Emmy Awards

I remember the Emmy awards 40 years ago.  All of America watched the same shows and we rooted for our favorites.  If our faves won we were happy, if not we groaned but we understood. We had seen the other shows and we had at least some scornful respect.

Now we watch what we want when we want.  I've recently seen all three seasons of Downton Abbey and the first season of House of Cards.  That's just about all of the current TV I've watched, which puts me pretty much on my own island. Not unlike others, I guess.  But what does that say about the Emmy's? Without a common viewing experience how can such awards be meaningful?  Most of the awards went to shows I'd never seen, and many went to shows I'd never heard of.

But let's not romanticize the past.  Most of what was broadcast was just plain awful, and it all lived within a very narrow mainstream creative range. Now there's still lots of crap to watch, but there's much much more of everything, including the good stuff. And thanks to almost unlimited bandwidth the range is enormous.  There truly is something for everyone.

Nonetheless there was a stronger sense of community back then. Common experience that encouraged a sense of belonging to something larger then ourselves. Shared sacrifice for a larger good was more accepted. Today's fragmentation and focus on the individual does have political, economic, and sociological consequences. I guess we have to look elsewhere for shared experience. Online social networks certainly help to bring people together. Sports still connect us, both as participants and viewers. I hope we continue to find new ways to connect, on almost any terms.

Meanwhile the Emmy Award Show is at least a way to find out what I should perhaps be watching. And unlike the past, I can watch it as I please.