From an old broadcaster

Most of it came later. "Reality TV" has become commonplace, for example. Oh, sure, we don't KNOW of any television producers dealing directly with terrorists and bank robbers, but it certainly wouldn't surprise me.

Television news has become show biz. I think the ratings race has been the cause of this. One only needed to watch a little bit of election night coverage to confirm this--the slickness, the flashiness, the prettiness...it was all there.

I worked at a Fox affiliate for a brief time in Fox's early years, and I recognized it as "UBS," with its countercultural, "few rules" programming. Consider the late 1980's: The other three networks had "Doogie Howser," "The Facts of Life," and "Mr. Belvedere," for example; they were good shows in their day. But look at what Fox was putting up against them: "Married With Children," "The Simpsons," and "21 Jump Street." That's a considerable contrast.

I recall Arsenio Hall's attempt to be a player in the late-night talk game (first on Fox, then in syndication), going up against--mainly--Johnny Carson. When Carson named Jay Leno as his successor, I remember Arsenio decrying it on the air, referring to him as "that punk-ass Leno."

But back to the 1970's: Heck, Walter Cronkite was acknowledged even by his competitors as "the most trusted man in America." NOBODY could touch him, though the other networks tried...with Huntley and Brinkley, John Chancellor, Frank Reynolds, and others. Cronkite himself was heard to say that local TV news was becoming too "flashy." It was only a matter of time before the networks followed suit.

Aside: Did you notice that Cronkite's daughter, Kathy, played Mary Ann Gifford--the "Patty Hearst"-type character--in "Network"?

Now...consider the idea of a network's corporate CEO dictating some aspect of programming, regardless of the prevailing "wisdom," as portrayed in "Network." William S. Paley was essentially the founder of CBS, and was the "godfather" of the network in the 1970's, when he insisted upon a show which network programming executives hated, and were certain would be a losing hour every week that it aired. It was called "The Waltons." It ran for nine years, and was in the top thirty shows in seven of those years. Paley was also known to order "toning down" news coverage of such things as Watergate.

Now--not all of this is necessarily BAD--some of it just "is what it is." It's a part of what made television what it is today, for better or worse. When it comes to journalism--broadcast, print, or other--total objectivity is impossible as long as humans are involved. But there is no doubt that television news has become more competitive, with not only Fox, but also CNN, MSNBC, and others wanting a piece of the audience. I think that it's also fair to say that the lines between news and entertainment are becoming more blurred with each passing year.

I hope that we never hear of someone being killed for lousy ratings. But "Network" posed the question 36 years ago, "Are we headed in that direction?"

An American channel like Fox News is really more of an opinion channel where people come on and give their opinions, usually in a sort of belligerent way like they're never that far from fighting the person disagreeing with them.

A remake would be an interesting idea, but I think that a lot of the story would have to be rewritten to reflect the present day. When "Network" was made, the Fox Network didn't even exist, and CNN had the "all news" market to themselves. The internet wasn't around either. The Patty Hearst parallel could be updated to say, a Middle Eastern terrorist organization--and the network would have a "secret contact" from that organization.

A lot of what "Network" portrayed doesn't seem nearly as outrageous today, so the screenwriters would have to "up the ante" a bit.

Also, network news anchors are not nearly the "icons" that they were at that time, when Walter Cronkite set the bar. Dare I say it, when Walter retired, the standards started slipping.

I would enjoy seeing a remake, but only if it were updated. I wouldn't want it to be a "period piece."