] Mad Men (2007), Breaking Bad (2008), Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997) and Game of Thrones (2011) are generally considered the basis of the so-called Golden Age of Television (i.e. the new creator-driven tragic dramas of the 2000s and 2010s).[17][22][23] The Writer's Guild of America vote for 101 Best Written TV Shows includes a complete foundation of the current Golden Age of Television.[24]
Origins
The golden age of television is believed to have resulted from advances in media distribution technology,[10][11] digital TV technology (including HDTV, online video platforms, TV streaming, video-on-demand, and web TV),[12][10] and a large increase in the number of hours of available television, which has prompted a major wave of content creation.[13]
Stephanie Zacharek of The Village Voice has argued that the current golden age began earlier with network shows like Babylon 5 and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (both of which premiered in 1993), and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997).[7] Will Gompertz of the BBC believes that Friends, which debuted in 1994, might stake a claim as the opening bookend show of the period.[8] Matt Zoller Seitz argues that it began in the 1980s with Hill Street Blues (1981) and St. Elsewhere (1982).[25] Kirk Hamilton of Kotaku has said that Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005) should be considered a part of the golden age of television, and recommended "the sophisticated kids show" to others.[26] With the rise of instant access to content on Netflix, creator-driven television shows like Breaking Bad, The Shield (2002), Friday Night Lights (2006) and Mad Men gained cult followings that grew to become widely popular. The success of instant access to television shows was presaged by the popularity of DVDs, and continues to increase with the rise of digital platforms and online companies.
The increase in the number of shows is also cited as evidence of a Golden Age, or peak TV. In the five years between 2011 and 2016, the number of scripted television shows, on broadcast, cable and digital platforms increased by 71%. In 2002, 182 television shows aired, while 2016 had 455 original scripted television shows and 495 in 2018. The number of shows are rising largely due to companies like Netflix, Amazon Video and Hulu investing heavily in original content. The number of shows aired by online service increased from only one in 2009 to over 93 in 2016. John Landgraf, the CEO of FX Networks, has stated that the amount of television series being aired during peak TV could be overwhelming for the viewer to choose from, especially for critics obligated to review as many shows as possible, which results in a decreased output of television series in the future.[27][28][29][30][31][32] An increasing reliance on rebooting and reviving existing franchises led to widespread belief that the Golden Age of Television was ending in the late 2010s,[33] with the caveat that some of these reboots (such as Girl Meets World[34] and One Day at a Time[35][36]) share the positive reception and mature character development of original shows of the era.
Characteristics and criticism
Characteristics of this golden age are complicated characters who may be morally ambiguous or antiheroes, questionable behavior, complex plots, diverse perspectives and often forays into R-rated territory.[37][38][39]
Genres of television associated with this golden age include dramas (especially ones originating on cable and digital platforms); sitcoms (especially ones that use comedy-drama which some critics would called them "sadcoms"),[40] single-camera setup, or adult animation; sketch comedy (especially series linked to alternative comedy); and late-night talk shows (especially ones that emphasize news satire).
The era is not without criticism as the quantity of original shows being produced have some, like FX CEO John Landgraf,[41] worried about overwhelming the viewing audience.[42]
List of selected important and notable figures
List of selected important and notable outlets
Cable/satellite channels
List of selected important and notable shows
- 13 Reasons Why[75]
- 24[79]
- 30 Rock[79]
- Action[6]
- Adventure Time[90]
- Ally McBeal[6]
- Altered Carbon[48]
- American Crime Story[79]
- American Gods[50]
- American Horror Story[79][93]
- American Idol[6]
- Angel[6]
- Aqua Teen Hunger Force[95]
- Arrested Development[49]
- Atlanta[47]
- Avatar: The Last Airbender[90]
- Babylon 5[7]
- Bakersfield P.D.[6]
- Barry[96]
- Battlestar Galactica[49]
- Becker[6]
- Better Call Saul[97]
- Better Things[5]
- Big Little Lies[97]
- Big Mouth[95]
- Black-ish[5]
- Black Mirror[48]
- Boardwalk Empire[49]
- Bob's Burgers[95]
- BoJack Horseman[68][98]
- Breaking Bad[67]
- Broadchurch[82]
- Brockmire[99]
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine[100]
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer[84]
- Burn Notice[84]
- Call the Midwife[101]
- Castlevania[102]
- Channel Zero[48]
- Chappelle's Show[46]
- Chernobyl[103]
- Chicago Hope[104]
- Chilling Adventures of Sabrina[79]
- Clone High[95]
- Cobra Kai[105]
- Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee[106][107]
