Memo to TV execs: time to get creative
Writers' strike offers a chance to try new ideas
If the writers' strike leaves the television networks without new material, the networks could leave prime-time viewers without good TV. Think scads of mediocre reality shows and reruns. And, all due respect, but I never want to see another "Law & Order" rerun in my life.
Maybe - silver lining alert! - the delay in new scripts will force the suits to be creative, even while forcing them to appreciate their writers. Maybe they will try to have fun. Here are a few ideas - some crazy, some maybe not so crazy - for the networks in need.
1) Go repertory on us. Dig out oldies but goodies and air them in prime time. I'd love to see the networks single out classic episodes - maybe do a weekly series of memorable finales such as last episodes of "Newhart" and "St. Elsewhere." Obviously, this TV Land-ish idea would involve lots of rights issues, but that's not my problem!
2) Mash up and remix. How cool would it be to get a master VJ to throw together clips from different shows to create something new? It could be a new kind of electronic folk art for one hour every week. Put a character from "Grey's Anatomy" in a scene from an earlier season, watching herself and commenting on her behavior. Or put Liz Lemon from "30 Rock" in "Heroes" and then bring her into "The Office," and construct a new plot.
Someone with an encyclopedic knowledge of TV should be able to piece together something cool - and judging from the stuff that shows up on YouTube, there are plenty of people who could easily pull that off. Yeah, it might be trippy, but no trippier than "Pushing Daisies," right?
3) Steal extras. Go to the DVD packages of great shows, and maybe even some movies, and select well-done extras to air in prime time. Seriously, there are a lot of featurettes, of current and of classic shows, that might play well. DVDs are a sensitive issue, as DVD residuals are part of the impasse between writers and producers. But there are many DVDs already out there containing good stuff.
4) Undo past damages. Pull out all those brilliant but canceled series that you screwed up the first time around and give them another chance. I know that "Freaks and Geeks" and "Action" and "Undeclared" and "Grosse Pointe" have all found their way to DVD, but I still think they could work on prime time. Promote them cleverly, under a moniker such as "Old/New" or "Re: New."
"Undeclared," for instance, has a lot more potential for audience appeal, now that creator Judd Apatow and many of the cast members have gone on to gain recognition for "The 40 Year Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up." Some of these shows, including "Andy Richter Controls the Universe," still have not been released on disc. They're due for an airing.
5) Get crazy. Do absurdist things, such as getting sitcom cast members to redo scenes playing different roles. Or have the cast of "30 Rock" play out an episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" like an MTM cover band. Try to keep the idea of scripted TV fresh, even while the actual scripted shows are in hibernation.
Obviously, none of these suggestions will replace the excitement of new episodes of good shows. I don't believe this kind of make-do programming would be wildly popular - indeed, some cable channels are already doing these things. But the careful selection of oldies and classics and mash-ups could make an interesting diversion for a little while. It might also give the networks an opportunity to show who they are when they're not trying to put a hard sell on their new products.
Think of Harper's Magazine, and the way it makes bits and pieces interesting simply by pulling them from obscurity. Websites, too, can be fascinating by selecting the right links. The networks could create a postmodern pastiche of TV surprises. I think one of the reasons "Pushing Daisies" is catching on is that it is so different and unexpected, it has captured viewers who are accustomed to the same old same old in prime time.
And I would rather see the networks show imagination rather than shovel second-rate reality TV our way. Remember, good reality shows - "American Idol," for instance - are the exceptions. Most of what we'd see if a strike wore on would be button-pushing nonsense such as "Kid Nation" or knockoffs of better reality shows.
Night after night of cruddy reality is bad for viewers and for the image of series TV, which really has so much more potential.
Matthew Gilbert can be reached at gilbert@globe.com. For more on TV, visit boston.com/ae/tv/blog/. 