Top Prime Time Shows from 1997-Now

This is a series of Prime Time Series which debuted between 1997 and now. Under each show is a brief description provided by IMDB. 

Survivor (2000) (CBS) (23 Seasons)
A reality show where a group of contestants are stranded in a remote location with little more than the clothes on their back. The lone survivor of this contest takes home a million dollars.
The Amazing Race (2001) (CBS) (19 Seasons)
Multiple teams race around the globe for $1,000,000 to 'amazing' locations.
The Bachelor (2002) (ABC) (16 Seasons)
Millions of viewers shared the heartbreak of Ben Flajnik when his soulful and heartfelt proposal was rejected by Ashley Hebert in the emotional finale of last season's "The Bachelorette." Now Ben is ready to put all the disappointment and hurt behind him in order to move on with his life, his phenomenal success as a businessman and his search for the right woman to be his wife and to start a family with. Written by ABC Publicity
The Bachelorette (2003) (ABC) (8 Seasons) 
Ashley Hebert couldn't admit she was in love with "Bachelor" Brad Womack - and it might have cost her the final rose - but that's all in the past. The energetic and vivacious Hebert, is ready to start a new life with a soul mate she might soon meet in the seventh edition of "The Bachelorette." Written by ABC Publicity
South Park (1997) (Comedy Central) (16 Seasons)
Follows the misadventures of four irreverent grade-schoolers in the quiet, dysfunctional town of South Park, Colorado.
Dancing with the Stars (2005) (ABC) (14 Seasons)
U.S. reality show based on the British series "Strictly Come Dancing," where celebrities partner up with professional dancers and compete against each other in weekly elimination rounds to determine a winner.
Big Brother (2000) (CBS) (13 Seasons)
Contestants must compete against each other for a chance to win $500,000 in a house wired with cameras and microphones, capturing their every move for a TV and Internet audience.
King of the Hill (1997) (2009) (13 Seasons)
Show about a rigid redneckish propane salesman with a good heart and wacky friends and family.
Real World/Road Rules Challenge (1997) (MTV) (13 Seasons)
Past members of "The Real World", "Road Rules", and first time cast members called "Fresh Meat", compete against each other for the chance to win a cash prize.
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) (NBC) 13 Seasons)
This show introduces the Special Victims Unit, a new elite squad of NYPD detectives who investigate sexually related crimes.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000) (CBS) (12 Seasons)
An elite team of police forensic evidence investigation experts work their cases in Las Vegas.
Antiques Roadshow (PBS) (1997) (11 Seasons)
Appraisers of antiques travel with the show to various cities. Area citizens bring articles for appraisal and often relate the histories of these items. The appraisers then expand on what is known about the treasures, sometimes exposing them as fakes, and they estimate the pieces' financial value. The show also includes tips for aspiring collectors of a wide range of items. Written by Carl J. Youngdahl <zomno@casbah.acns.nwu.edu>
American Idol (2002) (Fox) (11 Seasons)

