Uncomfortable TV

[Troy Patrick Hatlevig]

>IS there a marked improvement in US TV since cable, as davemarc recently 
>(may have) suggested? Or is Murphy Brown (and shows like The Simpsons) 
>as 'uncomfortable' as it gets? 
>As for whether there's been "a marked improvement in US TV since cable" (a
different issue from the once concerning formulae), I would, in fact, offer
a cautious "yes."  I'd be much more willing to identify a number of
excellent and innovative television productions (say, *The Simpsons*, *Twin
Peaks*, *Seinfeld*, *The Civil War*, and even *The Tick*) broadcast in
recent years as evidence that, against all odds, the US Tube is not 100%
devoid of creativity.

davemarc  

I'd second that thought. American television has gotten better over the past 5 years of so, and as narratives produced for a mass audience are better than our movies and our pop culture novels.

Strange, though, how many of the intelligent TV shows today are cartoons -- The Simpsons, The Tick, Space Ghost (probably the funniest show on TV). The Batman animated series had some very good episodes near the beginning. Even Mystery Science Theater has the little guys drawn in the bottom of the screen.

Troy