Television (Alternity)

Television has been a major entertainment medium since its inception in 1909, especially with it's first real use in the 1910s and 20s. Initial TV broadcasts were live events, but starting in the 1930s, famous studios such as Disney and 20th Century FOX began creating cartoon programs and airing them for millions of American children throughout the later years of the Great Depression. Beginning in the late post-war '40s, the first live-action series - like Gunsmoke and California, '49 - began airing for audiences across the nation and television quickly grew to become the industry as we know it today.

1940s

 * Gunsmoke (1948-1966) - a Western drama series originally started as a radio drama in late 1946, a television version was conceived and began airing on CBS in 1948, until its cancellation after the 1966 (18th) season. Its' spot on the network was replaced by rival show California, '49.


 * California, '49 (1948-1973) - the second of CBS' major Western drama series, California, '49 follows a group of miners and their families who come out West to California during the Gold Rush of 1849, and chronicles the developing political history of the state from 1849 through 1874, and the complex situations that develop during the Civil War. Following the cancellation of Gunsmoke in 1966, California, '49 took its' place on the network until it, too went off the air (not cancelled) in 1973.

1960s
The '60s were an era of classic shows, and also inaugurated modern sci-fi.


 * Hogan's Heroes (1964-1971) - Ran for 7 seasons. Follows a group of PoWs in a WW2 prison camp (Stalag 13) in Germany, led by an American USAAF colonel named Robert Hogan (Bob Crane) as they sabotage the German war effort and help Allied prisoners escape to England.


 * Gilligan's Island (1964-1970) - One of the few shows ever to maintain steady viewership throughout its run, Gilligan's Island follows the comedic exploits of a group of seven castaways (Gilligan, the Skipper, the Professor, Mr. and Mrs. Thurston Howell, Ginger Grant, and Mary Ann Summers) stuck on an uncharted island in the South Pacific. No matter the scheme cooked up (usually by some invention of the Professor's), the group always fails to escape the island, typically due to some major blunder on Gilligan's part. His one final mishap, accidentally setting the entire jungle ablaze with a cooking fire in the season 6 (and series) finale, alerts the US Navy airship Indianapolis and its escorts to the castaways' presence, and they are finally rescued.


 * Star Trek (1966-1969) - In the 23rd century, Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) of the starship USS Enterprise and his crew "...explore strange new worlds, and seek out new life and new civilizations..." on their 'historic five-year mission'. Declining ratings in the series' third season forced its abrupt cancellation


 * Hawaii Five-8 (1968-1982) - a police procedural set primarily in Honolulu, Hawaii, the show follows Detective Lt. Steve McGarrett (Jack Lord), a former US Navy officer, and his specialized police unit, the 'Five-Eight'/Five-8 taskforce. With a total run of 14 seasons, Hawaii Five-8 is the longest running police procedural in television history.

1970s

 * M*A*S*H (1972-1983) – follows the story of a fictional medical unit during the Korean War, MASH 4077, near the Korean city of Pyongyang, though they occasionally moved further south, to about midway between Pyongyang and Seoul at the beginning of Season 5. This roughly followed the timeline of Philippine retreat from late 1951 through 1952. Ran for 11 seasons. The 2½ hour finale, Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen currently holds the record for the single most-watched TV episode in US history, with over 120 million viewers.

1980s
The 1980s set off a firestorm of action series, capitalizing on the end of the Indonesian War in 1979 to regain audiences to the action TV genre.


 * The A-Team (1983-1990) – follows four ‘soldiers of fortune’ wrongfully convicted of attacking a Philippine operations base hours after the end of the Second Indochina War in 1970. They travel the world to help right wrongs and bring criminals to justice. Ran for 7 seasons.
 * Airwolf (1984-1990) – follows former Second Indochina War chopper pilot Stringfellow ‘String’ Hawke (Jan-Michael Vincent) and his older mentor/father figure Dominic ‘Dom’ Santini (Ernest Borgnine) as they pilot an advanced helicopter named Airwolf on top secret missions for the government (and occasionally personal ones). Ran for 6 seasons.
 * MacGyver (1985-1995) – follows Angus MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson), a genius who fights crime with his intellect and crazy contraptions. He hates guns with a passion, stemming from an accident with a gun during his childhood in which one of his best friends was killed. Ran for 10 seasons.


 * Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994) - Ran for 7 seasons, featuring a new crew and starship named Enterprise, with its enigmatic captain, Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart).


 * Left Behind (1989-present) - A still-ongoing series heavily based on the bestselling Christian fiction novel series Left Behind, dealing with a post-Rapture Earth and the activities of a group of believers called the 'Tribulation Force'.


 * Family Matters (1989-present) - The series is a spin-off of Perfect Strangers, but revolves around the Winslow family. Midway through the first season, the show introduced the Winslows' nerdy neighbor Steve Urkel (played by Jaleel White), who quickly became its breakout character and eventually a main character.

1990s

 * Seinfeld (1990-present) -


 * The Fresh Prince of Bel Air (1990-1996) -


 * Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-present) -


 * Frasier (1993-present) -


 * Walker, Texas Ranger (1993-present) -


 * SeaQuest DSV (1993-1996) -


 * The Good Son (1994-present) -


 * ER (1994-present) -


 * Friends (1994-present) -


 * Touched by an Angel (1994-present) - currently in its third season, Touched by an Angel is currently one of CBS' top primetime drama series; an angel named Monica (Roma Downey) is frequently assigned 'cases', to help people resolve problems in their lives and bring them peace, guided by her mentor and fellow angel Tess (Della Reese).


 * JAG (1995-present) -


 * Star Trek: Voyager (1995-present) -


 * Cosby (1996-present) -


 * Early Edition (1996-present) - Set in Chicago, Illinois, the series follows the exploits of a man named Gary Hobson (Kyle Chandler) who mysteriously starts to receive 'tomorrow's paper' a day in advance - almost always accompanied by a ginger tabby cat - no matter where he is.


 * Promised Land (1996-present) - a spinoff series of Touched by an Angel, the series follows the semi-nomadic Greene family as they travel the United States in their modified Airstream trailer, bringing help to others in need.


 * Hawaii Five-8 (1997) - the pilot episode for a remake series of the classic CBS crime show.

Upcoming shows

 * Stargate SG-1 (1997-) - Follows a group of USAF combat personnel that use an interdimensional portal called a 'Stargate' to explore alien worlds and battle the enemies of humanity. The series is scheduled to premiere on Showtime on July 27, with three 22-episode seasons having already been ordered.


 * Hawaii Five-8 (1997-) - A remake of the classic series, this version introduces the second generation 'Five-Eight' team, former FBI Special Agent Ben Johnson (Billy Burke), Steve McGarrett's estranged son-turned rookie detective Michael (Edward Furlong), and street-wise ex-cop Evan Cho (Daniel Dae Kim), guided by an aging Chin Ho Kelly (Kam Fong). When an attempt is made on the life of Governor Danny Williams (James MacArthur) - former second in command of Five-8 under Steve McGarrett - he orders the reactivation of the original unit to track down the attempted assassins and curb the state's escalating crime rate. CBS has ordered a 16-episode 'trial run' for the new series, set to air starting October 10.


 * West Wing (1999) - The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White House, where the Oval Office and offices of presidential senior staff are located, during the fictional Democratic administration of Josiah Bartlet (played by Martin Sheen). The series is tentatively scheduled to premiere on NBC on September 22, 1999 with two 22-episode seasons having already been ordered.


 * NIS (2000) - A team of NIS (Naval Investigative Service) agents based out of Washington, DC’s Navy Yard tackle various cases involving crimes against USMC and Navy personnel, and the occasional threat to national security. The series' premiere is tentatively scheduled for September 5, 2000.

Future
Due to the increasing prevalence of digital and satellite TV, analog signals across the United States are set to cease on February 1, 1998 and switch to all-digital signals at that time. Other nations such as Japan, the UK, South Africa, Cascadia, Germany, and Ethiopia are on timetables to cease their analog signals as well, throughout next year and 1999.