Show of hands -- how many recall Bruce Springsteen's tuneful lament about the lack of decent programming, "57 Channels (And Nothin' On)"?
That song, released in 1992, seems quaint in these days of multiple platforms, myriad viewing options and audience fragmentation. In fact, television is enjoying a creative renaissance that is nothing short of dazzling.
This year isn't over yet, but if we look at 2015, the statistics are impressive to the point of being overwhelming.
According to Nielsen, in 2015 there were an astonishing 409 scripted original series on TV. That includes broadcast networks, cable and online services. There were enough outstanding shows to please even Springsteen.
Toss in reality shows, sports programs and other unscripted fare, and the challenge has become not that "nothin' is on," but that so much is on, how do we find the really good stuff amid the glut of mediocrity? And make no mistake, most of TV is still mediocre. Always has been.
Fragmented audience? Indeed, with so many options, it's more apparent than ever that viewers come to television for a variety of reasons. Some simply want to sit back in the recliner and be entertained after a hard day at work. Like comfort food, they want TV fare that's satisfying without a lot of fuss.
Others want to be challenged by television with new and inventive scripts -- TV that requires you to pay attention and storylines that don't lay it all out in facile linear progression.
Others are happy with watching the oldies from the days of "classic" TV, and still others spend their time channel surfing the even more vast wasteland trying to find something worth watching.
In the 24 intervening years since Springsteen's song was released, TV has gone far beyond 57 channels. The last time Nielsen counted, it reported that the average American household receives 189 channels, but that we habitually watch only 17. It's no wonder some worthy programming slips between the cracks.
So, how do we create anything resembling order out of all the chaos? My solution is to build each night around one single must-see program and record conflicting favorites for viewing at a later time. One outstanding show a night is plenty for me and all we should really require of television.
Here are my six nightly choices (Saturday doesn't count) from the (mostly) new programming that I suggest you consider adding to your DVR list.
Caveat: Before the emails pour in, let me reiterate that this is how I organize my personal viewing time. My favorites are distilled from a lifetime of watching (I'm almost exactly the same age as network TV) and 23 years of covering television for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
I further realize my choices may not be yours and that's OK. The most negative emails I've received so far this fall were over my recommendation of NBC's The Good Place. Several longtime and discerning readers were baffled that I found the comedy interesting. The kindest comment was "that show sucks."
Comedy has always been the most subjective genre.
SUNDAY
This is a night for football, police procedurals, Fox comedies and drama, but it also is the night of the best show on TV -- The Walking Dead. If there is anything remotely its equal for water cooler chat or social media discourse, it would be Game of Thrones, but that doesn't return until next summer.
The Walking Dead is brilliant, gripping, complex adult drama about the human condition, but it's not for everyone. You must be able to look beyond the superficial, visceral nature of having the messy undead lurching about.
Fans of the show know that the greater threat is not the walking dead, but the humans left behind after the apocalypse.
That will be graphically demonstrated in the new season, which begins at 8 p.m. Sunday on AMC. Season 7 finds our heroes on their knees and trapped in a whole new world. They are no longer in control and one of them will die a gruesome death in the first episode at the hands of sadistic, sanguinary villain Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his barbed wire-wrapped baseball bat Lucille.
Sunday backup: Westworld, newly arrived to HBO at 8 p.m. Sundays. If you get the premium channel, do not let this fascinating re-imagining of the 1973 Michael Crichton film slip under your radar. This is primo stuff.
MONDAY
Freshman hopefuls face well-entrenched competition on Mondays. There's Dancing With the Stars on ABC, two hours of comedies on CBS, and The Voice on NBC.
Fox has the darker Gotham and the surprisingly funny Lucifer.
If I had to pick one new/old series to watch, it would be Supergirl, which has shifted from CBS to sister network The CW for its second season and will undergo several noticeable changes.
It seems a logical move to have Supergirl at home amid The CW's other DC Comics superhero offerings -- The Flash, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow.
Supergirl will seem almost like a new series on its new network. Production has moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, where the other shows are filmed and that means more crossover episodes. Supergirl will be part of an "epic" four-night crossover, as well as a crossover musical episode with The Flash.
Final bonus: Tyler Hoechlin will play Supergirl's cousin Superman this season. I'm told Hoechlin's portrayal will remind viewers of Christopher Reeve's take on the Man of Steel.
