let go let's go way out paced out and losing all control. ♪ ♪ here we go here we go we got to rock ♪ 6 ♪ music come music go now we don't stop ♪ ♪ feel the shot body rook going in 2000 it was a cultural shift for vision. in terms of the way people reacted to it and the stories they could tell. >> you start to see the bar get raised and raised and raised. >> it's an abstract. >> not obstruct enough. >> there's so many opportunities in television. there's so many platforms. >> i don't think dramatic series television has ever been stronger. >> i hate you all. >> go. >> in the end what we regret most are the chances we never took.

♪ >> this is the week when the major broadcast network unveil their fall lineup of show and every executive knows how well "the sopranos" is doing on cable which is a network problem.

>> there were no commercials. >> there is so much we can do in terms of language. in terms of violence and in terms of sex. >> to a large degree a lot of executives were just sanding off the edges of what was interesting. >> i think hbo is looking at the world and say, how can we matter. for quite a long time. movies and boxing were the bread and butter of hbo. >> people such a show because you're partly an [ bleep ]. >> what we learned through "oz" or "larry sanders show" that we could do serious television. >> there's something in the air. and it ain't love. >> "oz" was cutting edge in what it was willing to share with the audience. >> hit me. hit me. hit me in the face, brother. complicated characters, complicated issues and the way

it was presented was so unique. >> sentence, nine years. up for parole in six. >> what they were doing at hbo was exactly what the network wasn't doing. they were breaking barriers. you get to "the sopranos" and all of a sudden the villain is the hero. >> have some eggplant. >> i told you i'm not hungry. >> you won't even accept food from your own mother. >> it's about this mob family. something people hadn't seen before. the idea that a mobster is seeing a therapist. >> whatever happened to gary cooper? the strong, silent type? that was an american. he wasn't in touch with his feelings. he just had to do what they had to do. once they got gary cooper in touch with their feelings they wouldn't be able to shut imhup and dysfunction, dysfunction

that. >> you have strong feelings about. >> every decade you have somebody like columbo or carroll o'connor as archie bunker, you can't imagine anybody else afterwards and james gandolfini is that in "the sopranos". >> did you know an italian invented the telephone. >> alexander graham bell invented the telephone. >> you see? antonio -- >> who invented the mafia? >> what? >> they took the mystery out of being a mobster. ♪ i'm a fool to do your dirty work ♪ >> and it was somehow more mundane than we guessed it would be and yet every bit as riveting as "the godfather." >> you were like a brother to me. >> the debate raged at hbo about whether you could have a guy

like this as your lead. and david chase was adamant that you have -- this is who he is. and he was right. >> can you assure me that tony soprano isn't going to become a sensitive, nurturing, mellowing man? >> yes. >> oh, good. >> oh, my god. >> it's all right. i'll be home in a couple of hours. don't worry. >> i'm graduating tomorrow. >> carmela was a wife and a mother. i think first and foremost. i think as long as she kept going to church, she thought i'm taking care of my soul. >> where is the rest of the money? >> it's everywhere. >> she goes home to her husband who has blood on him. there's no way to reconcile the two things. >> towards the end, when their marriage is falling apart -- >> i used to [ bleep ] your husband. >> you have made a fool of me for years with these whores. >> her performance in that fight

is stunningly good. >> because she's jealous. let go of me! >> it mattered to people what this couple was going through. and i remember feeling a real sense of responsibility about that and giving the weight to the scene that it deserves. >> what? >> you know what i don't understand, tony? what does she have that i don't have? >> suddenly here is this tv show that everyone is talking about, but you have to pay to watch it. you know, that's how good "the sopranos" was. people were paying just to see that show. >> "the sopranos" came along and completely re-established what the bar was. i honestly couldn't quite believe it, that television was communicating something that you might only see in the darkest moments and accurate moments in cinema.

