Lone Star and the Fragmentation of Television
On Tuesday, September 28, 2010, mere hours after airing the second episode of the series, FOX cancelled Lone Star due to poor ratings. Apparently despite such accolades from television critics around the country, the critics who ultimately matter—television viewers—gave the show two-thumbs down. Or simply thumbed it all together by not even tuning in to give Lone Star a chance.
The series, which followed a Texas conman living dual lives with two different sets of families, was no doubt a tough sell for FOX. In addition to the praise that critics bestowed upon Lone Star were the caveats that the series felt more akin to the kind of character-driven dramas one would find on cable channels like AMC, HBO and Showtime instead of the cookie cutter approach of network television, with its multiple CSIs and Hawaii Five-O remakes. Even Lone Star creator Kyle Killen acknowledge as much during the annual Television Critics Association Press Tour.
“My understanding was that they were looking to try a cable show on network, and if we signed up with them, that this would be something that they would give us the leeway to really try that,” Killen explained in regards to FOX and Lone Star. “When you go out and you pitch shows, the truth is the things that you watch, the things that you love—Breaking Bad and Mad Men—they’re dirty words in pitch meetings because they’re shows that have a number of viewers that would get a show canceled on the network. I think at FOX, it wasn’t a dirtyword. At FOX they felt like the only reason those shows aren’t more popular is because they’re not on FOX and because they don’t have this machine. They don’t have this opportunity behind them. And I think we’re going to get that.”
Obviously things turned out differently.
So what happened? Has television gone the way of motion pictures, with network television the multiplexes that showcase the latest big-budget popcorn fare while cable channels are the small, independent art theaters? Most blockbuster movies, after all, do not receive Oscar consideration while the smaller, less profitable films score the accolades, much like the Emmy Awards of recent years. Television is a business, however, and the stakes are considerably higher for network television than the cable channels. Even though cable channels have significantly cut into network ratings, for instance, it is the network ratings that make the headlines, not the ones for cable channels. Expectations are ultimately higher for network television, thus the emphasis on more broad, mainstream shows. “America’s Most Watched Network,” after all, is filled with CSIs, NCISs and traditional sitcoms like Two and a Half Men. It could be argued that CBS is number one precisely because it offers the kind of popcorn fare found at the local multiplex.
Cable channels, meanwhile, have lower expectations in regards to ratings. They also demonstrate more patience than network television and grant more creative control to the creators of their shows. In addition, they have a greater “big picture” mindset, taking into account the prestige element of airing a quality series, the impact on overall ad revenue and auxiliary revenue streams like DVD sales. Ironically enough, it is the lower rated television shows that see the larger profits from DVDs as quality show tend to out sale more generic offerings like CSI.
Another question looms in regards to the cancellation of Lone Star—what will the show’s failure mean for the future of television? Will the networks no longer be willing to take chances on quality, character-driven dramas that do not necessarily fit into the mainstream? Or was Lone Star an anomaly? Will the networks still be willing to take risks or will they further retreat into “playing it safe” mode?
“They want shows that can repeat,” J.J. Abrams, the mastermind behind such television series as Alias, Lost and Fringe, said in regards to the network mindset during a panel discussion at the 2010 San Diego Comic Con. “They want shows that will syndicate, and serialized shows. I’m just personally less interested, naturally interested, in non-serialized shows. I enjoy the investment and the anticipation in the characters and what’s going to happen, and what conditions are really going on.”
Abrams was joined in San Diego by Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly and Dollhouse. “I think the networks will never ever ask for that,” he commented in regards to serial dramas. “They will never admit that people want that, because they do see the easy cash cow of The Mentalist. ‘Let’s all make The Mentalist!’ And when Lost first hit and was just blowing up huge, and everybody was loving it, we were all so into it, they were still like, ‘We don’t want that.’ That successful Emmy winning thing? ‘No, we don’t want that.’ I mean they would speak against serialized storytelling while it was the only thing people were watching on television, because they are just thinking bottom line.”
The television industry has become fragmented in recent years—ever since the advent of cable in the 1970s, the networks have seen their viewership slowly erode. This no doubt has had a chilling effect on profits, making the executives even more prone to watching their bottom line. The truth of the matter, however, is that it’s not just the television industry that has become fragmented but society as well. That’s not meant as a negative observation, it just means that we are more culturally diverse. And diversity means it is more difficult for one television series to dominate in the ratings.
Take the music industry as an example. One of the major reason that such albums as Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA and U2’s Joshua Tree were able to achieve the high level of sales that they did in the 1980s was because the types of music that people were exposed to back then was very limited. Radio stations dictated exposure at that time, and radio was intent on playing music that would attract the largest amount of potential listeners. The advent of MTV and then the Internet, meanwhile, revealed that there was more than mere mainstream rock being produced and thus stimulated the growth of other genres, including country and rap, which in turn created a more diverse, even fragmented, music industry.
Television appears to simply be on the same path. Programming has traditionally been broken down into drama and comedy but those terms are no longer easy to characterize any more than the phrase “pop music” these days. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, for instance, was one of the best dramas on television during its seven year run yet could also be one of the funniest. Two of the finest comedies on television, meanwhile—The Big Bang Theory and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia—not only follow different formats but have different brands of humor as well. With the definition of drama and comedy now meaning different things to different people, is it any wonder that television shows no longer achieve ratings along the lines of those rung up by the Seinfelds and Friends of yesteryear? It’s a matter of basic math—with limited choices, it is easier for a product to become a best seller. With more choices that reflect diverse tastes, it’s a lot harder.
In the end, network television may indeed be relegated to mainstream-style entertainment with the SyFy Network the place to go for science fiction, HBO and Showtime for gritty cutting edge, AMC for slow moving, thought provoking drama, FX for non-traditional sitcoms and USA Network for character driven crime dramas. And maybe that’s not such a bad thing. Maybe network television—with its high demand for immediate returns on its investment—should get out of the risk taking business now that cable channels are willing and capable of filling the void. Lone Star, after all, could have evolved into one of the truly great shows in the history of television if it had been on AMC but because it was on FOX instead, we’ll never know.
Different strokes for different folks and different styles for different channels. As long as our diverse entertainment needs are being met, does it really matter?
Anthony Letizia (October 4, 2010)
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