- Community[68]
- Counterpart[48]
- Crazy Ex-Girlfriend[5]
- Curb Your Enthusiasm[79]
- Damages[108]
- Damnation[109]
- Dancing with the Stars[110]
- Dark[48]
- Deadwood[84][82]
- Degrassi:The Next Generation[111]
- Dear White People[112]
- Desperate Housewives[84]
- Dexter[67]
- Doctor Who[82]
- Documentary Now[55]
- Downton Abbey[79]
- Electric Dreams (2017)[48]
- Episodes[93]
- Exit 57[6]
- Extras[84]
- Family Guy[52]
- Fargo[97]
- Firefly[113]
- Fleabag[103]
- Flight of the Conchords[5]
- Frank's Place[5]
- Freaks and Geeks[79]
- Fresh Off the Boat[5]
- Friday Night Lights[79]
- Fringe[114]
- Futurama[52]
- Game of Thrones[100]
- Get Shorty
- Gilmore Girls[84]
- Girls[79]
- Glee[84]
- Glow[84]
- Gravity Falls[90]
- Grey's Anatomy[84]
- Halt and Catch Fire[115]
- Hannibal[48]
- Happy![72]
- Happy Endings[68]
- Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law[95]
- Heroes[116]
- Homeland[67]
- Home Movies[6]
- Homicide: Life on the Street[104]
- House[117]
- House of Cards[67]
- It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia[68]
- Jane the Virgin[118]
- Jimmy Kimmel Live![70]
- Killing Eve[119]
- Last Tango in Halifax[82]
- Lost[49]
- Louie[79]
- Luther[82]
- Mad Men[67]
- Merlin[82]
- Modern Family[47]
- Mozart in the Jungle[94]
- Mr Selfridge[82]
- Mr. Robot[120]
- Murder One[6]
- My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic[43]
- Narcos[121]
- Nashville [112]
- Nip/Tuck[84]
- Nothing Sacred[6]
- Now and Again[6]
- Nurse Jackie[84]
- Orange Is the New Black[94]
- Once Upon a Time[79]
- Outlander[48]
- Over the Garden Wall[95]
- Oz[79]
- Ozark[79]
- Parks and Recreation[84]
- Party Down[84]
- Popular[6]
- Prime Suspect[6]
- Prison Break[122]
- Pushing Daisies[48]
- Relativity[6]
- Rick and Morty[123]
- Robot Chicken[95]
- Roc[6]
- Scandal[124]
- Schitt's Creek[125]
- Scrubs[126]
- Sense8[48]
- Sex and the City[79]
- Shameless (UK) & Shameless (US)[93]
- Shark Tank[127]
- Sherlock[82]
- Silicon Valley[93]
- Six Feet Under[49]
- Smash[128][129]
- Sons of Anarchy[130]
- Southland[131]
- Spongebob SquarePants[90]
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine[7]
- Star Trek: Discovery[48]
- Star Wars: Clone Wars[95]
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars[95]
- Steven Universe[90]
- Stranger Things[100]
- Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip[68]
- Succession[132]
- Supernatural[79]
- Survivor[127]
- The Amazing Race[127]
- The Americans[130]
- The Apprentice[110]
- The Bachelor[127]
- The Boondocks[95]
- The Carmichael Show[5]
- The Closer[84]
- The Colbert Report[79]
- The Crown[133]
- The Daily Show with Jon Stewart[79]
- The Expanse[48]
- The Good Place[134]
- The Good Wife[135]
- The Handmaid's Tale[136]
- The Knick[5]
- The Kominsky Method[137]
- The Late Late Show with James Corden[70]
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert[70]
- The Leftovers[138]
- The Legend of Korra[90]
- The Magicians[48]
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel[139]
- The Musketeers[82]
- The Newsroom[93]
- The Office (UK) & The Office (US)[79]
- The Orville[140]
- The Paradise[82]
- The Practice[6]
- The Romanoffs[48]
- The Shield[84]
- The Sopranos[67][141]
- The Thick of It[142][143]
- The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon[70]
- The Venture Bros[52]
- The Voice[110]
- The Walking Dead[130]
- The West Wing[79]
- The Wire[67][144]
- Transparent[79]
- True Blood[116]
- Ugly Betty[145]
- Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt[68]
- Veep[79]
- Veronica Mars[84]
- Vinyl[146]
- Watchmen[147]
- Weeds[148]
- Westworld[100]
- Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?[6]
- Will & Grace[6]
- Yellowstone[88]
- You're the Worst[5]
Past shows associated with the second Golden Age of Television
See also
- Anime
- Korean drama
- Turkish television drama
- New Hollywood
- Golden Age of Television (1950s–60s)
- Telenovela
- Adult animation
- Quality television
- Hate-watching
- Binge watching
References
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My former Variety colleague Michael Schneider, executive editor of IndieWire, captured perfectly the jaded response many had to last month’s reboot news: “Anyone else getting the sense that broadcast TV is embarking on its Farewell Tour by playing all the hits one last time?” he tweeted.
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- Seth Green|Television Academy
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- 'Documentary Now!': Bill and Fred and Seth's Excellent Adventure-NBC Southern California
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- Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele Are Ending “Key & Peele” After This Season-Comedy Bureau
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- There's Nothing on TV Quite Like Yellowstone, but That Will Change|TV Guide
- Watch: House Style in the Golden Age of Comedy Central-Indiewire
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- ‘Schitt's Creek’ Renewed for a Sixth and Final Season - Variety
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- Television Academy
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