4. The Rise Of The Cable Network
HBO has been doing their thing for a long time now and Showtime also got in on the original programming action several years ago. Starz and Cinemax have followed but I really want to focus on the regular cable networks right now. AMC, FX, TNT, and A&E are KILLING IT. Let's run down AMC. They've given us Mad Men which was just voted by the Writer's Guild as one of the top ten best written shows of all time. They've given us Breaking Bad, The Killing, Hell on Wheels, Rubicon(you didn't watch that but you should netflix it), and oh yeah, a little show called, The Walking Dead. Game set match, right? Best network on tv, right? Not so fast. FX has put together a stable of shows that is just shocking in it's quality. Currently, we can enjoy Sons of Anarchy, Justified, The Bridge(coming soon and you should for real watch it), Louie, American Horror Story, Archer, It's Always Sunny, The Americans, Wilfred, The League. FX was also the network that gave us Nip/Tuck, Damages, Rescue Me and one of the greatest cop shows of all time, The Shield. Just, go over that list again. That all happened on ONE network. A network willing to take risks and having it pay off. Thank you FX. TNT and A&E have more recently jumped into the fray with original programming and have had less of an impact but an impact they've still had. A&E is prepping it's second season of their western styled cop show, Longmire and season one of Bates Motel just wrapped. Over on TNT, we're getting ready for the third season of the highly underrated Falling Skies. We also just saw the fifth season (and sadly series) finale of Southland. That one was special -- a show that originated on NBC, got canceled and bought by TNT. It then went on for five beautiful seasons -- giving us the most honest portrayal of police I've ever seen. If this is what we have to look forward to in our future, if viewers shift their attention to the cable networks and force broadcast tv to improve further -- our tv future is bright.