Tonight at 10 p.m. ET, ABC presents the second installment of its excellent documentary series
Hopkins, NBC presents the latest installment in its creepy suspense anthology series
Fear Itself, and CBS presents another new episode of its period drama series,
Swingtown.
So I ask you: What's right with this picture?
What's right, in a very easy-to-crack nutshell, is that this is an hour when all the major broadcast networks are presenting fresh, non-rerun programming. And when not one of them is presenting a reality or competition show.
Yes, I know, Fox is into local programming at this hour, so it's a field of three networks, not four. But even at that, can you guess how many other weekly slots in prime time are populated entirely by fresh, non-reality broadcast programs?
This week, there aren't any others. Not one. Tonight's Hopkins-Fear Itself-Swingtown combo is the only such troika. And next week, Fear Itself is being bumped for an expanded Last Comic Standing telecast, so next week there won't be any.
Strike-related erosion isn't the only reason TV viewership is down this summer. If the networks aren't even trying, why should audiences be visiting?
A few more years of polluting the airwaves with unimaginative, unwatchable reality shows and endless reruns, and Last Comic Standing may well translate to Last Viewer Watching...