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Shock proof
Minneapolis Star Tribune - December 3, 1999
By Neal Justin
This was supposed to be the year we'd be at the edge of our sofas. Pressured by their more explicit cable cousins
and eager to cater to restless youth, TV networks were lacing up for a walk on the wild side, launching irreverent
cartoons, sitcoms starring potty-mouthed movie execs and dramas about sex-starved teens.
Turns out viewers wanted something even more radical. They wanted "The Waltons." The surprise of the year
- aside from Regis fever - is that wholesome TV is hot. "Providence" (7 p.m. today, Ch. 11), about a
big-city doctor who moves back to her hometown to perform good deeds and help her veterinarian dad take care of sick
puppies, made its debut to little fanfare early this year, but quickly emerged as NBC's biggest hit drama since
"ER."
Then there's "Judging Amy," a fall drama about a small-town juvenile judge who moves in with Mom. CBS had
ordered the series at the last minute, but by late October the show was averaging 15.5 million viewers a week and
was the highest-rated new drama on television. The female-centered "Family Law," the grown-up romance
"Once and Again" and the political soap "West Wing" also have succeeded without the benefit of
gunplay, massive bleeding or soft porn.
Meanwhile, the would-be hits have been shot down - much to the chagrin of the Fox network. Almost all of its
envelope-pushing new shows have been shredded. "Family Guy," the naughty cartoon that made "The
Simpsons" look like Ma and Pa Ingalls, was canceled, as were the sci-fi thriller "Harsh Realm" and
the teen-cop drama "Ryan Caulfield: Year One." Despite critical acclaim and movie-star cameos,
"Action," the bleeped sitcom about an obnoxious film producer, is on the verge of being axed, as is the
libido-overloaded "Get Real.' ' "Manchester Prep," the teen show featuring two lustful stepchildren,
based on the movie "Cruel Intentions," was expelled before it even got on the air.
Over on ABC, the highly touted "Wasteland," which spotlighted a striptease in the pilot episode and a
young virgin eager to do the nasty, has lived up to its title and ended up in the dump.
The changing tide shouldn't surprise anyone, said Jeff Sagansky, president of Pax TV, the fledgling seventh network,
which is committed to family TV. "The No. 1 show on the WB, for all its cutting-edge attitude, is `7th Heaven,'
" he said. "The No. 1 show on CBS is `Touched by an Angel.' The only hit that NBC has had in the last
couple years is `Providence.' "I think the audience is screaming at the networks for what they want, and the
networks are turning a deaf ear."
Women on the verge
For a while, it appeared that viewers had an appetite for dramas with more bite, such as "ER" and
"NYPD Blue," while the WB benefited greatly by sexy teen shows such as "Dawson's Creek" and
"Felicity.' '
This year's backlash suggests that viewers may be a bit pooped after rushing around at breakneck speed and hanging
out near the cliff' s edge. Many were obviously seeking safer, more serene ground.
"The action-packed pace of an `ER' and a `Third Watch' is still intriguing, but audiences are almost taking a
breather," said Nina Tassler, senior vice president of drama series development at CBS. "They're saying,
`Let me just have a good story.' "
Barbara Hall, executive producer for "Judging Amy," said other dramas may have gone too far. "When
you're pushing the envelope just to push it, it doesn't necessarily impress people," she said. "TV has a
lot of rules and it's fun to try and break them, but at the end of the day, what people respond to is storytelling
and acting.' '
The audience that has responded the most is adult females, an important demographic that has somehow been neglected
for much of the '90s. Role models such as Melina Kanakaredes on "Providence,' ' Sela Ward on "Once and
Again" and Tyne Daly and Amy Brenneman on "Judging Amy" have been few and far between this decade.
One reason is that the people creating and running network dramas tend to be male, according to Hall. "It's no
secret that most drama show-runners develop what they want to watch and don't think about anything else," she
said. "As a result, you're not really trying to reach women." Hall believes that "Amy" appeals
to females because it "portrays women who are not victims, who are not powerless and are in control of their
lives. That's how women have been living for some time now, but they haven't been portrayed like that."
Bob DeLaurentis, an executive producer for "Providence," agrees that TV hadn't captured the modern woman.
"No one had really approached the notion of the family of the '90s," he said. "The world kept
evolving, but television had not quite caught up. We were stuck in the same old family model."
Most doubt, however, that TV executives will adopt wholesome programming around the clock. Marshall Herskovitz, the
veteran TV producer behind such hits as "thirtysomething" and the new "Once and Again," said
shows dealing with life and death ("ER," "Hill Street Blues") will always do well, but ones
featuring strong relationships and strong female characters wouldn't have been as easy to sell a year ago.
The pendulum will eventually swing back, DeLaurentis says. In fact, we're probably two or three shows away from
oversaturation. "That's what television is all about: cycles and saturations of cycles," he said. In the
meantime, enjoy the trend - until it's time to say goodnight to John Boy.
Copyright © 1999 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
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