Golden Age of Television (2000s–present)

The Golden Age of Television (2000s–present) is a period marked by the production of a large number of internationally acclaimed television programs in the United States.[1][2][3][4] The period began in the late 1990s[5] or early 2000s.[6] It resulted from advances in technologies of media distribution,[7][8] as well as a large increase in the number of hours of available television, which prompted a major wave of content creation.[9]

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 second Golden Age).[7][10][11][12][8][13]

History

French scholar Alex Pichard has argued that TV series enjoyed a Second Golden Age 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. Alexis 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.[14]

Television shows thought to have contributed to the rise of the new golden age of television include the influential HBO shows Oz, The Sopranos and The Wire.[3] With the rise of instant access to content on Netflix, television shows like Breaking Bad, Friday Night Lights, Mad Men, and The Shield gained cult followings that grew to become wide popularity.

Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Veronica Mars, 24, Mad Men, The Shield, The Sopranos, Lost and The Wire 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.[13][15][16] The Writer's Guild of America vote for 101 Best Written TV Shows includes a complete foundation of the current Golden Age of Television. [17] Some have argued that it began earlier with network shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine & Babylon 5.[5]

Recent years have seen a dramatic rise in the number of original scripted television shows; in 2015 alone, more than four hundred scripted TV series aired in the United States, an increase from 2014 which saw 376 air during the year. The number of shows are also rising exponentially due to Internet companies like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu investing heavily in original content. John Landgraf, the CEO of FX Networks, has stated that the United States has reached "peak television", where the amount of television series being aired 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.[18][19][20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Leopold, Todd. "The new, new TV golden age". CNN. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  2. ↑ Plunkett, John; Deans, Jason. "Kevin Spacey: television has entered a new golden age". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  3. 1 2 McGinty, Stephen. "A golden age of television?". The Scotsman. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  4. ↑ McIntosh, Farquar. "ITV share price: Broadcaster calls for retransmission payments". Invezz. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  5. 1 2 Zacharek, Stephanie. "Why Avengers: Age of Ultron Fills this Buffy Fan with Despair." The Village Voice. 2015.
  6. ↑ VanDerWerff, Todd. "The golden age of TV is dead; long live the golden age of TV". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  7. 1 2 Carr, David. "Barely Keeping Up in TV's New Golden Age". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  8. 1 2 Cowan, Lee. "Welcome to TV's second "Golden Age"". CBS. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  9. ↑ Simon, Jeff (March 31, 2015). "Who put these shows on the air and why?". The Buffalo News. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  10. ↑ "The CB Guide to the New Golden Age of Television". Canadian Business. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  11. ↑ Weisenthal, Joe; Robinson, Melia. "16 Things You Never Knew About The New Golden Age Of TV". Business Insider. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  12. ↑ Pichard, Alexis. Le nouvel âge d'or des séries américaines. Editions Le Manuscrit.
  13. 1 2 Reese, Hope. "Why Is the Golden Age of TV So Dark?". The Atlantic. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  14. ↑ Pichard, 2011, p.11
  15. ↑ Kakutani, Michiko (24 June 2013). "Brett Martin's 'Difficult Men' Sees a New Golden Age for TV". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  16. ↑ Plunkett, John; Deans, Jason (22 August 2013). "Kevin Spacey: television has entered a new golden age". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  17. ↑ "101 Best Written TV Series List". wga.org. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  18. ↑ Sepinwall, Alan (18 August 2015). "'Peak TV in America': Is there really too much good scripted television?". HitFix. HitFix, Inc. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  19. ↑ James, Meg (16 December 2015). "2015: Year of 'peak TV' hits record with 409 original series". LA Times. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  20. ↑ Littleton, Cynthia (16 December 2015). "Peak TV: Surge From Streaming Services, Cable Pushes 2015 Scripted Series Tally to 409". Variety. Variety Media, LLC. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
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