In reading Everything Bad Is Good for You today, I came across a section that I felt I had to share. Steven Johnson, the author, is discussing what he describes as the Sleeper Curve, and how it shows that compared to earlier incarnations of television, our brains are required to function on a higher level to watch current TV shows.
The relevant comparison is not between Joe Millionaire and M*A*S*H; it's between Joe Millionaire and The Price Is Right, or between Survivor and The Love Boat.
What you see when you make these head-to-head comparisons is that a rising tide of complexity has been lifting programming both at the bottom of the quality spectrum and at the top. The Sopranos is several times more complex than Hill Street was, and Joe Millionaire has made comparable advances over Battle of The Network Stars. This is the ultimate test of the Sleeper Curve theory: even the crap has improved.
Agree or disagree with his arguments, but that man deserves a Pulitzer for that line.
Until later...
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