Earlier this season, lame duck NBC sitcom “Will & Grace� shot a live episode, to such good response that it may go live again before signing off this season.
On Sunday, another NBC show uses the tactic, as “The West Wing� stages a live debate between its two fictional presidential candidates.
Now live TV has threatened to come back before, and I’m not talking about historically live shows, like “Saturday Night Live.� I’m talking about shows that, seemingly out of nowhere, decide to go live.
“The Drew Carey Show� had a few live episodes, as did the 90s sitcom “Roc.� “ER� did a live episode, and that show’s former star, George Clooney, produced a live made-for-TV remake of the movie “Fail Safe.�
But this fall, live TV is everywhere. It’s the new celebrity guest star.
Apparently, people must like these live broadcasts. But not me. I just don’t get them.
For one thing, live television in today’s world smacks of gimmickry. There’s no reason for it to be live. These episodes probably won’t be improved by the sheer fact that they are live.
The people behind these shows are really just showing off. “Look at us! We’re so good, we’ll risk the possibility that our actors might curse, or forget a line or laugh! We don’t care! We’re living on the edge! Watch if you dare!�
Other shows have an even more daring method of garnering attention and ratings – they produce episodes that people actually want to see.
Live TV seems like just another way to cover up a dip in a show’s quality. Face it -- if “Will & Grace� hadn’t lost comic momentum several seasons ago, it wouldn’t need live episodes to boost its profile.
But going live isn’t just gimmicky. It also reeks of pretense. By flying without a net, television shows are basically comparing themselves to theater. At one time, when theater was less expensive and television was a novelty, that wasn’t an unreasonable comparison.
The gap between television and theater was, and I’m just guessing here, probably far narrower than it is today.
But now, with higher ticket prices, theater is much more of a privilege than in the past. And television, with its hundreds of channels, is vastly more accessible.
It’s the medium of the people. It can be good. It can be smart. It can, at its height, change your mind and enrich you intellectually, just like theater can.
But whereas someone might pay a couple of hundred dollars for tickets to “The Odd Couple� revival, I don’t know anyone who would lay down that much cash to watch “The West Wing.�
Let’s not concentrate on why that is. Let’s just say that theater is theater and television is television and there is no reason for one to pretend it is the other.
I like my TV polished. I even prefer my sitcoms not to have laugh tracks.
Maybe this means I’m hopelessly newfangled. Maybe I’m hard to impress.
Or maybe I just don’t care if Alan Alda curses while waging a fake debate with Jimmy Smits.