The original post: /r/television by /u/94Rangerbabe on 2025-04-13 20:29:48.
They’re obviously huge strides like television changed to a tape rather than alive format when color TV was introduced and cable and pay TV a bunch of streaming, but I mean the impact from a particular show had such an effect that things that everything came after could be traced back.
The things that come to mind for me are The Real World on MTV and NYPD Blue. The real world because it was the first of its kind in the states to have that unscripted voyeuristic drama combined with a game show affect that revealed there was an audience hungry to be a fly on the wall… boat loads of copycat shows came after as well as the revelation that the worse you are the more obnoxious you are the bigger audience you can get ( Puck in a later season for example) which seemed to do away with the notion that bad behavior is something to be ashamed of and apologize for. Wrestling shows ( ‘reality’ to an extent) always had villains, but they were caricatures. I think the cultural acceptance of sex tapes even stemmed out of reality television. Rob Lowe’s sex tape almost tanked his career and certainly held it back whereas it fueled the rise of Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian.
NYPD Blue ( which is a lot to Hill Street blues ) was revolutionary in its constant moving camera shots and groundbreaking with its gritty and real look and feel as well as extended single shot scenes and like it or not a lot of male nudity. Seeing the ( IMO flabby old) bare naked ass of Andy Sipowitz sparked so much media coverage and water cooler, debates, and it changed the boundaries of what can be seen on television. It also expanded what could be heard on television ABC negotiated 37 as the number of profane words that could be uttered in a single episode. Parents groups freaked out, ABC initially had affiliates, dropping it …but the advertisers stayed and now nobody even bats and eye.
What other shows have had similar impact?