10 Ways To Fix TV

[Roddy]

For weeks at the Television Critics Association tour, we listen to network executives. They spin so furiously about the glories of their success that it's a wonder they don't bore holes in the ground.

But, on occasion, they listen, too. Last season viewers complained, to each other, to TV critics, to ABC about all the Lost reruns. And the network caved, setting up a structure that requires no reruns next season.

It worked once, it can work again. Not to get greedy, but why stop with Lost? We'll give some retroactive credit where it's due and start here:

1: We demand a sane rerun strategy

That's first on our list of 10 things that executives need to know if they want to make television better. Yes, it means a chunk of the season with no Lost at all, but at least when it's there, you know what you're getting. There's also the 24 method - start in January and run straight through. Nothing is foolproof, but at least it shows the networks are thinking. Doesn't happen as often as you'd think.

2: We appreciate the truth

When a show is canceled, tell us it's canceled. No more "on hiatus" when what you really mean is, "How can we somehow make viewers forget that this show was ever affiliated with this network, or on television at all?"

We're not stupid (even if you might think so from the boffo ratings for America's Got Talent). We know what's going on. If a show gets dirt-poor ratings for a couple of weeks and then we're seeing Cold Case reruns, we know what has happened.

Just say so. Tell us why. Bad ratings? Check. Terrible show? Noted. It all comes out eventually, anyway. Of course, there are massive egos involved. But you know what? So are massive salaries. They'll get over it. We will, too.

3: We like complexity

Take a hint from Lost and get creative with complex cross-technology marketing. Sure, you can download episodes of a lot of shows on iTunes, and ABC has had good luck streaming its shows online after they air.

That's no longer enough.

Lost employs, among other things, an official Web site to keep up with clues (insidetheexperience.com); tons of unofficial sites are out there, as well. But the show also made reference on-screen to a book, Bad Twin - and then the book appeared in bookstores.

Other shows use blogs. Want to know how Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes came to kill off Kyle Chandler during the bomb episodes? Go to the GA blog to find out. (It pained her greatly, evidently.)

Here's a thought: Offer episodes with commentary, like we get on DVD releases. Or perhaps deleted scenes.

Not every show is intricate (or good) enough to justify all this. But it's clear that savvy viewers will dig deeper for shows they really like. Networks should take advantage of it.

4: We hate cluttered screens!

Not the shows themselves, though some certainly qualify. I'm talking about the promotions for other shows on the same network. Viewers hate it - I hear their pain, often - and they've got a great point. It's ridiculous to be watching Shaquille O'Neal brick a free throw during the NBA playoffs and suddenly see a diminutive Kyra Sedgwick stroll into the picture and start rolling out police tape to remind us that TNT airs The Closer. I like the show a lot, but please, we're watching a game here.

Last time I checked, networks were perfectly free to use their own commercial time to promote their shows. Use it, and leave us to our basketball.

5: We reward patience

And not just with the good shows. Seinfeld legendarily started out slowly and got great, both in quality and in ratings. Fine.

But what gets forgotten sometimes is that, when it started, Seinfeld's ratings weren't so great because it wasn't so great. Let's not pretend that quality trumps ratings (read: money) in television. Please. But given the chance, who knows, maybe something like Fox's not-quite-there Free Ride would have improved. Eh. Maybe not. Still. I'm not saying make us suffer through According to Jim for several seasons. But if there's a sliver of promise, nurture it. We'll stick around.

6: We want consistency online

You can find a lot of shows at iTunes. You can find some shows streaming online after they've aired (and on rare occasions, as with the recent Blade: The Series on Spike TV, before). And you can always find the funniest thing on Saturday Night Live posted on YouTube, until NBC makes them take it down. (F**k NBC!)

But the network attitudes are changing. NBC has signed a deal with YouTube, which is, so far at least, the easiest-to-use, most-consistent clearinghouse for video. (If you want a non-TV-related treat, search the site for "Prince" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" - genius.) YouTube will have an NBC "channel," and NBC will, in turn, promote the site.

Viewers are obviously taking more control of how and when they watch TV. Eventually every network will have a similar deal. Why wait for the future?

7: We like our bad guys really bad (and on occasion, our good guys, too)

Cable has great luck with this. Tony Soprano, for instance, is a guy who cares about his family, works hard at his job and is an absolute monster, a man who kills and orders killings, among other crimes. Yet we still usually root for him; certainly we watch him.

But Tony's a mobster. We expect bad things. FX has gone even farther with Rescue Me. Despite his flaws - drunken, mean, sexist, the works - Tommy Gavin kinda, sorta had a good heart. Certainly it showed up in his work and, in a bizarre way, with his family.

But things changed a couple of weeks ago, when he basically raped his ex-wife. It was a brutal, ugly scene, one that profoundly changed the way we think about Tommy. Yet it didn't make the show any less compelling. If anything, it's more so; there's no way to redeem Tommy from this, so where does it go from here?

Imagine if, say, Horatio Caine had some sort of grim secret in CSI: Miami - and not the kind that's resolved by the time the credits roll that Monday. That's a show I'd be interested in, a lot more interested than I am now.

8: We like seeing the little guy make it big

In real life, that is. That's why it's so rewarding when a guy like Jeffrey Dean Morgan gets a chance. So good as the dying heart-transplant patient in Grey's Anatomy and as the dad in Supernatural, just a guy who's fun to watch, Morgan was rewarded with a starring role in Rhimes' new show.

Great. I actually liked Morgan better in Supernatural, particularly in the season finale when he was possessed (good bad guy). But whatever you liked best, he was good enough in both shows that he deserves a shot.

And you know what? So do some other people, including Eric Close from Without a Trace (though he had a shot with the short-lived Now and Again), or Garret Dillahunt, who played two weirdos on Deadwood, Jesus in The Book of Daniel and a lobbyist in The 4400. I'd certainly give a show starring Jenna Fischer of The Office a try. What drama wouldn't be worth checking out if CCH Pounder (lately of The Shield) was its star?

Maybe they soar. Maybe they fail. Either way, it beats another Jenna Elfman vehicle.

9: We don't like surprises

At least not with our scheduling. First off, if you're stitching together a highlight reel and throwing a little fresh narration over the top, that does not constitute a "new episode." That constitutes a "rerun," or "clip job," which makes us "angry." It's not that these shows aren't worthwhile - they're effective at wading through the dense forest of plots in Lost on occasion, and keep you up to day with who's sleeping with whom on Desperate Housewives. But be up front about what they are.

What's more, if you're going to schedule a show for, say, 8 p.m. Tuesdays or whatever, how about actually showing it at 8 p.m. Tuesday? Every Tuesday. Don't just up and move it to Thursday because it fills a scheduling hole, leaving us to mistakenly wait for new episodes on Tuesday. Don't get me wrong - loyal viewers will follow a show, up to a point. But don't make it a scavenger hunt.

10: We want women and minorities in strong roles

Note: Attractive sitcom wife to schlubby sitcom husband does not constitute "strong." We're talking about dramas here, with women in either lead or strong supporting roles, and the fact that there aren't enough of them.

Edie Falco more than holds her own with an exceptionally strong male cast on The Sopranos. Kyra Sedgwick is the only reason to watch The Closer, really. Kristen Bell's great as Veronica Mars, and then there's . . . there's . . . who? Television is typically a little more generous with roles for women than movies. At least it has been in the past - think the late, great, Nancy Marchand in The Sopranos first season, or Allison Janney in the first few seasons of The West Wing (before C.J. became chief of staff). More, please.

Let's stop with the token (insert minority)! It's even been done on reality shows like Survivor and The Bachelor.