Twelve finalists and/or future singers (six men and six women) who were selected from America, compete in a talent contest in which they were asked to sing any song they like on this "Star Search" clone. After each song that was sung, the judges, Abdul, Jackson and Cowell, then critique that finalist's chosen song. After each show's ending, America must vote for a finalist to whom they really think their performance is good using this AT&T (now Cingular Wireless) or any other cellular phone to cast votes with. Once the votes are locked in, the judges and America decides who has the most and the least amount of votes, and the contestant with the least amount of votes is eliminated, and it goes on each week's show until the winner is crowned as "American Idol," where he/she wins a recording contract worth up to $1,000,000. The rest of the other finalists to whom they have been voted off before (the runner-up) also get recording contracts, too. Written byGary Richard Collins II (gcollinsii@aol.com)
Stargate SG-1 (1997-2002) (Showtime) (10 Seasons)
A secret military team, SG-1, is formed to explore the recently discovered StarGates.
Smallville (2001-2006 [WB])  (2006-2011[CW]) (10 Seasons)
A young Clark Kent struggles to find his place in the world as he learns to harness his alien powers for good and deals with the typical troubles of teenage life in Smallville.
Law and Order: Criminal Intent (2001) (NBC) (10 Seasons)
The third "Law and Order" series involves the criminal justice system from the criminal's point of view.
Family Guy (1999) (Fox) (10 Seasons)
In a wacky Rhode Island town, a dysfunctional family strive to cope with everyday life as they are thrown from one crazy scenario to another.
Grey's Anatomy (2005) (ABC) (8 Seasons)
A drama centered on the personal and professional lives of five surgical interns and their supervisors.
Castle (2009) (ABC) (4 Seasons)
After a serial killer imitates the plots of his novels, successful mystery novelist Richard "Rick" Castle gets permission from the Mayor of New York City to tag along with an NYPD homicide investigation team for research purposes.
Last Man Standing (2011) (ABC) (1 Season)
A married father of three tries to maintain his manliness in a world increasingly dominated by women.
Body of Proof (2011) ABC (2 Seasons)
Medical examiner Megan Hunt's unique approach to solving crimes puts her at odds with her superiors.
Suburgatory (2011) (ABC) (1 Season)
A teenage girl moves from the city to the suburbs.
Revenge (2011) (ABC) (1 Season)
Centers on a young woman who is welcomed into a community filled with people who don't know she's only there to exact revenge on those who had destroyed her family.
The Middle (2009) (ABC) (3 Seasons)
The daily mishaps of a married woman and her semi-dysfunctional family and their attempts to survive life in general in the city of Orson, Indiana.
Modern Family (2009) (ABC) (3 Seasons)
A satirical look at three different families and the trials they face in each of their own uniquely comedic ways.
Happy Endings (2011) (ABC) (2 Seasons)
An altar-bound couple break up on their wedding day, forcing their friends to choose which side to take after the split.
Private Practice (2007) (ABC) (5 Seasons)

A spin-off of the medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" centering on the life of neonatal surgeon Addison Montgomery.
Once Upon a Time (2011) (ABC) (2 Seasons)
Centers on a woman with a troubled past who is drawn into a small town in Maine where the magic and mystery of Fairy Tales just may be real.
Pan Am (2011) (ABC) (1 Season)
Period drama about the pilots and flight attendants who once made Pan Am the most glamorous way to fly.
Extreme Makeover (2002-2005) ABC 4 Seasons
Three people are chosen to receive the makeover of a lifetime which includes: plastic surgery, lasik surgery, cosmetic dentistry, hair, makeup and fitness.
Extreme Makeover Home Edition 2003 ABC 9 Seasons
A family that has faced hardship has their dilapidated house completely rebuilt while they are away on vacation for a week.
Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition 2011 ABC 3 Seasons
ABC's Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition is a new weight loss show for anyone who has 200 pounds or more to shed. In this trans-formative new experience, we bring the tools and tips to change your life straight to you! Each week, follow along with each of the 8 participants as our expert trainer, Chris Powell, shows up in their home and at their work to provide invaluable lessons in safe weight loss and healthy living. After 12 months of intensive guidance, their progress will be revealed and at the conclusion of each journey lives will be forever changed from the inside out. Super trainer, Chris Powell is taking on the challenge with motivation and grace -- and he's got the chops. Written by Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition
Desperate Housewives 2004 ABC 8 Seasons
Secrets and truths unfold through the lives of female friends in one suburban neighborhood, after the mysterious suicide of a neighbor.
2 Broke Girls 2011 CBS 2 Seasons
- Sassy, streetwise Max (Kat Dennings) works two jobs just to get by, one of which is waiting tables during the night shift at the retro-hip Williamsburg Diner. Sophisticated Caroline (Beth Behrs) is an uptown trust fund princess who's having a run of bad luck that forces her to reluctantly give waitressing a shot. At first, Max sees Caroline as yet another in a long line of inept servers she must cover for, but she's surprised to find that Caroline has as much substance as she does style. When Caroline discovers Max's knack for baking amazing cupcakes, she sees a lucrative future for them, but they first need to raise the start-up money. Written by CBS
How I Met Your Mother 2005 (CBS) 7 Seasons
Ted searches for the woman of his dreams in New York City with the help of his four best friends.
The Big Bang Theory 2007 CBS 5 Seasons

A woman who moves into an apartment next door to two brilliant but socially awkward physicists shows them how little they know about life outside of the laboratory.
















