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. TV just doesn’t make us feel good anymore.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

Interviewer (“O” editor-in-chief Susan Casey): Well, we need [the
Oprah Winfrey Network] now more than ever. So much on television these
days is unwatchable.”

Oprah: It’s just created to blur the
senses. It feels like Halloween candy. Gobble it down and at the end
you don’t feel better–you’re like, Why did I do that to myself? In
recent years I started to feel that, Gee, television has lost its mind.
There’s no mindfulness there anymore. You used to be able to watch
shows and come away with something–like with my favorite program
growing up, ‘The Andy Griffith Show.’

Susan Casey: Or ‘Wild Kingdom!’ I loved that.

Oprah:
Or ‘Wild Kingdom.’ You would watch it, and even if you didn’t learn
something, there would be a thoughtfulness about it. An interesting
aspect–something that sort of opened you up a little bit, that brought
a little piece of light into whatever it is you were doing. ‘Bonanza,’
for goodness’ sake! Any number of shows for a long, long, long
time–television actually did that. And in recent years I started to
notice it doesn’t. Television doesn’t make me feel good. There’s
nothing about it that makes me feel good. I literally do not have it on
at any time in my personal space, be it in the office, be it in my
makeup room. If I walk in and it’s on, I will say, “Turn it off,”
unless it’s something I need to know or need to hear. I just won’t have
it. I will not allow the mindless chattering of Halloween candy. I just
won’t allow it. If you wanted to drive me insane, that’s what you would
do. You would put me in a room where the television was never turned
off.

Amen. Let’s hope Oprah can help change things.

On a similar note, I recently wrote a blog for The Wrap 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.

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 used to say, that Life is Worth Living.

So, here is it is, tweaked slightly (I added Who Wants to be a Millionaire):

Monday:
  8:00 – I Love Lucy (CBS,
1951-1957)
  8:30 – The Andy Griffith Show (CBS, 1960-1968)
  9:00 – 
Everybody Loves Raymond (CBS, 1996-2005)
  9:30 – WKRP in Cincinnatti (CBS,
1978-1982)
 10:00 – Chicago Hope (CBS, 1994-1995 – early Mandy Patinkin
episodes only)
Comment:  A night of character. From Lucy Ricardo to
Dr. Jeffrey Geiger, these shows represent some of the most-memorable characters
the medium has ever offered.

Tuesday
   8:00 – JAG  (NBC/CBS,
1995-2005)        
   9:00 – The Fugitive (ABC, 1963-1967)
 10:00 – NYPD
Blue  (ABC, 1993-2005)
Comment:  Three of TV’s most solid dramas on
one night.

Wednesday
  8:00 – Batman (ABC,
1966-1968)
  8:30 – Green Acres (CBS, 1965-1971)
  9:00 – Lost  (ABC,
2004-2010)             
10:00 – Quantum Leap (NBC, 1989-1993)
Comment:
Surreal and just plain weird TV at its most original and best.

Thursday
  8:00 –
Barney Miller (ABC, 1975-1982)
  8:30 – Taxi (ABC/NBC, 1978-1983)
  9:00 –
Frasier (NBC, 1993-2004)
  9:30 – Just Shoot Me (NBC, 1997-2003
10:00 – LA
Law (NBC, 1986-1994)
Comment:  Ultimate Must-See TV.

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

Saturday
  8:00 – All in the Family (CBS,
1971-1979)
  8:30 – The Honeymooners (CBS, 1955-1956)
  9:00 –  The Dick
Van Dyke Show (CBS, 1961-1966)
  9:30 –  M*A*S*H (CBS, 1972-1983)
10:00 –
The Carol Burnett Show (CBS, 1967-1978)
Comment: Remember when the
networks actually programmed Saturday nights.

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

Sunday
 7:00 – 60
Minutes (CBS, 1968-current)/The Amazing Race (CBS,
2001-current)/Who Wants to be a Millionaire (ABC, 1999-2002)
 8:00 – Touched by an Angel (CBS,
1994-2003)
  9:00 – Sunday Night Movie
(Various)/Columbo (NBC, 1968-1978/ABC,
1989-2003)
10:30 – The Twilight Zone (CBS,
1959-1964)
Comment:  60 Minutes represents TV’s first
and still-the-best news magazine but its reruns are really annoying.  That’s why
I have it sharing its time slot with The Amazing Race (probably the
only truly excellent reality series) and Who Wants to be a Millionaire (a classic game show phenomenon). Touched by an Angel , might be
viewed as a controversial choice by some, but it connects with middle American
values in a way that few TV shows do.  Also, no network schedule is really
complete if not peppered by quality movies and miniseries. So, in the 9-11 slot
I have room for those (sharing the slot with Columbo, the best of the
old rotating  Mystery Movie franchise. And, sonce some of the best made
for TV mo vies and Columbo  episodes ran only 90 minute, that leaves
room for The Twilight Zone, TV’s all-time best anthology.

With the exception of Touched by an Angel, most of the shows on this schedule are not particularly religious (though M*A*S*H 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.

If network television would produce such fare again, they might actually see a reversal of their audience declines.

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

Anyway, Converse Marketing is out with a DVD bio called Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen: Servant of All which is available for group presentations (i.e. parishes or schools) via The Archbishop Fulton Sheen Foundation (Ph. #:
877-71SHEEN). .  I’m watching it today and will have a review for you tomorrow.