I try to watch TV, I swear. But every time I sit down to find a new show, I brace myself to run an exhausting digital gantlet.
Soon after moving to Los Angeles in my early 20s, I fell madly in love with television. Not just watching it, but talking about it. Learning to develop a TV show from glimmer to pilot. The sparkly feeling that takes hold of my body as I prepare to serve a network a new pitch. And then, the actual writing: fleshing out characters that take over my dreams, building them a web of interdependence, a history, a shared past for each relationship. But at some point over the past decade, my TV viewing tapered off, and I didn't have a good explanation. I was catching up on reading, I said, or "I'm not good with remotes." But in writing my second book, a series of essays on reconnecting with pleasure without blowing up my life, I realized something: I simply don't enjoy the act of television viewing anymore. In my recent Times Opinion guest essay, I talk about the encouraging start of streamers, which promised a future of better shows, from a diversity of creators. But in the ensuing race to volume, the great shows are getting lost in a deluge of cheap, fast content, leaving viewers to wade through a sea of algorithm-driven slop. Marketing execs are constantly wringing their hands about "cutting through the noise" of all the content out there, as though their platforms didn't create it. Unfortunately, the noise also means that, as viewers, we're missing out on the pleasures of anticipation and discovery. I used to make a meal of each show; now, turning on the TV feels like being force-fed a dinner I never wanted. Which is why I was so intrigued by the success of Tubi, a streaming platform that comes across as something built by people, not bots. I hope for a robust TV industry with tons of great jobs for everyone who wants to partake. Between last year's Writers Guild of America strike, the current contraction and the studios' startling willingness to shelve movies and shows they've already made, it's been a hard year for people who work in entertainment. We feel as if we're standing among the wreckage of an industry we once loved. But as approaches like Tubi start to sprout from the rubble, I hope platforms, creators and artists will be able to build a new digital future that reflects the values that drew us to TV in the first place.
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2024/07/27
Opinion Today: I work in TV and even I hate watching it
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