BRING BACK NETWORK TV
In an era of endless streaming services, an oversaturated television market and fleeting trends where every new Netflix, HBO, or Hulu series gets its fifteen—more like five—seconds of fame, I find myself missing appointment television. Specifically, the kind that began with early television dramas like The Queen’s Messenger (1928), surged in popularity with I Love Lucy (1950s), defined eras with Happy Days (1970s), Cheers (1980s), Friends (1990s), The Sopranos (2000s) and continued with hits like Breaking Bad (2010s) and Succession (2020s). Since its inaugural season in 1946-1947, launched by NBC, network television has been a cornerstone of American culture. But with the rise of streaming and on-demand programming, the golden age of TV is fading—and I want it back.
Network television didn’t just give us iconic moments—Ross yelling, “We were on a break!” in Friends, Captain Kirk and Uhura sharing the first interracial kiss on U.S. television in Star Trek, the Soup Nazi declaring, “No soup for you!” in Seinfeld—it became woven into the fabric of our daily lives. Thursday nights meant Law & Order marathons and Shondaland’s TGIT (Thank God It’s Thursday) dramas, a nod to ABC’s classic TGIF (Thank God It’s Friday) sitcom lineup. Sundays were reserved for prestige TV, from The West Wing to Game of Thrones to 60 Minutes. Appointment television created structure around our watch time: make dinner, pour a drink, finish your work or fold laundry before settling in. It was family time—a moment to relax, kick back and experience a story unfolding week by week, season after season. Today’s bingeable, condensed streaming model has stripped those rituals away. There’s little incentive—for creators or viewers—to let narratives breathe at a natural pace instead of rushing through them in a single weekend. While personal viewing habits can still be formed, the ease of on-demand television has eroded the communal experience that once made watching TV feel special.
The shift to bingeable, all-at-once releases has stripped television of its natural suspense. Gone is the satisfaction of watching characters evolve, storylines unravel and romances blossom or fall apart over nine months, often mirroring the rhythm of the academic year. I remember my freshman year of high school coinciding with the series finale of How To Get Away with Murder and the joy of knowing The Bold Type would commence again soon. It felt like I had grown alongside the characters, their ups and downs reflecting my own. Now, that journey is compressed into a matter of days. There’s no reason to pace yourself when autoplay nudges you into the next episode before you can process the last. In this endless consumption cycle, stepping back, reflecting and truly savoring the storytelling experience becomes harder.
The decline of network television is also a loss of accessibility. Today, TV has become less accessible than ever. With countless paid subscription services fragmented across the top networks, watching TV has become cumbersome, expensive and exclusive. Discoverability is limited if you only pay for one service and the added costs of advertisements, upcharges for multiple accounts and premium content create significant barriers for viewers. This paywall system also restricts a show’s potential to reach a wider audience, diminishing its ability to have a greater cultural impact. Unlike the days of network TV, where nearly everyone had access, today’s fragmented model divides viewers and reduces the collective experience of television.
Shows like Abbott Elementary, The Rookie and the long-running Law & Order SVU give me hope that network television is merely on hiatus, not destined for the Warner Bros. backlot. Streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu and Apple TV have delivered exceptional content, but the trends they follow dilute the legacy of network TV. The ritual of appointment-based viewing, the iconic episode counts (now seen as “too long”) and the inherent accessibility of network television are lost in the shift from TV to streaming on laptops or phones. This season, show your networks some love and keep the magic of traditional TV alive!