The Mentalist 2008 CBS 4 Seasons

A well-known psychic becomes a consultant for the California Bureau of Investigation to help solve crimes and to find "Red John," the madman who killed his wife and daughter.

Chuck 2007 NBC 5 Seasons

When a twenty-something computer geek inadvertently downloads critical government secrets into his brain, CIA and NSA assign two agents to protect him and exploit such knowledge, turning his life upside down.




Bibliography:
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http://sharetv.org/images/american_idol-show.jpg

5 Points on Television

Episodic television dramas (Page 180)

Spartacus is an example of episodic television dramas

The creation of these dramas allowed writers to experiment with different types of storytelling. This was one of the big "game-changers" when it came to television and new shows. I, personally, think it was very important due to the fact that these dramas can escalate to movies, book-adaptations, and can bring in much revenue through merchandising. These shows are mesmerizing because of their ability to draw in viewers with an intellectual drive that loves to be challenged.

Jersey Shore; one of the more popular reality shows

Reality (Page 185-186)

Reality TV was an advancement in television because it formed a new genre which allowed television companies to produce shows, that people would watch, for a lower budget than the sitcoms and dramas already on their networks. I believe it was an important advancement in television because it's cheap and draws in large audiences, who doesn't love drama every now and then?





Cable Television (Page 186)


Cable television was a huge advancement. with cable, stations were able to broadcast films, series and documentaries which addressed controversial issues; basically things that couldn't be shown on public television. I believe this was important because this gives people another way to learn more about world issues, as well as political policies and the inner workings of the government. I've seen more than enough political documentaries as well as documentaries on cable that I wouldn't normally see on public television, like something relating to heavy drug use/abuse for example.


Comedy (Page 183)

The Big Bang Theory is one of my favorite shows and a good example of comedies

Comedy shows/sitcoms were a great advancement in television. With the entrance of comedy to the scene companies were able to address social issues. Through comedy, men and women can laugh and inadvertently learn because the information is shrouded by jokes. The book gives the example of M*A*S*H, which addressed the closing of the Vietnam war. I find comedy important because its the perfect mechanism for almost everything, these sitcoms will make you laugh, cry and feel a series of emotions. I have learned my fair share of social and economic issues through comedy shows.



Four big TV networks (Page 182)

The big four television networks were NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX. These four companies offered a large range of television shows, ranging from news to sports. The four big networks were important because they helped the advancement of television through the evolution of new programs and genres. I find this important because these large companies have grown to a size where more opportunities than usual have risen because of all the sub-companies and interests within them.


Bibliography;

http://yochascience.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/spartacus.jpg

http://www.jerseyshoreshow.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/jersey_shore_show.jpg

http://onesmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/The-Big-Bang-Theory.jpg

5 Points on Film

Hybrid Films

The old generation of killer car movies shouldn't have existed in the first place; the only thing scary about this movie is the gas mileage

When I speak about Hybrid films I mean Hybrid Films, not the film, Hybrid, (which is utterly stupid in my opinion.)


Hybrid films are films that tell a story, but in an unconventional way. Such as the Lion King (1994)! A combination of music and animation, which isn't too rare by today's standards, but was one of the first of the Hybrid film generation that I feel will never end. Hybrid films do well in the box office, usually, because of their ability to attract at least 2 different types of audiences. As a child, I loved cartoons, and I still do! But musicals, and random bits in movies and shows where the characters would burst into song, and yet it would still be normal, were my most despised enemy besides my vegetables. But by combining both animation and musical tendencies, Disney had the ability to introduce a generation of children and young adults into the "musical world." (Of which, for me, did not work).


