1999/2000 Program Trends

Every year, there are certain trends in the new season

Last year, we saw the following trends   “Dateline - The Next Generation” “Nostalgia” “The Single Life” 1998/1999 began with not only five nights a week of Dateline on NBC, but also 3 airings of 20/20 a week on ABC FOX recalled the 70’s on That 70’s Show, CBS looked back at the Rat-Pack era with Buddy Faro, and ABC brought back Fantasy Island     Divorce was in the plots of Maggie Winters, Holding the Baby and The Secret Lives of Men.  The termination of longstanding relationships was also featured in Costello and Will & Grace

 

Here is a look at this year's trends

“Teen Spirit” Based partially on the success of Dawson’s Creek as well as numerous teen oriented movies, a multitude of teen and young adult series appear across all of the networks (and not just WB)

“Breaking the Fourth Wall” Pioneered by George Burns back in the 50s, “breaking the fourth wall” is when a TV character directly addresses the camera/audience. A multitude of new series feature this technique including Mike O’Malley (NBC), Shasta McNasty (FOX), Get Real (FOX), and Malcolm in the Middle (FOX)

“High Concept TV” In 1999/2000, we have series about aliens (Roswell), vampires (Angel), virtual reality (Harsh Realm), and a brain implanted in a super human body (Now & Again)