So Ross’ lesbian child-adopting wife and her partner were negatively portrayed? Don’t think so. Very liberal for the 90s.
Will and Grace did really well here with two gay leads. Desperate Housewives had plenty of gay characters too and that was a huuuuge hit.
Tons of gays watched Queer Eye and Rupaul’s Drag Race because those shows were supportive of gay people and portrayed them positively. They actively knocked down the stigma around gay culture, and a mainstream audience took note. For shows which reinforce old stereotypes about gay people, it certainly is weird then that lots of my gay friends watch the new seasons of Rupaul’s Drag Race.
TV becoming more liberal in recent years is in-keeping with the general attitudes of younger demographics. What has changed is the means by which audiences access TV, and that means that American content cannot sustain a TV schedule. Networks need first-run Australian content otherwise audiences download. Also a lot of American shows just aren’t quality anymore. It’s got nothing to do with some imagined takeover of American TV by devious liberals (which you might discover at some stage have been dominating the attitudes of Hollywood for decades).
Hint: it’s a sit-com…that usually means storylines are played for laughs…the “lesbian child-adopting wife” of dorky Ross was not intended to be a positive series-defining storyline…LOL!
Looking at the totality of the series (the content, the main characters, the dialogue) rather than picking out one storyline or two, should leave you in no doubt that Friends was very ACCESSIBLE and mainstream.
(I think you’re confusing the fact that because liberals who happen to be losers still watch it endlessly, and talk about it, that somehow it’s a shining beacon of liberalism…).
The show is literally about stay at home housewives in suburbia (as far from “liberal” America as you can get)…
As for Rupaul I have no idea what that is and would suggest most Australians don’t either.
The opposite in fact. The thread is full of feverish speculation about what CBS will do with Ten…the reality is that CBS is only involved because they’ve improved their otherwise dire situation in regards to Ten, and most likely see it as an opportunity to cheaply broadcast their content in Australia.
Analysing what direction CBS might take Ten and the compatability of their content with Australian audiences could hardly be more relevant.
But, you know, come in here again to tell us why you don’t like CBS (hint: we know, it’s American not Australian, and you hate people who supposedly have cultural cringe ).
Are Australians really downloading content from the major free to air networks in America on the same scale as they were watching them prior to 2009? I think not…
We’ve had this discussion many times on this site before…fast-tracking doesn’t necessarily work…that is, Australians don’t want to watch mainstream American content whether it’s on TV, or downloaded the same day…
I haven’t said I don’t like CBS. They’re fine to do whatever they want in America. I just think they will just force more American culture down our throats via Ten.
Maybe people are fine with America continually extinguishing every cultural difference Australians have, but I’ll never be happy about that.
If that’s the only option but do we really know if there were any other offers out there for Ten? The CBS deal caught everyone by surprise and there was at least one other failed offer besides Murdoch/Gordon. Who else may have been a bidder?
I think there is zero chance that Ten will pay $0 for CBS content. That’s like saying that Aldi, McDonald’s, Apple and Ikea in Australia wouldn’t pay a licence fee to the parent company, and pay for the products sourced from overseas. They do. Though Ten will no doubt pay a reduced fee than what is in the current contract.
I agree. There’s no point in CBS buying Ten to make $100 million in profits if they’re forgoing more than $100 million in content licensing (or whatever the actual numbers are).
However, they will have a lot more flexibility now.
For the same money as before, Ten may be able to get more content for the same money - such as shows that weren’t previously licensed in Australia. More variety and less repeats on the multichannels could help boost ratings - even if only by a small amount, it could translate it a little bit more revenue. Likewise, they won’t be as locked into showing content which they have purchased by isn’t rating. (Some shows come with agreements that require they be shown in entirety, or they can only be shown if other shows are packaged with it).
There could be some shuffling when it comes to buying sports right. For example, CBS may be willing to take a cut of $20 million in program rights, if they money is required to secure a sport which will then generate more than $20 million.
If Ten have a particular bad year and can’t pay all their bills, CBS can just forego some of its program licensing fees to prevent Ten going in receivership again.
Most Australians may not know it, but repeats are shown on one of the various SBS channels from time to time and it is fast tracked on Stan. The various stars of the show also have sold out night club shows around the country.
In the US however, it was recently moved on to VH1 (from a very niche channel, Logo) and has had a skit on SNL. It’s slowly becoming more mainstream and relevant.
Anyway, totally unrelated to the recent developments at Ten which I think can only be a good thing. I don’t think we will see a massive difference, but a slow build and hopefully move into the online space. The fact that TENplay is mentioned in the press release makes me feel that CBS may have bigger plans for that platform as well as CBS All Access (or whatever they plan to call it here).
No sweetie try season 4 first, then go onto season 5 and then All Stars season 2. You need the backstory to Phi Phi to fully appreciate what happens to her in All Stars.
¿Que? The fact that I’m apparently known for something is a complement I guess.
That sounds like crap. I think they would love his politics. For what it’s worth, I think CBS would be quite interested in “The Project” for their stodgy 7pm hour.
I do not necessarily think the CBS deal was a surprise. The AFR had reported that they were interested months before. And I was carrying on about it every two seconds. It is just everyone was obssessed with Murdoch and Gordon, especially News Corp.
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