Television in the 2000s

American television in the 2000s

Following the Janet Jackson incident at the 2004 Super Bowl, the FCC made their censorship rules more conservative. The tradition of afterschool and Saturday morning cartoon lineups in syndication all but disappears. They are considered redundant in light of such children's networks such as Cartoon Network and Disney Channel. 2004 marked the first year that legendary entertainment icon Dick Clark was not at the helm of "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" for the annual celebration in Times Square due to a stroke. "Rockin' Eve" has been a part of Americana since 1972, becoming a central mainstay in New Year's celebrations. Clark reappeared the next year for the show, yet his voice had incredibly worsened. In the extreme late 2000s, "American Idol" emcee Ryan Seacrest will take over hosting duties for the New Year's show, which Time magazine called an "ABC staple."

An overall perspective, here are the highest-rated shows on network television during the decade:
* 1999-2000: "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" (ABC)
* 2000-2001: "Survivor" (CBS)
* 2001-2002: "Friends" (NBC)
* 2002-2003: "" (CBS)
* 2003-2004: "" (CBS)
* 2004-2005: "American Idol" (FOX)
* 2005-2006: "American Idol" (FOX)
* 2006-2007: "American Idol" (FOX)

Reality TV

Reality TV shows become extremely common, in particular "Survivor" and "American Idol" which develop into a huge record-breaking hit shows, attracting millions of viewers who help make "Idol" and "Survivor" staples in modern American culture. "Idol" proves the test of time, averaging #1 among all TV series in the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 seasons, four years after its debut.

Gameshows

Primetime game shows suddenly saw a brief surge in popularity beginning in 1999 and carrying into late 2001, especially with "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" and "The Weakest Link" which become absolute pop culture phenomena in the extreme late 90s and early 2000s. The high-rewarding shows quickly lost their enormous popularity after the events of 9/11. In 2005, the genre again gained steam with NBC's popular "Deal or No Deal", which constantly finishes among the 10 most watched shows on TV, yet not to the same extent that game shows had before.

The Game Show Network officially changed its name it to GSN- The Network for Games on March 15, 2004 in order to revamp its schedule to fit in reality programming as well as classic and original game shows. The cable channel sees such hits in the 2000s as: "Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal" in 2003 which pulls in an outstanding 3 million viewers and turns out being the most popular program ever broadcast on the network, major original programming successes like "Lingo" and "Extreme Dodgeball", reruns of the popular 1970s versions of classic shows "Match Game" and "Family Feud" maintain high ratings, and the addition of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" to its lineup of classic game shows produces a sufficient boost in the ratings.

As for traditional game shows, only long-running syndicated staples "Jeopardy!", "Wheel of Fortune", and the new revival Family Feud that debuted in September 1999 remain on the air in the 2000s. Who Wants to be a Millionaire joined the list of syndicated game shows in 2002, now entering its sixth season. The show also became known for using substitute hosts when Meredith Vieira was on assignment, a practice not seen in many game shows since 1990, when Al Roker, Tom Bergeron, and Tim Vincent took over selected weeks. Another syndicated game show, Hollywood Squares (1998-2004), celebrated its rich history when host Tom Bergeron asked original host Peter Marshall to host one episode in 2002 during Game Show Week, where Marshall was in the center square for the other episodes.

Speaking of which, 2004 marked the first time that "Jeopardy!" beat "Wheel of Fortune" in the syndication ratings, when the Alex Trebek game show banked in at #1 for a few weeks during the remarkable 74-game run of contestant Ken Jennings who won a record-breaking $2.5 million on the show. During this time, the show received over 20 million viewers at one point, its highest ratings ever and it even beat many popular network programs that year.

Meanwhile, "The Price Is Right" soldiers on well into its fourth decade as the sole remaining daytime network game show, with a major facelift following the addition of Drew Carey replacing 35-year host Bob Barker in 2007. In 2001, TV Guide ranked "The Price is Right" #1 on its list of the 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time. In 2002, the show began adding primetime specials, often between Survivor series, and in the Sweeps sessions.

Medical, law, and investigation shows

Medical, law, and investigation shows gain immense popularity and have replaced sitcoms as the most popular shows on TV, begun mainly with "Law & Order" (1990-) and "ER" (1994-). Aside from these two shows, which continue to be popular, the most popular shows include ' (1998-), ' (1999-), ' (2001-), ' (2002-), "Monk" (2002-), "Without a Trace" (2002-), "NCIS" (2003-), "Boston Legal" (2004-), "House" (2004-), "Grey's Anatomy" (2005-) "Bones" (2005-), and "Numb3rs" (2005-).

