The world of electronic entertainment is spinning so rapidly and the potential programming options it offers are so varied that it’s hard to pinpoint just what its future will hold. For the moment, however, in this summer of 1998, it can safely be said that, in this volatile and changing field, the cutting edge of popular entertainment now lies in cable television.
For years, cable has been known as a place of old reruns, new movies and adult content; and to a certain extent, that’s still true. You can get your fill of “Taxi,” “Bewitched” and “Rhoda” on Nick at Nite; you can watch “Men in Black” and “Speed 2: Cruise Control,” without commercials, on HBO and Showtime long before they’re seen on the commercial networks; and, if you tune in around midnight on any of the premium movie channels, you can hear and see naughty, sexy business that the network movies still do not show.
The big change, however, has come within the last few months in the surge of original and imaginative programming that the cable stations have initiated.
What was the best long-run television comedy series that ended this season? Not “Seinfeld” on NBC, but “The Larry Sanders Show” on HBO. What is the most lavishly produced science fiction series on television? Not “The X-Files” on the Fox Network, but “Stargate SG-1” on Showtime. What is the most titillating junk-food series on television? Not “Melrose Place” on Fox, but “La Femme Nikita,” with the tantalizing Peta Wilson, on the USA Network. What is the best movie awards show on television? Not the Academy Awards ceremony on ABC, but the MTV Movie Awards show, which entertainingly and lightheartedly hands out prizes for such accomplishments as best kiss and best dance number.
Even more important than the growing number of cable series and spectaculars has been the increase in quality and quantity of made-for-cable feature-length movies. TNT, which consistently mounts heavy-duty features and mini-series, justifiably calls itself “the best movie studio on television.” And this month, two topical, controversial films on America’s wartime experiences — “A Bright Shining Lie,” about Vietnam, and “Thanks of a Grateful Nation,” on the Persian Gulf War — are being shown on HBO and Showtime, respectively.
Nothing on the commercial networks or, for that matter, on public television, can compare with the provocative content and skillful filmmaking of these two movies, both made with actors (Ted Danson, Brian Dennehy, Bill Paxton) and directors who have done yeoman’s work on television.
In days gone by, we would expect public TV to tackle thorny issues and prickly entertainment in its fiction films and taped dramas. But PBS, which faces a programming problem with the demise of American Playhouse and the shopping around to cable channels of the BBC and Children’s Television Workshop (“Sesame Street”) programs on which it once had exclusive rights, is not as venturesome in entertainment these days. Having aired the original, well-produced, gay-oriented “Tales of the City,” public television decided not to take on the sequel of “More Tales of the City.” Instead, it is now ensconced on Showtime, where, whether you’re straight or gay, you can enjoy its expert storytelling and ensemble acting.
Still ahead, as those teaser ads remind us, is the late-summer premiere on Showtime of the new “Lolita,” a feature film, starring Jeremy Irons as Humbert Humbert, that could not get a theatrical release in the United States.
Some may consider this as a trend in which cable TV is the last refuge of scoundrels. But for me, when I’m looking for immediate, easy, in-the-home access to entertainment, it’s time to head for the cable channels — unless, of course, the Bulls are playing on NBC.
