{"id":142,"date":"2011-01-04T06:45:36","date_gmt":"2011-01-04T06:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2011\/01\/oprah-winfrey-says-todays-television-lacks-mindfulness-the-ultimate-tv-schedule.html"},"modified":"2011-01-04T06:45:36","modified_gmt":"2011-01-04T06:45:36","slug":"oprah-winfrey-says-todays-television-lacks-mindfulness-the-ultimate-tv-schedule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2011\/01\/oprah-winfrey-says-todays-television-lacks-mindfulness-the-ultimate-tv-schedule.html","title":{"rendered":"Oprah Winfrey says today’s television lacks “mindfulness” + The Ultimate TV schedule"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oprah Winfrey, having just launched her OWN<\/i> TV<\/a> network, is dissing the state of modern television. In an interview with her O Magazine<\/i><\/a> she decried the lack of programming that does anything to nourish the mind or lift the spirit, giving voice to what a lot of us feel. TV just doesn’t make us feel good anymore. <\/p>\n

Here’s an excerpt from the interview:<\/p>\n

Interviewer (“O” editor-in-chief Susan Casey): Well, we need [the
\nOprah Winfrey Network] now more than ever. So much on television these
\ndays is unwatchable.”<\/i><\/p>\n

Oprah: It’s just created to blur the
\nsenses. It feels like Halloween candy. Gobble it down and at the end
\nyou don’t feel better–you’re like, Why did I do that to myself? In
\nrecent years I started to feel that, Gee, television has lost its mind.
\nThere’s no mindfulness there anymore. You used to be able to watch
\nshows and come away with something–like with my favorite program
\ngrowing up, ‘The Andy Griffith Show.’ <\/i><\/p>\n

Susan Casey: Or ‘Wild Kingdom!’ I loved that.<\/i><\/p>\n

Oprah:
\nOr ‘Wild Kingdom.’ You would watch it, and even if you didn’t learn
\nsomething, there would be a thoughtfulness about it. An interesting
\naspect–something that sort of opened you up a little bit, that brought
\na little piece of light into whatever it is you were doing. ‘Bonanza,’
\nfor goodness’ sake! Any number of shows for a long, long, long
\ntime–television actually did that. And in recent years I started to
\nnotice it doesn’t. Television doesn’t make me feel good. There’s
\nnothing about it that makes me feel good. I literally do not have it on
\nat any time in my personal space, be it in the office, be it in my
\nmakeup room. If I walk in and it’s on, I will say, “Turn it off,”
\nunless it’s something I need to know or need to hear. I just won’t have
\nit. I will not allow the mindless chattering of Halloween candy. I just
\nwon’t allow it. If you wanted to drive me insane, that’s what you would
\ndo. You would put me in a room where the television was never turned
\noff.<\/i><\/p>\n

Amen. Let’s hope Oprah can help change things. <\/p>\n

On a similar note, I recently wrote a blog<\/a> for The Wrap <\/a>noting that at as we begin 2011, broadcast network television’s reign at the very top of the cultural landscape (which began around 1950) appears to coming to an end — due, in part, to technology and, in part, to a reliance on programming aimed at critics rather than the audience at large.<\/p>\n

I then took it upon myself to create a schedule representing the best of what the networks offered us over those sixty years in terms of series. The shows were chosen based on quality and my own personal taste. The dramas were riveting, the comedies funny and they existed within a moral universe where the characters, though often flawed, usually ended up choosing to do the right thing. These shows, like many others unlisted, generally put forth a message that, as Bishop Fulton J. Sheen<\/a> used to say, that Life is Worth Living<\/i><\/a>. <\/p>\n

So, here is it is, tweaked slightly (I added Who Wants to be a Millionaire<\/i>):<\/p>\n

Monday:
<\/u>  8:00 – I Love Lucy (CBS,
\n1951-1957)
  8:30 – The Andy Griffith Show (CBS, 1960-1968)
  9:00 – 
\nEverybody Loves Raymond (CBS, 1996-2005)
  9:30 – WKRP in Cincinnatti (CBS,
\n1978-1982)
 10:00 – Chicago Hope (CBS, 1994-1995 – early Mandy Patinkin
\nepisodes only)
Comment:  <\/strong>A night of character. From Lucy Ricardo to
\nDr. Jeffrey Geiger, these shows represent some of the most-memorable characters
\nthe medium has ever offered.<\/p>\n

Tuesday
<\/u>   8:00 – JAG  (NBC\/CBS,
\n1995-2005)        
   9:00 – The Fugitive (ABC, 1963-1967)
 10:00 – NYPD
\nBlue  (ABC, 1993-2005)
Comment:  <\/strong>Three of TV’s most solid dramas on
\none night.<\/p>\n

Wednesday
<\/u>  8:00 – Batman (ABC,
\n1966-1968)
  8:30 – Green Acres (CBS, 1965-1971)
  9:00 – Lost  (ABC,
\n2004-2010)             
10:00 – Quantum Leap (NBC, 1989-1993)
Comment:
\n<\/strong>Surreal and just plain weird TV at its most original and best.<\/p>\n

Thursday
<\/u>  8:00 –
\nBarney Miller (ABC, 1975-1982)
  8:30 – Taxi (ABC\/NBC, 1978-1983)
  9:00 –
\nFrasier (NBC, 1993-2004)
  9:30 – Just Shoot Me (NBC, 1997-2003
10:00 – LA
\nLaw (NBC, 1986-1994)
Comment:  <\/strong>Ultimate Must-See TV.<\/p>\n