>> you look at the year that "american beauty" won the oscar, which is also the year that "the sopranos" debuted. almost immediately after that, the two mediums diverged. >> i know what i must do. i'm afraid to do it. >> movies became much more focused on big tentpole things that could bring in as much of an audience as you possibly can. meanwhile, tv, which had always been a big tent medium, started going smaller and more interior and saying, all right, we want to tell stories for grownups that maybe don't get the biggest audience but get a passionate one. ♪ i'll be home for christmas >> i had an idea of doing a show about death. >> are you smoking? >> no. >> yes, you are. i heard you. >> i'm not. no, i'm not. >> look, forget you'll give yourself cancer and die a slow and horrible death. you should not be stinking up

that new hearse. >> i met with carolyn and she said, i'd like to do a show about a family that runs a funeral home. and something in my head just went click. what a brilliant idea. >> i'm quitting right now. i promise. okay? i'll see you tonight. ♪ i'll be home for christmas >> alan ball comes up with a show with a perfect structure. each episode starts with the death of a character and then that character's death is dealt with in a local family funeral home mortuary. >> excuse me. >> this was one of my first -- maybe it was my first binge show, which was long enough ago

that it was all on somebody had recorded it on vcr. >> have you been watching mrs. romano? >> yeah, i've been watching her all night. are you thinking what i'm thinking? >> casket climber. >> i want to go with you! >> mrs. romano. >> i want to go with you. >> there's a whole level of something going on on television. it was grittier than most shows you had seen before, and yet something magical about it. >> i think what our strategy at hbo was in terms of audiences, not everybody has to watch a show. but if we have different shows for different people, there is something that makes you want to come back and sign up month after month. maybe you don't watch "sex and the city" but you watch "entourage." there's something for you to make it worth signing up for helena again and again and

again. >> i loved their female camaraderie and dolly parten in the movie. she's like liquid gold. >> if you ever say another word about me or make another indecent proposal, i'm going to get that gun of mine and i'm going too change you from a rooster to a hen with one shot. this is something big. this is something bigger. that is big. not as big as that. big.

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who could have possibly guessed a show about a bunch of back stabbing people on an island off borneo would become the tv hit of the summer. >> "survivor" was really the first truly competitive format. >> go! >> i started to really understand what the show was going to be about the first 20 minutes into day one. >> we'll see what we've got. we won't make any decisions. we'll see what we've got. >> there might be a blowtorch in there. >> we need a bathroom. >> are you guys all done talking? >> richard hatch was sitting in a tree lecturing about what they should do as their group. >> nobody is working toward a particular goal. not the silly little stuff about who is going to sleep where. what are we going to do but why are we here. >> underneath him was a woman sue lauch, a truck driver. >> i'm a redneck and i don't know the court world and all and corporate world ain't going to work in the bush. >> that was the show. >> he walked around naked quite a bit. i think it probably bugged some

of the guys. >> whatever it takes to win here is the point. it's a game. call it machiavellian, sure. hatch would be the best thing to ever happen to "survivor." >> all around the country, people were on the edge of their seats, waiting for the final vote to be announced. >> the winner of the first survivor competition is -- >> "survivor" sort of legitimized the genre. simon fuller came into my office. and his vision was one long audition. ♪ like a virgin touched for the very first time ♪ >> i've never ever heard anything like that in my life. ♪ she bangs she bangs >> thank you, thank you. [ unintelligible singing ] >> what was that? that is what you think we're looking for?

>> the network was saying, we don't think we can put simon on the promos. >> no, no, no, no, no, no, no. >> he'll scare little girls and we think that's our audience. >> one of worst auditions i ever heard in my life. >> we're like, well, that's the whole show. so, you know, without him it's not going to work and it was a big fight internally and of course we got him on and of course that's what made the show. >> well, here they are. the judges have made their choices. now, america, it's all up to you. >> "american idol" reunited the family audience in front of the tv. ♪ r-e-s-p-ec-t ♪ find out what it means to me >> 9-year-olds to 90-year-olds could root for somebody on "american idol." it's not like it hadn't been done before. but the way the producers could manipulate drama and find stories, that was the core of making those shows successful. >> this is the weakest romance i've ever seen. this romance is pathetic.

