In which I worry about 'Glee'

I think Glee is in trouble.

Not to offend all you Gleeks out there, because I consider myself a major fan of the series, but something is just...off about the first two episodes back. I cannot put my finger on it. Is it the long lay-off between the first 13 episodes and the back nine? Is it the overwhelming sense that the series has been overhyped during that period? Not really, because I expected that.

Innovations, er, "Innovations" from broadcast networks -- An introduction

Though I have been using it for more, this blog was primarily constituted for a course about the changes in what we refer to as "television." Along with this blog, I am also working on a presentation/paper about the content and format innovations from "traditional" (read: broadcast) networks in this dynamic time.

Over the past few weeks, I've been doing some fairly in-depth research into not only what series the four majors -- ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC -- have aired, but also what "kind" of series. Thanks to The Futon Critic's fantastic DevWatch and ShowWatch archives, I was able to go back five years to the 2005-2006 television season and determine every single series the broadcast networks have aired. From there, I researched each series to determine both the format and the "type" of characters the series (if scripted) showcased. After hours upon hours of scrolling, reading and entering into a five-tabbed, color-coded Excel sheet, I am both surprised and not surprised at what I found. Thus, I thought it would be nice to share some of my findings in this space with anyone who wants to read them.

But first, let me clarify a few of the statements or choices I mentioned above as a way to introduce the posts I'll be writing in the next week or so about each network, because I know you're asking the following questions. I'll ask them for you.

Hulu and monetization: A prospective pay model

Despite what we all want, we are eventually going to have to pay to use Hulu.

Just end it already! Genre television and end dates

As we've all seen over the past month, the end of Lost has sparked a slew of different conversations about the future of television, formats, serialization, etc. One move that Lost proponents always cite as the turning point in the series was the agreement to end it all back in 2007. 

And now, that idea gets thrown around for nearly every series with any extended mythology. But should it?

'M*A*S*H' knocked-off: Is that good for advertising?

Not to call out Professor Anderson, but recently in class, he noted that nothing would ever top the ratings of the M*A*S*H series finale, which reached 105.97 million viewers in 1983.

And why wouldn't he say that? Nothing has come that close ever since, and with the slew of cable, pay-cable, OnDemand, online and other channels, the audience is fragmented beyond belief.

Well, never count out the appeal of a city coming back from disaster and Peyton Manning.