itcoms

Live action sitcoms have begun to be overshadowed by law, investigation, celebrity, and reality shows. By the mid-2000s, "Friends" (1994-2004), "Frasier" (1993-2004), "Everybody Loves Raymond" (1996-2005), "That '70s Show" (1998-2006), "Will and Grace" (1998-2006), and "Malcolm in the Middle" (2000-2006) all left airwaves. Among the very few successful sitcoms on the air by this time included "Scrubs" (2001-) and "The Office" (2005-). Animated sitcoms, which gained popularity with "The Simpsons" (1989-) and really took off in the late 90's, are now even more popular. "Family Guy" was cancelled after its initial run (1999-2002), but phenomenal DVD sales and a massive Internet petition prompted FOX to re-instate the show in 2005, garnering high ratings and attracting large numbers of viewers in the pivotal 18-49 age demographic. (The only other show to have been brought back from cancellation due to demand was the original Star Trek.) Other popular animated shows include "King of the Hill" (1997-), "Futurama" (1999-2003), "American Dad!" (2005-), and "South Park" (1997-) in particular, which saw its audience on Comedy Central nearly double. Many of these shows have become controversial for their strongly adult content, due to restrictions on animated TV shows being lower than that of live shows. It is partly this issue, however, that has caused these shows to become so popular. In addition, most 2000s sitcoms are produced in a Drama-style setting, with on-location shooting rather than in a live studio setting, and most are produced without a laugh track.

Drama

Action and drama shows have also gained popularity. "24" (2001-) is among the most popular action shows on TV along with "Prison Break" (2005-), while "Lost" (2004-) has become among the most popular drama shows, along with "Desperate Housewives" (2004-) and "Grey's Anatomy" (2005-). Teen drama shows have become immensely popular, including "7th Heaven" (1996-2007), "The O.C." (2003-2007), and "One Tree Hill" (2003-). "Gilmore Girls" (2000-2007) attempts to mix teen drama with comedy, and has so far been successful. The serial drama returns in the form of "24" and "Alias" (2001-2006) in 2001.

cience Fiction

"The X-Files" (1993-2002) ended its remarkable run late in the decade and became the longest-running science fiction show in U.S. history (although it remained far behind the original "Doctor Who" in the United Kingdom for the longest-running sci-fi series ever). However, "Stargate SG-1" (1997-2007) began to gain a massive cult following that allowed it to surpass "The X-Files" as the longest-running science fiction series in U.S. history in 2006, with the beginning of its tenth season. Although an eleventh season was originally planned, the Sci Fi Channel unexpectedly cancelled it, leaving its run at ten seasons. However, the Stargate franchise will survive the end of its flagship show, thanks to the spinoff "Stargate Atlantis" (2004- ), which has proven popular among fans. A third spinoff, "Stargate Universe", is in the planning stages and is targeted to begin in 2008.

The Star Trek franchise saw the end of ' (1995-2001), but the Star Trek franchise lived on with ' (2001-2005). However, after four seasons, "Enterprise" became the first Star Trek series since the original to be cancelled due to low ratings, rather than ended by its producers. Enterprise's cancellation ended 18 continuous years of Star Trek shows, beginning with "" in 1987.

Perhaps the most symbolic shift in science fiction away from hard science, cosmic themes, and a self-contained episodic format, and towards a focus more on character development and interaction, emotional content, and a continuous plotline format, comes in the form of the re-imagined "Battlestar Galactica" (2004-2008). "Battlestar Galactica" has been praised for its intense drama and character development. One of the earlier examples of this shift is "Firefly", which aired just one season in 2002 on Fox but gained a massive cult following. Fans of the show heavily criticized Fox for killing the show before it even aired by showing the episodes out of order and expressing a general lack of interest in keeping the show on the air.

Shows dealing with supernatural and superhero elements continued their popularity that began in the late 90s. "Smallville" (2001-), a show about Superman's teenage life in the small Kansas town of Smallville, premiered. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997-2003), "Angel" (1999-2004), and "Charmed" (1998-2006) all gained massive cult followings before coming to an end. "Supernatural" (2005-) has continued the trend of these popular shows.

A new "Doctor Who" series premiered in 2005 in the United Kingdom, 16 years after the original series ended and 9 years after the TV movie.

Animation and teen television

Nickelodeon nearly abandons the live-action shows it had in the 1980s and 1990s in favor of Nicktoons. This ends towards the middle of the decade, as the network adds live-action fare such as "Drake & Josh" (2004-), "Unfabulous" (2004-), and "Zoey 101" (2005-). In addition, the network begins to skew to a younger audience than in previous years, cancelling programs popular among teenagers, such as "Invader Zim" and "As Told By Ginger", in favor of programs for younger adolescents, such as "All Grown Up", "Unfabulous", and "Zoey 101".
Disney Channel shifts from classic Disney programming to MTV esque live-action shows in late 1990s and early 2000s (see "Zoog Disney"), while turning towards original cartoons beginning in 2000 with "The Proud Family"(2001-2005), "The Weekenders" (2000-2004) and later "Kim Possible" (2002-2005).
Anime becomes a focus of Cartoon Network and a staple of children's programming, along with more adult-oriented material (see "Animatrix" and "Adult Swim"). Also, two 24-7 anime networks appear: The Anime Network, and the FUNimation Channel. The traditional Saturday morning syndicated cartoon lineup has mostly disappeared until late 2006, and weekday afterschool syndicated time slots previously reserved for cartoons and children's entertainment now largely shows talk shows, sitcom reruns, judge shows, and extended newscasts.