was there a romance? >> well, i think we just decided we were meant to be very close friends. >> very close friends. >> that's right. >> i've had some very close friends too. >> me too. >> it cost me a lot of money, i'll tell you that. >> "the apprentice" has its lasting effect even today. donald trump becomes a star. >> you're fired. >> all of it kind of reality show fake. people who worked on it have come forward and said, you know, we kind of made the whole thing up. and yet it sells. then there's just this explosion. >> you interested in tattoos? weight loss? plastic surgery? >> breast augmentation, tummy tuck, facial surgery. >> hoarders? substance abuse? flipping your house? that's a big one. there's literally a reality show for everyone now. >> the networks would be out of business without reality tv.

if you had to fill 40 hours of television with scripted shows, it would cost you an arm and a leg. you would be out of business because those scripted shows most likely will no better and worse than the reality show did. >> aimed at gay viewers and women. so you have "queer eye for the straight guy" and "project runway." >> this is a search for the next big fashion designer. >> "project runway" was not an instantaneous hit. we sort of had this crisis, is anyone going to want to sit around watching people sew? >> i am feeling the race against time now, yes. >> bravo played three or four episodes over the christmas holidays. and all of a sudden it just caught on like wildfire. >> make it work. >> people have come into "runway" and "top chef" and they know that this can change their lives. >> one of you is about to win the title of "top chef."

>> rock and roll! >> the osbornes, it was fun. the whole idea of the guy who bit the heads off of bats being domestic and his wife and teenage kids. >> please do not get drunk or get stoned tonight. >> that sparks this movement of we can put celebrities on tv and just let them do what they do. >> i've always heard that people hang out at walmart. >> why? >> i don't know. >> what is walmart? >> of course, that reaches its peak or nadir descending on your opinion, with "the kardashians." >> i hate you all. >> welcome to my family. >> there's something about watching someone maybe slightly like yourself but more obnoxious. >> you're so evil. >> there's a lot of baggage that comes with us. it's like louis vuitton baggage. you always want it. >> or they're, you know, more of a disaster. >> prostitution whore, you got engaged 19 times, you [ bleep ] stupid [ bleep ]

[ bleep ]. you [ bleep ] [ bleep ]! >> there's something about watching that and going, yeah, god, at least i'm not that. >> i look over and i see like hair being pulled, and all the [ bleep ], i'm like, oh, my god, how do i get in? >> i used to get the critics asking, well, why are people watching that reality show? why are they watching the show? because they're entertained. you're never going to meet someone that's going to say to you, you know, i was watching "the bachelor" last night, i loved it, but i wish i was watching a great drama. >> karen. >> i thought you would never ask. >> you don't need to call it a guilty pleasure. just call it a pleasure. it's something you love watching. it could be a reality show, could be a drama, sitcom, documentary. whatever it is, great tv comes in many forms. we're oscar mayer deli fresh and you may know us from...

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i don't want to mess this up again. >> me either. we're didn't being stupid. >> okay. this is it. >> this is it. unless we're on a break. don't make jokes now. >> by the time "frazier" and "friends" went off the air, there was a feeling among the

networks that the multicamera format filmed in front of a live studio audience -- >> so i guess this is it. >> -- was getting kind of tired and getting kind of stale. >> you guys play the most important part. the live studio audience. >> now, there is no form of television that makes as much money for the networks as multicamera tv shows. we write a four-camera show. we write it, direct it, perform it, rehearse it like a play in front of a studio audience. when someone gets a laugh on that stage, they actually hold, as you do not in real life, as you do not in single camera, you are holding for that laugh. >> it's an abstract. >> not abstract enough. >> you've done an amazing job. >> it looks like something, though. what does it look like?

>> you can get close. you can even touch it. >> i'm fine. >> he was embracing the very best of what the genre could do. which was interesting characters. he provided me with a very, very loud reminder that i didn't need to fix anything. i didn't need to knock any boundaries or walls over. i just needed to embrace what was there. >> i had been in so many shows that had failed spectacularly that i became known as the show killer. ♪ men, men, manly men >> that's not a great thing to be known as in show business. >> on the sly, i had him come in and read for me, and he was brilliant. >> how much is a hooker?

