Are we now "Post Peak TV?"

Outside of "Succession" I can't think of many shows on network, cable or streamers that would stand up next to The Sopranos, Justified, The Wire, Billions, Homeland, The Shield, The Americans, The Crown or Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul. With all of them gone or entering their final season or two - are we now in a "Post-Peak" era?
I ask this because I read on a TV website that the cable channels like USA, AMC, FX and USA have drastically cut back on their original non-reality content (Covid-19 aside) since they have a hard time competing with streamers. And I find most of the originals that streamers are putting out to be half-baked efforts that could have used more development time.

 

I mean, Covid is a pretty big disruption, but one side effect of it is that apparently, the networks are funneling a crap ton of money into writers' rooms and development right now. It wouldn't surprise me if six months after people return to sets, when we get that first wave of completely new shows, if they're the start of a new golden era.

As far as the "end" of this current generation, it's a pretty subjective thing to me. I think the *average* TV show has gotten a lot better, which people tend to overlook. Like, "The Goldbergs" spinoff "Schooled" got axed after two years, but I'd argue that was better than something like "The Single Guy" or "Caroline in the City," to kind of pull random "average" sitcoms that I remember from the 1990s. And now, there is just so much average to above average TV, that might elevate itself to great, if it hits your sweet spot.

 

• just look at the Emmys from last year though. A lot of room for new nominees.
• Fleabag (Prime Video) - done
• Barry (HBO) - ongoing
• • The Good Place (NBC) - done
  • The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video) - ongoing
  • Russian Doll (Netflix) - season 2 pending
  • Schitt's Creek (Pop TV) - done
  • Veep (HBO) - done

• Game of Thrones (HBO) done
  • Better Call Saul (AMC) one more season
  • Bodyguard (Netflix) done
  • Killing Eve (BBC America) - ongoing
  • Ozark (Netflix) one more season
  • Pose (FX) - season 3 pending
  • Succession (HBO) - ongoing
  • This Is Us (NBC) - ongoing

 

The launch of NBC’s Peacock is just the latest example of the shift away from affiliate stations to a more direct-to-viewer model. The role of traditional television will continue to diminish and local advertising revenue will disappear and local stations will go off the air.

“TV” will become whatever delivery system proves to be a viable business model. I think that demand for serial-episode shows will persist, but I have no clue whether those shows will be expensive, high-quality productions, cheap and quick fill-the-screens or a combination. I think that much will depend on what viewers will pay for, either directly or through a whole new ad revenue system.

 

Netflix kind of has all of it - Stuff like "Ozark" shows up on my home screen, along with "The Floor is Lava" and "The British Baking Show," as if its trying to account for what kind of mood I might be in. I think there are going to always be people hopping from platform to platform though, depending on what good show has come out. Like if you look at the traditional broadcast networks, they've all held the ratings crown at one point or another.

Netflix is so huge and so cheap, maybe nobody ever overtakes them, but Hulu, HBO, Disney Plus and Peacock all seem like they have enough of a back catalog and inherent value to stay in the game for a while. One plus to all of these services starting back up - It's kind of great to be able to watch shows that had been lost to time. Like I've had Peacock for a couple months because we're Xfinity subscribers, and watching the very first "Forensic Files" episodes are crazy. I have no idea what the ownership issue is with the various late night shows, but I'd love to see some old Letterman and Carson shows on there too. (Carson is probably a non-starter because they've been hawking them on infomercials for years, but maybe NBC still has the rights to Letterman, or heck, "Later" with Costas.)

 

Only need the Marilu Henner episode of Costas.

 

Not past peak if they do this right.

 

Literally?

 

The local stations can do just fine without the networks.

 

I think they do (or did) show old Carson reruns on MeTV or one of those similar stations.

 

A couple of years ago they were. I watched an episode and it was jarring to hear Johnny joke about Abscam in his monologue. I mean really, Abscam? How far down the memory hole did that fall?

 

And just to be clear when I refer to "Peak TV" I'm not talking about volume, but quality. One of the things that struck me during the lockdown was how many shows from five to 10 years ago that were recommended, everything from Halt and Catch Fire, Damages, Friday Night Lights, Rubicon...that were very much "under the radar" but would be top shelf today.

There is stuff from 2005-2015 that is miles ahead of what we're seeing these days. When cable channels were doing their best to justify staying on a tier by producing original programming.