I realize that a lot of people from my generation probably won\u2019t recognize the names Lucille Ball or Desi Arnaz. In fact, you\u2019re very likely out there right now rolling your eyes at me and wondering how a show so dated could ever be relevant in today\u2019s world. But let me tell you something. If it weren\u2019t for the zany, endearing antics of the fictional Ricardo family, the genre of sitcoms, and possibly all of serialized TV in general, wouldn\u2019t exist at all.<\/p>\n I Love Lucy<\/em> was the show that made American families all across the country sit down and turn on their TVs together every night, beginning an entertainment tradition that still persists in some form or other. It introduced the idea to the public that fictional characters and their lives could be just as interesting, and perhaps even more so, than real experiences. It was escapism, pure and simple; something that remains a driving force behind modern TV. And, perhaps most importantly, it made people of all ages laugh together as the original family-friendly show. All things considered, I\u2019d say that makes it pretty relevant.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now it\u2019s no secret that I\u2019m a big fan of sci-fi, but before you all start calling me biased for picking the genesis of my favorite genre as one of my most influential shows of all time, I\u2019d like to take a look at the bigger picture. Sure, Star Trek<\/em> launched\u2013no pun intended\u2013an archetype that pretty much every single space-oriented show that came after it followed and built upon. That\u2019s not up for debate. What I\u2019m more interested in is Star Trek<\/em>\u2019s other, often-overlooked legacy: multiculturalism.<\/p>\n Before Star Trek<\/em>, most TV shows were pretty whitewashed. But then along came Gene Roddenberry, with an idealistic and grandiose view of the future: a world where the peoples of Earth, be they black or white, Asian or European, came together with beings not even of this planet to form a peaceful coalition. Before Star Trek<\/em> came along, no other TV show had put such diversity on the same screen together. The show had everyone represented\u2013heck, they even had a Russian, and that was when we were at Cold War with them! Not to mention the first interracial love scene in television history. Star Trek<\/em> laid the groundwork of cultural inclusivity, tolerance and respect that let every show that came after it continue to \u201cboldly go where no one has gone before.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For a show that claimed to be essentially about \u201cnothing,\u201d Seinfeld<\/em> is still regarded as a pretty big deal. It\u2019s constantly rated as one of the best TV shows of all time, and one of the funniest as well. I know, I know; I already talked about the genesis of sitcoms with I Love Lucy<\/em>. So what does this show bring to the table that Lucy<\/em> didn\u2019t?<\/p>\n While I Love Lucy<\/em> may have introduced the idea of situation comedy, it didn\u2019t pretend to be real. It was entertaining, but this was because it was a parody of life\u2013an exaggeration\u2013rather than a hard look at what makes life funny. This is what Seinfeld<\/em> hit upon: those awkward moments in inane everyday conversation, the stupid decisions that people make all the time without thinking about them and that they never learn from, and friendships that are formed without any common ground whatsoever.<\/p>\n The \u201cnothing,\u201d in this case, is rather the \u201ceverything\u201d\u2013every facet of daily life that we usually take for granted and the incidents that we think no one else could ever understand. Seinfeld<\/em> brought them all to the floor, sometimes with a lot more detail than necessary, and gave us something to really laugh at: ourselves.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I\u2019ll be the first to jump up and say that I hate reality TV, but it\u2019s undeniably one of the most popular forms of entertainment right now. And that being said, even I find myself from time to time feeling extremely guilty for enjoying a little bit of paradise drama. Hosted by the magnanimous Jeff Probst, Survivor<\/em> took the post-millennium television world by storm with its mix of real-life interpersonal drama, exploratory adventure, and explosive sporting action. It\u2019s almost impossible not to get caught up in what is going on if you happen to turn on the show, which is now approaching its 29th<\/sup> season.<\/p>\n Survivor<\/em> fascinates us because it shows human beings pushed to their limits, both physically and mentally, as well as demonstrating through real, relatable people the classic moral quandary of being liked versus being ruthless. We can\u2019t help but put ourselves in the contestants\u2019 position and wonder what we would have done in their place. It also intrigues us by taking audiences places in the world they never thought they would get to see. It also doesn\u2019t hurt that Survivor<\/em> pretty much single-handedly made reality TV a profitable genre in the industry and continues to be a smash-hit to this day. I think the tribe has definitely spoken on this one.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Anyone who knows me knows that I have a love\/hate relationship with Lost<\/em>. I absolutely despise the ridiculous plot, which after a relatively interesting development arc in the first few seasons goes completely off the rails in the latter half of the show and confuses the heck out of me. I honestly believe that the writers were just making stuff up every week because they had no idea where they were supposed to go.<\/p>\n Personal grief aside, I still must admit that Lost<\/em> has been a very influential show due to a different element: its characters. No show before it went so deep into exploring the stories, feelings, and motivations of its fictional participants. Lost<\/em> did the extraordinary in that it truly created three-dimensional people\u2013and in an ensemble cast of several dozen no less\u2013creating compelling characters with narratives that would make us laugh, cry, and possibly even want to punch things.<\/p>\n I believe that while Lost<\/em> may not have created the character-driven drama, it was the best at doing it. This show demonstrated that not all TV shows have to be slave to a story; the much more interesting development here occurs in the relationships between people who are brought together by coincidence and fate. Certainly, the multitudes of other, less successful copy-cat shows that have come and gone in the years since Lost<\/em> left the airwaves speak volumes about what an impact this show has had on the television landscape. In the end, Lost<\/em> was not a story about a mysterious island, but a show about people at their best and at their worst. I think it would serve us all to talk a few lessons from it about our own humanity.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Channel Chaser is written by Kyle Robertson. You can check out more of his work on his\u00a0<\/span>website<\/a>. Check back every Friday for new articles.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hello everyone, and welcome back to another edition of Channel Chaser! For today\u2019s topic, I\u2019m going to take you through a very short list of what I believe to be the most important shows in the history of television. I should preface this by saying that when I define a show as \u201cimportant,\u201d I don\u2019t [Read more…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1503"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1503"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1505,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1503\/revisions\/1505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"ILoveLucy\"](\"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/ILoveLucy.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nStar Trek<\/em> (1966\u20131969)<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nSeinfeld<\/em> (1989\u20131998)<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nSurvivor<\/em> (2000\u2013present)<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nLost<\/em> (2004\u20132010)<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n