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January 7, 2009 | |||||||
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 "Good" TV Far From Perfect March 15, 2001 We didn't ask for your goodTV ideas because we were low on saccharin. There are more than enough Pollyannas out there. Who says "good" is perfect? Not us and certainly not you. You want difficulty, drama, and divergent personalities. But you also want constructive outcomes. Read on to get a breath of fresh air from the thousands of people who participated in our "I Want My goodTV" campaign. Reader Responses are a goodthing! Join Jerry Shefchik of Kewaunee, Wisconsin, and contribute to the conversation here. Dear readers, Are you resisting the movie "Traffic" because you don't have the stomach to deal with the subject matter? Well, don't. Are you going to see the movie just because it's nominated for an Academy Award? Don't do that either. Go see it because it's good. This won't be the last time you read someone proclaiming the glories of "Traffic." But for a film that has provided one of the most comprehensive, unsettling views of the war on drugs, you might ask: why us? It's simple. Despite its inherent tragedy, the entire movie is spent tiptoeing toward a final scene so purely good that it registers almost as an elixir. It's pop-cultural rejuvenation after two and a half very difficult hours. Over the past six weeks, we've heard from thousands of you from around the world who've craved such an elixir, a remedy that would make television worth watching. The good news is you're not alone! And your ideas were all over the diverse, colorful, wonderful map. You told us about the positive reality shows that are already on the air, like "Junkyard Wars" and "Castaway 2000." You put the fictional manifestations of reality TV, the "thirtysomething"s of the world, back on our radar screen. Some of you told us you loved reality TV in its current form. Others of you hated TV in any form. Fair enough. And then, there were the comic suggestions. Hey, we'd tune in to see what happens behind the scenes after you've checked your luggage at the airport. (It's just like "Toy Story 2" behind that wall, right?) How about this one: put a bunch of people in a car and watch them try to agree on when to stop for bathroom breaks. Or what about challenging the U. S. government to come up with an understandable tax form? Rich, rich stuff. Some of you even liked the ideas we suggested. The one about the sailboat was a big hit. Watching a group of strangers sail around the world together, facing the open seas, seemed to have a lot of what you said you were looking for -- uncertainty, wide open spaces, physical challenge. On the sailing theme, we liked one person's idea to have a team of folks build a seaworthy boat big enough to hold them all in order to get off of a desert island, Gilligan-style. We also heard from folks who were ready to watch groups trek over tough terrain or live off the land using tools from bygone eras. We received scores of passionate ideas that would certainly win awards as documentary films -- rugged illustrations of teams working to save a threatened dolphin species, experiencing the plight of indigenous people in places like Papua New Guinea, or working to right a social wrong. People also liked the idea of a "Pay It Forward" chain or folks changing the lives of homeless families or disadvantaged kids or house-bound elderly people. You told us you'd watch people uprooted in a neighborhood far different from their own -- rural or suburban folks in urban settings, urban families on farms; blacks in largely white neighborhoods, whites in predominantly black ones. You also said you'd watch people creating something together, like getting a behind-the-scenes look at the dynamics of making of a film or an outdoor play. Clearly, good reality television could be just like that. In "Traffic," we witness the steady construction of that final scene, hoping that something good will emerge from the chaos. The idea that it does is a brand of vindication. It justifies the time spent focusing on conflict, which, as reader Jay Wilson wrote, is what drama is made of: "Characters in conflict must overcome obstacles to eventually emerge somehow changed and victorious." It's what we expect of storytelling. Imagine watching a group of people clearly building or creating something without having any idea what it is they're building. Conflict sets in. Challenges mount. Direct mentions of the intended result are bleeped out. Until the very end. Wouldn't you hold your breath for the grand finale? Wild horses couldn't drag us away from the screen every single week. Of course, there were those of you who said somebody should film a group of people in Seattle trying to create a little company promoting the good things in the world. Hmmm. . .sounds oddly familiar. . . Thanks for "watching," GOODTHINGS (e-mail us) TALK ABOUT IT What would you hope to get out of a good reality TV show? What are you thinking about reality TV these days? DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT Watch the real deal and tell a friend about it. Good unscripted TV is a reality! "Castaway 2000" -- it's good British reality TV. "Junkyard Wars" -- watch it on The Learning Channel. A new season begins soon. Many thanks to all of you who participated in the "I Want My goodTV" campaign! Your interest was inspiring. We're busy figuring out our next steps so please stay tuned. Readers Respond Want to share your thoughts or ideas with other people who care about good things? Send 'em our way. To the editor: You are right on in regards to your opinion on the movie "Traffic." I thought it was an outstanding movie. Many times people don't like seeing a movie like Traffic, and I have to admit when I walked out of the theater it made a definite impression in my mind. Yes, the movie ended on a positive note, but I think we all know the reality of drugs, and what this movie portrayed can and does end in tragedy and negatives many times. We really do need goodthings.com to help spread the word that there are so many good people in the world that all want to enjoy the good things in life. We are only here for a very short time and life can be so enjoyable. Keep up the good work! Jerry Shefchik Kewaunee, Wisconsin To the editor: Comment on the format of the Good TV article: I was expecting to read a sort of "bulleted list" of responses, so I was thrown off to see a looonng article hinged on the film "Traffic." I did go back and re-read the article to capture the little nuggets that you compiled, but I would have preferred reading the suggestions in a list and in people's own voices. Editor's Note: Thanks so much for your thoughtful comments. You definitely make a great point. There were certainly many other ways we could have presented a sampling of the results from the goodTV campaign. There were just so many responses! It was tough figuring out how to give all of the great ones equal time. We hope to be able to do something like you suggest in the near future and make it available for folks to check out here on our Web site. |
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