Friday
<\/u>  8:00 – Get Smart (NBC\/CBS,
\n1965-1970)
  8:30 – Hogan’s Heroes (CBS, 1965-1971)
  9:00 – The Rockford
\nFiles (NBC, 1974-1980)
10:00 – Star Trek (NBC, 1966-1969)
Comment: 
\n<\/strong>A night of quintessentials – the quintessential spy spoof, war comedy,
\nprivate eye and sci-series all collected in one line-up.<\/p>\n

Saturday
<\/u>  8:00 – All in the Family (CBS,
\n1971-1979)
  8:30 – The Honeymooners (CBS, 1955-1956)
  9:00 –  The Dick
\nVan Dyke Show (CBS, 1961-1966)
  9:30 –  M*A*S*H (CBS, 1972-1983)
10:00 –
\nThe Carol Burnett Show (CBS, 1967-1978)
Comment: <\/strong>Remember when the
\nnetworks actually programmed Saturday nights.<\/p>\n

All of these classics (with the exception of The Dick Van Dyke Show
\n<\/em>which, for my money, was even better than The Mary Tyler Moore
\nShow<\/em>) actually aired on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

Sunday
<\/u> 7:00 – 60
\nMinutes <\/strong>(CBS, 1968-current)\/The Amazing Race <\/strong>(CBS,
\n2001-current)\/Who Wants to be a Millionaire<\/b> (ABC, 1999-2002)
 8:00 – Touched by an Angel <\/strong>(CBS,
\n1994-2003)
  9:00 – Sunday Night Movie
\n<\/strong>(Various)\/Columbo <\/strong>(NBC, 1968-1978\/ABC,
\n1989-2003)
10:30 – The Twilight Zone <\/strong>(CBS,
\n1959-1964)
Comment: <\/strong> 60 Minutes<\/i> represents TV’s first
\nand still-the-best news magazine but its reruns are really annoying.  That’s why
\nI have it sharing its time slot with The Amazing Race <\/em>(probably the
\nonly truly excellent reality series) and Who Wants to be a Millionaire<\/i> (a classic game show phenomenon). Touched by an Angel , <\/em>might be
\nviewed as a controversial choice by some, but it connects with middle American
\nvalues in a way that few TV shows do.  Also, no network schedule is really
\ncomplete if not peppered by quality movies and miniseries. So, in the 9-11 slot
\nI have room for those (sharing the slot with Columbo, <\/em>the best of the
\nold rotating  Mystery Movie <\/em>franchise. And, sonce some of the best made
\nfor TV mo vies and Columbo<\/em>  episodes ran only 90 minute, that leaves
\nroom for The Twilight Zone, <\/em>TV’s all-time best anthology.<\/p>\n

With the exception of Touched by an Angel, <\/i>most of the shows on this schedule are not particularly religious (though M*A*S*H<\/i> does feature a priest in a prominent role). What they have in common is intelligence, a degree of heart and a tone that does not degrade either their characters or the audience. <\/p>\n

If network television would produce such fare again, they might actually see a reversal of their audience declines. <\/p>\n

BTW, I made reference to Bishop Sheen<\/a> and his old series Life is Worth Living<\/a>, <\/i>which actually ran on network television (first on the now-defunct Dumont Network<\/a> then on ABC) from 1952 to 1957 in what was, certainly, a different era. <\/p>\n

Anyway, Converse Marketing<\/a> is out with a DVD bio called Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen: Servant of All<\/a> which is available for group presentations (i.e. parishes or schools) via The Archbishop Fulton Sheen Foundation (Ph. #:
\n877-71SHEEN). .  I’m watching it today and will have a review for you tomorrow.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/p>\n

Note:
\nAn earlier version of this blog mistakenly said the “Archbishop Fulton
\nJ. Sheen Servant of All” DVD was available via the Maximus Group. It is,
\nin fact, as the corrected copy above says available through Archbishop
\nFulton Sheen Foundation (Ph. #: 877-71SHEEN). I apologize for the
\nerror.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oprah Winfrey, having just launched her OWN TV network, is dissing the state of modern television. In an interview with her O Magazine she decried the lack of programming that does anything to nourish the mind or lift the spirit, giving voice to what a lot of us feel. 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Kennedy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/d80\/d801bc09698c0995d9ae402b4b55ab61x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/d80\/d801bc09698c0995d9ae402b4b55ab61x96.jpg","caption":"John W. Kennedy"},"description":"John W. Kennedy is the founder and Dir. of Development of The Creative Universe Entertainment\u2122, a media consultation and development company focusing on the creation, development and support of high-quality mainstream entertainment that upholds positive timeless values, including trust in God. Current projects include \"Bryant Park\" (an uplifting romantic-comedy) and \"Photo Finish\" (an award-winning sci-fi TV pilot). He has written over 100 children's novels based on episodes of the Cartoon Network series \"Ben 10\", \"Ben 10: Alien Force\", \"Ben 10: Ultimate Alien\", \"Ben 10: Omniverse\" and \"Generator Rex\" among others. He also writes Beliefnet\u2019s \"Faith, Media & Culture\" blog. Previously, he has produced successful news and talk programming for CNN, Fox News, Pax TV and SiriusXM. Specialties: Script Writing, Movie\/TV Novelizations & Adaptations, TV Content Creation and Development, Creative Consultation, Producing and Booking News and Talk shows. 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