The co-creator of Lost penned a NYT op/ed claiming that tv is dying. It invokes TiVo and the writers' strike, but what's wrong about his argument is that tv has actually never been as good as it is right now (or was a couple years ago, anyway).
Yeah, TV is changing - but I'm not sure it's dying. In addition to what you said - the irony of someone from Lost bemoaning the death of TV - I think that TV is still so compelling because it is a collective experience. Half the time, I end up watching Grey's An... - umm, Dexter - just to have conversations about it with people later. Yes timeshifting is great an' all but it makes watching TV shows a very solitary experience. That's not to say I don't hope TV changes - I love watching shows on DVD sets on my own schedule - just that I don't think that TV should be put out to pasture just yet.
posted by Nav at 10:16 PM on November 12, 2007 
Lindelof appears to be talking about the format of television, not the quality of programming. He's not speaking to the quality of the "shows" on your "internet box," if anything he's inferring they'll be just as good as today's shows, since the same writers will be writing them.
posted by Dan at 9:24 AM on November 13, 2007
Yeah I think Dan has it pegged. The article is using that arresting headline to get more readers to understand why exactly the writers are striking (to get royalties for downloaded and internet-streamed shows), and not about the quality of what's on television. When I first read the headline, I too thought it was crazy to suggest television wasn't great right now.
posted by Goose at 11:00 AM on November 13, 2007
NOTE: The commenting window has expired for this post.
