The Sun Always Shines on TV

OK, the new TV season started this week, which means I have to allocated more time to staring at another screen. Now I know that television is mind-numbing, soul-sucking vortex. It is a ubiquitous form of entertainment for stupid people: it caters to the daft, unintellectual, and mediocre types. It allows people to be passive and avoid the effort required for inter-active entertainment and therefore tells people what to think as a convenience so they don't have to think for themselves. I'm always surprised by how many people say they don't watch TV on their Myspace profiles. Either they simply don't have time (or haven't learned how to timeshift) or TV's prominence is beginning to diminish. If its the latter, than either people are really too embarrassed to admit that they watch it, signaling an image problem for television, or new mediums have overtaken it. Nevertheless, I think it is a great medium for somewhat artistic entertainment. I find that when people ask me what movies I've seen recently, I don't have much to answer, but I seem to know more about many recent tv shows. Almost all of my DVD purchases are music or TV, and much of my Netflix queue is similar. Film is artistically superior, and I think one of the greatest art forms, so why is this the case?

First, I think the quality of films has fallen faster than TV, certainly in the mainstream. At least is hasn't increased, where TV has. It seems the great independent film making days of the 90s has lost momentum. Its possible that such films just don't get the publicity like they used to, similar to the music industry, and I should probably research more, or at least get more Henry Rollins reviews. Like music, time is an issue here. I would rather spend the time experiencing the work, than trying to search for it.

One more aspect is the introduction of HD. I'll pretty much watch anything that's in HD, maybe even a few seconds of sports. As for films in HD, it would take a substantial investment in equipment, and I wont even get into the format wars.

It seems the Sopranos set a new standard in TV quality. Premium channels have been putting out some good material such as Entourage, Californication and my new favorite comedy Flight of the Conchords.

So, onto this season. My returning favorites are Numb3rs, Lost, Jericho for the dramas and of course How I Met Your Mother, The Office, and Scrubs for comedies, along with Two and a Half Men and Rules of Engagement. The Big Bang Theory seems to have the most potential for this year's comedy achievement, and I'll give Reaper a try, although I'm not hopeful. In the drama category, the only new candidate for me is Journeyman.

As for the sun shinning on TV, it is symbolic of American optimism, or at least repression, where the darkness stays hidden, but it ever-present. Nothing represented that more than Miami Vice, but more on that later.