Prank Shows

Prank-based comedy shows such as "Punk'd" (2002-), "Da Ali G Show" (2003-2004), "Jackass" (2001-2003), "Trigger Happy TV" (2002-2003), and "Crank Yankers" (2003-) became popular.

News

24-Hour Cable News Channels began to surpass the major broadcast networks as the main source for obtaining news on television. Fox News led the cable market with such programs as "The O'Reilly Factor" and "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren" while CNN, with "CNN Headline News", and MSNBC attempted to compete with such programs as "Anderson Cooper 360", "Nancy Grace", "Hardball with Chris Matthews", and "Countdown with Keith Olbermann". Trends indicated that viewers appear to prefer to get their news from sources that reinforce their opinions rather than seek out information that challenges these opinions. The trend of cable news channels overtaking broadcast networks in news coincided with the retirements of Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather from the anchor desks at the evening news programs of NBC and CBS respectively along with the death of "ABC News" "World News Tonight" anchor Peter Jennings in 2005. Jennings has been succeeded by Charlie Gibson, Rather's spot has been filled by Katie Couric, and Brokaw's anchor desk was handed to Brian Williams (just one night after Brokaw's final newscast) who kept NBC Nightly News #1 among all the other evening news broadcasts, a position it has held since 1997. By 2006, roughly 8 million viewers were still tuning into NBC at 6:30, despite the increasing popularity of cable news, blogs, and satire. Cable News anchors and reporters gain fan followings on the Internet though most are due to physical appearance and sex appeal rather than journalistic abilities or delivery of the news. Notable examples of this trend include Rudi Bakhtiar, Laurie Dhue, Robin Meade, and Juliet Huddy spawning such terms as Newsbabe and Infobabe. Cable shows dealing with political satire and so-called "fake news" gain fame with young audiences, specifically "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" (1999-) and "The Colbert Report" (2005-) which air in a one-hour late night block on Comedy Central. Their popularity reaches the point where millions of young viewers claim they get their news from these satirical programs. In fact, "Daily Show" anchor Jon Stewart had hit the cover of Newsweek by 2003, was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2005, and hosted the Oscars in 2006.

Daytime Talk Shows

Daytime Talk Shows, though still a staple of programming on broadcast television tend to lose influence on society, especially so-called controversial "Trash TV" talk shows, which almost disappear from the airwaves except for "The Jerry Springer Show" and "Maury" after being a staple of programming in the 1990s. Perennial daytime talk icon Oprah Winfrey remains at the top of the ratings and most daytime talk shows are oriented towards interviews with entertainers rather than discussions of personal and controversial subjects compared to the 1980s and the 1990s.

British television in the 2000s

*Much airtime was filled with a proliferation of "celebrity"-based television such as "Celebrity Big Brother UK", "Comic Relief does Fame Academy", "I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!", and "Strictly Come Dancing".
*Pre-watershed family sitcoms almost disappeared; more mature and specialist comedies were broadcast, such as "Little Britain", "Tittybangbang", "the Mighty Boosh", "The IT Crowd" and "Nathan Barley". Several new sitcoms were made without laugh tracks, such as "The Office" and "The Smoking Room"; These latter shows were slower-paced and portrayed a more mundane side of life.
*In place of period dramas, many new drama series were broadcast which were expensively produced and adopted some American styles. Popular shows included "Doctor Who", "Spooks", "Hustle" and "Waking the Dead".
*Big-budget American dramas became widely-watched, such as "Desperate Housewives", "Lost", "24" and ""
*Digital TV became popular with the introduction of Sky Digital, Freeview, and subsequently, the growth of free-to-air TV stations like BBC Three, BBC Four, Sky3, More4, ABC1, ITV3, ITV4 and TMF. It also allowed for greater choice when watching major sports events such as the Olympic Games and Wimbledon Tennis.
*Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) gained popularity; by 2004 most new radio sets sold in the UK were capable of receiving DAB signals. Many new specialist radio stations are almost exclusively broadcast via DAB. In 2006, the chain Currys.digital (formerly known as Dixons) announced that it was going to stop selling analogue (AM/FM) radios and only selling digital (DAB) radios.