>> what? what are you going to do with a hooker? >> well, i would like to pay her to have sex with me. >> how much are you looking to spend? >> as you know, i am a bit of a bargain hunter. >> unfortunately they don't stock hookers at the 99 cent store. give me a number. >> okay. well, what could i get in the $200 range? >> crabs and carjacked. >> i have an enormous sense of pride to have done a multicamera sitcom that people really took to their hearts for 12 years. >> okay. let's start in first position. jake, do you know first position? >> is that like missionary position? >> i mean, that was the longest that a sitcom had been on broadcast television in the history of broadcast television at the time. i think "big bang" is going to beat it. but still, that's amazing.

>> two people talking is the essence of a four-camera sitcom. lighting is not really an issue. there is no music that's going to help the material. >> checkmate. >> there is no specific effects. >> again? >> hopefully good words with good actors. >> it must be humbling to suck on so many different levels. >> "big bang" had this weird hurdle, it seemed, not only are you fighting the natural fight that every show does about getting an audience, trying to stay on the air and keep your job, yadda yadda. >> make way for the fastest man alive! oh, no. >> see, this is why i wanted to have a costume meeting. >> but then there was also this weird wave of energy coming in like, you're in a genre that's passe, we're done with this, we don't want to see this anymore. >> and the emmy goes to -- >> jim parsons, "the big bang theory."

>> obviously we didn't go away and i believe very strongly that the multi-cam, the way they're shot in front of the studio audience, you hear the other people laughing, i think it ignites something that's innate in all of us, that's very primal almost, that desire to gather as a group and hear a story. >> lauren, look. live from new york, it's saturday night! >> so every generation has their favorite "saturday night live," right, and it's usually the one that was on when they were in high school. so the people that were in high school during the 2000s won the jackpot. >> you're beautiful. >> because over the course of that decade, you see some of the most extraordinary people come through that show. >> we should mention that although the waters above appear calm, below the surface there is

a frenzy of activity. >> one of the hallmarks of "snl" is you need somebody to play the president. and will's "w" was stellar. >> will ferrell's george w. >> how about a lifesaver? >> can i get those antlers? >> there you go, son. >> i like these. >> and, of course, more cow bell was also a will ferrell high point. ♪ times have come >> cow bell was fantastic. not only because it's a great concept but because will really gets to be will. >> the last time i checked, we don't have a whole lot of songs that feature the cow bell. i got to have my cow bell, baby. >> i'll be doing myself a disservice and every member of this band if i didn't perform the hell out of this.

>> "snl" in the 2000s is also a great time for women. >> it's my birthday! >> because there's a strong group of women that play off each other really well. >> what are you, part indian? are you cherokee? look at those cheekbones, what are you, souix? got sioux in you? are you chippewa? >> i believe that diplomacy should be the cornerstone of any foreign policy. >> and i can see russia from my house. ♪ i like waterfalls ♪ i like butterflies ♪ i like rainbows ♪ i like chasing cars >> you are seeing creativity and wacky left field things that you wouldn't have seen before. ♪ put your junk in that box ♪ make her open the box ♪ that's the way you do it

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welcome to deadwood." >> david milch said i have a great idea about ancient rome. >> cops in ancient rome in the time of nero. >> because we're already doing this show about rome.

>> thieves will be strangled. deserters will be crucified. >> david basically took the underlying theme of his rome show and put it in "deadwood." >> no law at all in deadwood. is that true? >> at the time of nero, there was a lot of order and no law. and "deadwood" was a similar environment. >> maybe you don't value keeping your [ bleep ] guts inside your belly enough. >> those are the days behind us. >> no, those are the days to my [ bleep ] left. >> ian mcshane's character steals the show, lock, stock, and barrel, away from anyone else. you want to go into that saloon of his and have a drink and try to engage him in conversation. then you say to yourself, if i say something wrong, will i get my guts cut out with a bowie knife? he's a fascinating character in that he scares you and attracts you at the same time.