Cross-Genre Films

Cross-Genre films are usually what I end up watching when I flip to FX or any sub-channel of HBO. Cross-genre films are easily defined by a few examples, such as "Romantic Comedies" or "Horror-Thriller," etc. Basically a film that can be categorized more than once! Once again, I find  that movies like this have the ability to reach multiple target audiences at once. Say your girlfriend wants to watch "The Notebook," and you want to watch, oh I don't know, "Bad Teacher?" There's a possibility of you both just settling on a Romantic Comedy, like "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," or "I Love You, Man." (I suggested those two because I tried to think of Romantic Comedies I like, it's completely unrelated that Jason Segel stars in 3 of my 4 suggestions....Well not completely unrelated, he's hilarious). Regardless, these cross-genre films are what I always watch, I can never watch a movie that's specifically one genre, (well I could, but honestly I can't even  find those anymore).






Blockbusters

Well, this is exactly how it sounds, and I'm not talking about the video chain that was seemingly extinct during the past 4 years as Netflix rose from the trenches to steal it's spot. Blockbusters are giant productions, with giant budgets. I'm sure whether or not you've seen it, you've heard of Avatar and it's incredible budget. (Spoiler alert: it was an estimated 237 Million dollars) But these blockbusters are expected to do well, very well. Avatar was a good example of that, making approximately $2,782,275,172 (Worldwide). Now if you ask me, that sounds pretty successful. But although financiers sink in huge amounts of money for these films, they don't always turn out as well as Avatar did. The newest Disney movie out, John Carter, didn't do too well. I mean it did, but not well enough. With an estimated production value of $250 Million and a $30 Million opening the first week, it's not starting out too well, and unless everyone's been hiding under a rock since March 11th, it most likely won't make any more than the $30 Million opening week. There's two examples of blockbusters, one failed, one successful, and hopefully you'll be able to see why blockbusters are so important in film. It's basically a huge gamble but, in this case, you can't stop when you're ahead.


Kaiju and Samurai Cinema

I know what you're thinking, it sounds like a type of sushi (Kaiju actually is a type of Sushi), but it refers to Asian monster/strange creature flicks. I would hope you've heard of Godzilla before? If not, Godzilla's a large, fire/laser-breathing dragon/dinosaur/very large reptile that puts almost any other sci-fi/fantasy creatures to shame. There is also Samurai Cinema, warrior films which put your lack of Judo knowledge to shame. I mention these two types of movies because they, no doubt, inspired many American films we have today, and numerous films which are still in production. These films were beneficial in spreading Asian culture through and around America.


Special Effects

Now, I don't know how much of special effects I'll have to explain, and I wouldn't think the average person wouldn't know why special effects are important and how they've advanced cinema as we see it today, but I'll go ahead and explain anyway. Special effects, sometimes just referred to as FX (like the station), are what make men in costumes into 60 story monsters, and in the case of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids,(Microkids! in Japan) make men and women smaller than ants. Special effects make movies cooler, there's no doubt about it, but they also help depict accuracy in situations that cannot be recreated physically. For example, in a war movie, I don't care how accurate the director wants to be, actually shooting your actors is masochistic and is no doubt illegal, but using special effects, that same character can get blown up, shot, stabbed, cut up, and reappear in the next scene, granted those four examples don't specifically advertise the accurate depictions I started off describing, but a couple actual examples of accurate depictions are Saving Private Ryan and The Day After Tomorrow. Both can not be recreated, only, physically, they require the assistance of computer generation.




