Jan 4, 2016 5 min read

Remember when the Beach Boys sang “She’s real fine, my 409”? It’s not true.

When we complained about an overabundance of reality programming a few years ago, we weren’t aware that cable, which first flicked the switch on reality shows, was about to double down on scripted programming.

The result was an unbelievable 409 scripted series in 2015, more than quadruple the number of series aired just 20 years ago. While we understand that having a few scripted shows adds prestige to a cable station, the opposite effect occurs when you water down the pool of capable actors, directors and writers.

We’ve reached the point when the majority of sitcoms elicit groans instead of chuckles, and dramas are peopled with clueless characters who spend an hour investigating a mystery viewers solved before the first commercial.

But if networks are oblivious to quality, perhaps they noticed this: On several nights in December, the top-rated shows were a half-century old (colorized “I Love Lucy” and “Andy Griffith Show” specials, and rebroadcasts of “Mary Poppins” and “Sound of Music”) and, of course, “Rudolph,” “Frosty,” “Charlie Brown” and company. All of those programs, by the way, had higher ratings than the current version of the “Muppets,” and “Andy Griffith” drew a larger audience than almost every network sitcom during that same week.

It’s not at all a stretch to suggest that if CBS paired “Big Bang Theory” with colorized Andy and Barney shows on a weekly basis, it would have the strongest sitcom block on television. Sad, perhaps, but true.

Some other musings:

Ten to watch – Because of the absurd abundance of scripted shows on the TV landscape, even a devoted TV critic couldn’t sample all of them. That may well account for the dearth of year-end Top 10 lists. After all, some of those 200-plus series a critic didn’t have a chance to preview might be superior to the other 200.

I’m in no way suggesting these are the best, but here’s my alphabetical list of 10 “worthwhile” series from 2015: “Big Bang Theory,” “Chicago Fire,” “Fargo,” “The Goldbergs,” “Grinder,” “Impastor,” “Madam Secretary,” “The Middle,” “Mom” and “The Walking Dead.” I’m sure there are other worthwhile shows, but I just didn’t get to them yet.

One way to create room for new shows is to delete older ones. In 2015, that meant bailing out on “How To Get Away With Murder,” “Blacklist” and “Modern Family.” And while I’m still tuning in, “Fresh Off the Boat” was funnier when it focused on the oldest child, as opposed to the mother character.

Bad move, CBS – By now, you’ve no doubt heard CBS is canceling “Mike and Molly,” most likely because star Melissa McCarthy wants too much money to focus on the small screen rather than on movies. So pay the woman. While “M&M” was never a blockbuster hit, it was a good fit for the network’s programming – much more so than “Supergirl” (which should fly to a more compatible ABC or the CW).

Walking Dead Syndrome – We’re not talking about the popular AMC series, but rather about the networks’ decision this year to keep airing low-rated series for weeks after it was obvious they weren’t hits. While it certainly saved the networks money, keeping “Blood and Oil,” ‘Truth Be Told,” “The Player,” ‘Minority Report” and Wicked City ” around for weeks after they were canceled may cost them money in the long run, as viewers fled to other stations.

Visions of Vinyl – Vinyl records have rebounded to the point where Columbia House (remember 12 albums for a penny?) is planning a comeback this year. The popular mail-order company long ago progressed from vinyl to tapes to CDs before shuttering. But evidently it believes there’s a market for vinyl albums again. No word, though, on any introductory offer, although even one album for a penny would seem to be out of the question.

Christmas Coal – Suggestion to those all-Christmas music stations: If you want listeners to buy in to totally Christmas tunes for six weeks, you’ve got to mix it up a bit. Because the “superstar” Christmas songs are the same as five, 10 and 15 years ago, we understand that you have to play “Jingle Bell Rock,” “White Christmas” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” in heavy rotation, but you could – and need – to expand the secondary airplay list. Lots of folks have purchased the holiday Rod Stewart, James Taylor, Pentatonix and Train CDs. If you want to connect with those fans, you need to work holiday tunes by those artists in among Bing, Andy, Perry, Johnny and Dean.