Monday backup: The new time-traveling adventure Timeless at 9 p.m. on NBC will offer broad appeal even though older viewers may have seen a similar premise on The Time Tunnel back in the 1960s.
TUESDAY
Into each week a little quirkiness should fall, and that certainly describes The CW's new hourlong comedy No Tomorrow.
It's up against ABC's two hours of "comfort food" sitcoms and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.; police and courtroom procedurals on CBS (NCIS, Bull, NCIS: New Orleans); and comedy and comedic horror on Fox.
NBC offers its second night of The Voice, which leads to the worthy new dramedy This Is Us.
If none of those veterans appeals to you, check out No Tomorrow at 8 p.m. on The CW. Do so even if you believe The CW is the exclusive home of programming designed only to please millennials and teens.
In the new comedy, rigid, overly organized Evie (Tori Anderson) meets easygoing, charming Xavier (Joshua Sasse) and the romantic sparks fly. One drawback -- Xavier believes a meteor will shortly bring on the apocalypse. Is he crazy? Does it matter? What now?
Tuesday backup: NBC's This Is Us at 8 p.m. This may be the network's best new show if anybody watches. The series follows the lives of three people who share the same birthday and whose lives are connected in an unusual way.
WEDNESDAY
Several worthwhile new series have landed on Wednesdays. The CW's Frequency is a sci-fi police procedural that I found too high concept to keep my interest, and Fox's Lethal Weapon is a predictable TV reboot of the film franchise.
Both of those new shows will have fans, but it's incumbent upon me to heap praise upon any comedy that breaks new ground. Those are few and far between and deserve our encouragement.
Speechless is just such a sitcom. It airs at 7:30 p.m. on ABC and stars the inimitable Minnie Driver as the unfiltered mother of three. They include an eldest son who has cerebral palsy, played by Micah Fowler, who has the condition himself.
The series is smart and witty, and Driver's comedic timing is a marvel.
Wednesday backup: ABC's Designated Survivor (9 p.m., ABC) gives us Kiefer Sutherland as the president after a terror attack wipes out the government. It's nice to see Sutherland as someone other than Jack Bauer.
THURSDAY
Thursday Night Football wraps up this week on CBS, then makes way for two hours of comedies topped off by the new medical drama Pure Genius.
Football returns to Thursdays between Nov. 17 and Dec. 22 on NBC. Until then, NBC offers a mix of comedy and drama. Meanwhile, The CW has more superhero and sci-fi fare lined up for the night.
ABC turns the evening over to a bevy of strong, memorable female characters with Grey's Anatomy, Notorious and How to Get Away With Murder, while Fox offers the forensic drama Rosewood and the sweet and uplifting drama Pitch.
If I had to pick just one, it would be Pitch for its positive message of family, perseverance and self-reliance. Kylie Bunbury stars as talented (but fictional) pitcher Ginny Baker, the first woman to make it to the major leagues. It's an inspiring series with a high degree of verisimilitude.
Thursday backup: Notorious. I'd watch Piper Perabo read the phone book. Do we still have phone books?
FRIDAY
Friday used to be a throwaway night with shows on the long, slow offramp to cancellation. Now it's the home of programming fancied by senior citizens who are long past the expiration date for advertisers.
If that sounds cruel, it's nothing personal. Advertisers prefer the under-49 demographic and older viewers are seen as too set in their ways to sell anything to.
Only a couple of new shows have been tossed into the Friday mix. The Exorcist on Fox might prove too devilish for some despite the presence of Oscar winner Geena Davis, but the reboot of MacGyver should please young and old alike.
MacGyver airs at 7 p.m. on CBS and stars hunky young Lucas Till as war hero Mac MacGyver. He teams with former CIA spook Jack Dalton (George Eads) to tackle clandestine, high-risk missions. Think Jason Bourne meets Mission Impossible.
Friday backup: Check out Fox's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend at 8 p.m. Lots of critics were hoping Rachel Bloom would earn an Emmy for her series that premiered last fall but, alas, she was snubbed.
SATURDAY
There's lots of football, but no new scripted programming on Saturdays, so use this time to whittle down your DVR stash by catching up on some of those backup shows.
ActiveStyle on 10/17/2016