Bibliography;

http://filmsponge.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/SUPER-HYBRID-Movie-Poster-Film-Sponge.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/7c/Forgetting_sarah_marshall_ver2.jpg/220px-Forgetting_sarah_marshall_ver2.jpg

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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/46/Blockbuster_logo.svg

My 10 Favorite Films

Silent Hill 

"SHARKBEAR"

Silent Hill is a movie based on a series of games by Konami entertainment. Though the movie didn't stack up quite as well to the series, I find it one of my favorite movies of ALL TIME. It didn't overdo any gore like most horror movies do, and I like CGI creatures, (so you must know I was ecstatic seeing video footage of Sharkbear) But Silent Hill, the movie, was a great film adaptation, which isn't seen that often anymore. Most movies based on a game or a comic book eventually destroy the franchise because of its terrible or inaccurate adaptation. Sort of how Peter Parker's boss would keep making Spiderman look like the villian, but in this hypothetical and metaphorical situation, Spiderman actually does become the villian. (Sorry if that's confusing, I wrote it while singing along to this episode of Spongebob)

Dead Silence

Dead Silence may be one of my favorite films specifically because I always feared that every puppet or doll that surrounded me was alive and secretly watching me, almost like a murderous Toy Story. This movie isn't so much a murderous Toy Story though, as all the puppets are the toys of a ventriloquist by the name of Mary Shaw. Cast out by the town she lived in after a child heckler at her show went missing, Mary Shaw haunts the old town and makes it known her death was just a brief intermission. 

Besides the plot, a memorable part of the movie is the nursery rhyme themed song you occasionally hear throughout the movie.

"Beware the stare of Mary Shaw

She had no children, only dolls
And if you see her in your dreams

Be sure you never, ever scream "

Insidious (Motion Picture)

Insidious was one of those possession movies that has become all the rage with today's movie scene. But I feel that this movie has bragging rights, due to its unusual nature of the out-of-body experience that they flaunted in this plot.

Resident Evil; Apocalypse

The second movie in the Resident Evil, videogame/movie, franchise. It details Alice, the main character, and her continuation to try and take down the Umbrella Corporation. The Umbrella Corporation was creating viral weapons and created a new strain of viruses which formed a whole new, "zombie revolution."

Resident Evil; Afterlife

Some would call it a problem that I like so many movies based off of videogames, but there's a certain sensation when the character you played as is featured on the big screen. Afterlife left me hanging on for more, especially because the next installment won't be on the silver screen until later this year...much later. Without any spoilers, Alice(s) modified the game of life portrayed by the movie and the main villian, Wesker. 

Superbad

Superbad is the stereotypical teen movie, which isn't as stereotypical as thought, mainly because I still like it. Superbad portrays a couple of teens trying to lose their virginity and stars Jonah Hill and Micheal Cera. The casting was seemingly perfect. Micheal Cera is always perfect for the role of awkward teenager, because he has such an awkward aura about him. And Jonah Hill gives off the aura of desperation, in his stilted conversations with women and awkward and rude encounters with anyone who isn't Micheal Cera. 

Paul 

A movie about an alien who crash landed to earth, turned comical by the British minds of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. It had an even amount of sadness in the love you felt for the bonds the characters had, balanced with the comedy, in which jokes stemmed from references and fart jokes. 

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

The first in the series, which made me fall in love, was Curse of the Black Pearl. Detailing the curse that plagued the crew members of the Black Pearl. The movie inspires the inner pirate in me. Not the swordplay, that could kill me, but the rum and singing in brothels is something I could get used to. Scurvy not so much.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Dead Man's Chest, movie number 2, describes Jack Sparrow's debt to Davy Jones, which he deviously sends Will Turner to pay. As ransom until he can get the heart to control Davy Jones, Will works on the Flying Dutchman, while Jack gathers 99 souls to pay his debt to Jones. I love the graphics and the introduction of a new character that they made seem as realistic as an octopus-man can. 

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

The third movie in the series describes the trials and tribulations of Captain Jack Sparrow and Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan. In this movie, Davy Jones is finally taken down, after he is controlled by an English general who has control of his heart. By the end of the movie, Will Turner is decreed the new captain of the Flying Dutchman. This leads to the most current movie, which I loved, possibly even more. 

Bibliography; 

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