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Newer PostOlder PostF R I D AY, D E C E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 6Where Are TV's Megahits?In a decent column listing the types of programming networks shouldpursue (family sitcoms, period shows, miniseries, variety shows), USAToday's Robert Bianco bemoans the fact that there are no massivelypoular hits like "The Cosby Show, "M*A*S*H," "Roseanne" and "EdSullivan." And he suggests that maybe there never will be again. Uh,except for "American Idol," "CSI," and "Desperate Housewives," toname three recent examples. There was also "Seinfeld" and "ER" and"Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" and "Survivor." In fact, every fewyears, a new show explodes on TV. They will again. Even if the 30million people who watch "Idol" isn't quite as big as the millions whowatched "MASH" or some other hit from an era when there were onlythree channels, it's still a broad popular hit. Everyone said the sitcomwas dead till "The Cosby Show" came along. Then everyone said only"Law & Order" could work and serialized dramas were dead forever --until "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" exploded. Game shows werenonexistent in primetime for DECADES until "Millionaire" hit. Nowgameshows are all over TV. Variety shows were dead for decades andwhile "Idol" serves that purpose, a real variety show will be a massivehit someday soon. Every genre that has ever worked on TV will workagain someday. And massive hits are a constant -- they're never goingto stop coming. You just don't know where or when they're going tocome from. That's the fun part.POSTED BY MICHAEL IN NEW YORK AT
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