Commentary

TV Advertisers Get Their Unpredictable Wish

If you are a TV advertiser, you might be wondering why dramas such as "Lost," "Desperate Housewives," "CSI: New York," and even reality show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" are suddenly the early season stars.

The answer might be in accidents - and in planning.

Here's the planning part: CBS took its franchise "CSI" and perhaps gave it the ultimate New York grit and intense urban sophistication in casting Gary Sinise and Melina Kanakaredes as its lead investigators. Even with all this planning, CBS must have been shocked to see how easily it has taken out NBC's "Law & Order."

But what can one make of ABC's "Desperate Housewives"? Not an accident. Surely planned. But not predictable. And, not quite a drama. It's a dramedy, with plenty of laughs embedded in serious drama, like an "American Beauty" for the small screen.

"Housewives" is almost too much fun - what with scandals, possible mysterious deaths, women falling into bushes, and, of course, sex. It's not a cop, court room, medical, or crime scene show. The show is almost too obvious a choice as counter-programming -- a parody.

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"Lost" is one of the rare accidents in TV programming. A half-baked idea from former ABC executive Lloyd Braun, who admired CBS' reality show, "Survivor." He put together the executive producer J.J. Abrams of "Alias" and "Crossing Jordan" writer Damon Lindelof, who then rushed through casting, scripts, script changes, character changes, all in a hodgepodge of excitement - and little long-term planning.

"Lost" has actually yielded something entertaining and different -- an open-ended plot line with plenty of mystery and no end in sight. Viewers have yet to the see the majority of the 46 survivors of the airplane crash that occurred in the first episode of the show. In an unusual spin for any TV show, most of those characters could be making their show debut in the fourth or fifth season.

Another somewhat puzzling show is "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," now in its second season. Each week, the show remakes a family's home that really needs it - and it pulls on all the heartstrings available. That wouldn't necessarily be the type of reality show that would seem to work given all the sniping in "The Apprentice," "Survivor," and "The Bachelor."

To sum it all up, this season gives us a predictable cop franchise spin-off, an unexpectedly appealing drama-parody, an unwieldy action drama set on an island, and an earnest reality show with some real heartfelt moments.

That covers just about everything. Oh, you don't think so? Didn't the Red Sox win the World Series this year?

Advertisers should be appreciative that their dreams -- and nightmares -- have come true. Not do they have high-rated programming to advertise in, but absolutely no clue in foreseeing TV's programming future.

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