Genre Trends by the decade - you thoughts?

[Tonguez]

So after doing a Marathon watch of The Flash I happened to turn on the TV and a rerun of Man from UNCLE was on, which I watched and giggled at and that got me thinking about the different genre of Television and what has been popular overtime. We have the current Superhero run to replace the rash of Vampire/Supernatural dramas that we've had for the past few years, alongside the dreaded Reality Series and over the earlier 2000s I recall the glut of Forensic Investigation shows like CSI and Law and Order etc.

Before that I'm largely basing things on what I remember and thats probably not at all comprehensive and I accept that there are certain standards like family dramas and sit-coms (everything from Beverly Hillbillies to The Cosbys to Full House to The Middle) that tend to always remain popular - but do you think that there are genre trends with each generation and what do you think those trends are?

For me I'm going
1960 Espionage Superspies (Get Smart, The Avengers, Man from Uncle)
1970 Urban Comedy (Mary Tyler Moore, Good Times) and Sci-Fi (Six Million Dollar Man, Man from Atlantis, the Hulk)
1980 Cops and Power Suits (CHiPs and Dallas)
1990 Friends (Cheers, Seinfeild, 90210)
2000 CSI
2010 Reality TV and Vampires
2015 Super Heroes

 

[Ryujin]

Funny thing is that we tend to remember what matters to us, but forget the rest. Many of these particular genres wax and wane, rather than coming and going. For example when it comes to procedural shows think back to shows like "Dragnet", "Emergency" (aka "Squad 51"), and "Quincy ME." In 1996 there was a short-run Aaron Spelling soap opera mess called "Kindred: The Embraced", that was a whole-cloth portrayal of the role playing game "Vampire: The Masquerade." Every decade has its sitcoms ("Leave it to Beaver" '50s-'60s, "Bewitched" '60s-'70s, "All in the Family" through the '70s, "M.A.S.H." '70s-'80s...... and on, and on). Where reality TV is concerned "COPS" has been running since 1989 and "Big Brother" started somewhere in the late '90s/2000. The 2007-2008 writers' strike pushed reality TV into growth.

Some things are tried a little too early or a little too late. "Kindred" would have blown up the ratings lists just a couple of years ago but died a well warranted death, back when it was originally released. It might as well have been considered a forerunner to "True Blood."

In short, media is cyclical. People latch onto a particular show and suddenly every network just has to have a show just like it. Eventually viewers overdose on that genre and move on to something else, only to have the cycle repeat itself. Take a look at the Wikipedia list of 'hospital dramas' for example.