that's kind of a rare thing. >> can we see your fangs? >> i always said daddy hated vampires. but we don't. >> i think that "true blood" was an enjoyable beach read with blood all over it. >> you could say, it wasn't meant to be taken seriously, it wasn't taking itself seriously, except it was such a big allegory for what was going on with the gay community, with aids, with political backlash. >> you use it as an anti-vampire terrorist enclave. >> it's like, there's monsters all over. but the scariest, most deadly characters in the whole show are the human beings. >> showtime looked at tony soprano and they said, you want an antihero? how about a mass murderer who is

the hero of our show? >> "dexter" is based on a series of novels about a blood spatter expert who worked for the nypd who is secretly a serial killer. >> soon, you'll be packed into a few neatly wrapped hefties and my own small corner of the world will be a neater, happier place. >> he was raised by a policeman to channel his sociopathic impulses to only kill other killers. so he is a bad guy but also a good guy. >> the idea of the show is that you're invited to identify with and maybe even root for a serial killer. >> that's right. >> he kills horrible people. if i were just killing people willy-nilly, i think all bets would be off. >> where's the fun in that? >> yeah. >> in the 2000s, the antihero

really rose to prominence. >> that's a bb gun. my nephew has the same gun. don't point that there. >> it does nice work. i'd hate to see it full of holes. >> and i think they were popular because they were surprising. >> i told pete to you killed. >> it was a time in our world where there was just so much confusion and mixed signals that i think they dealt with similar issues. >> all right. sure, take my last one. this will help.

>> is this cab free? are you [ bleep ] nuts? >> i heard her referred to as an anti-hero. she was at the mercy of her addiction that always got her fullest attention. >> what are you looking at? >> beyond that she didn't care there wasn't extra money for blankets and she would go and steal it from another department. she really wanted to be a good nurse and she wanted to be married and she wanted these kids and wanted to be a good wife and mother. >> why do you always have to work? >> yeah. >> and there was no way she could do all of them. >> mommy! >> edie falco for me can do no wrong. here she is as the female antihero who has her own show. she's the one whose morals are questionable. >> my back, my back! >> oh, jesus. >> she's having an affair.

she's stealing drugs and is she an unfit mother and all those things. yet you feel for her. i love that women now get to be -- get to be the antihero and not just either the villain or the good girl. >> the deli scene, when we first did it meg was nervous about it. you have crew members standing around. >> yes, pounding the table. >> yes, yes. >> and i realize because my mother is sitting there -- i'm having an orgasm in front of my mother. this is something big. this is something bigger. that is big. not as big as that. big. bigger. big.

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the very interesting statistic, being it e.r., they only watch it two times a week. >> they had the date to that back it up. >> let's do it. >> because if the audience misses an episode, then they would be inclined to stop watching it because they would feel like i missed one and now i don't know what's happening. >> there had had been amazing shows that had been syndicated. there's almost no better hook. it's like a book you can't turn down.

"24" was set to december in november of 2001 and has an assassin blowing up a passenger jet in midair. fox hordes this and schedules it, 9/11 happens. suddenly this show which seemed like this goofy thing about kiefer sutherland chasing after middle eastern extremists becomes the most timely show on television because that is all that anyone in america can talk about after september 11th. the name for the series comes from the idea it's 24 series and each one is one hour in a day and jack bauer has the worst day. >> we are running out of time. >> pull the trigger. >> if you care at all about me pull the triger. >> sorry, i can't. >> pull the trigger. >> i'm not going to do it. >> damn you.

>> the commercial breaks in that show were almost welcome so that you could catch your breath. >> "24" really was the first binge show. there were a lot of people in the later years that would only buy the dvds and a lot of the subtleties and complexities that the storytellers robin doing you would say, my god, this is blowing my mind. i just watched three in a row. >> i think "lost" is the first huge cinematic tv show i saw. >> i remember gathering at a friend's house to watch, and it was long enough ago and the internet was still young enough and social media was -- it was, what, friendster. >> j.j. abrams' ambition for the "lost" pilot was grandiose. he always talked about it as

making a movie every week. i think when we say the word cinematic, what we really mean is opening it up a little bit more but also the ambition of an action set piece. >> move, move! >> j.j. was very aggressive. he was like if you want me to do this pilot you'll need to give me the resource in order to do it and i want to shoot it as a movie and then we've got to keep that bar up. >> you start off, you think, all right this, is just a survival drama. their plane has crashed. how will they find food, et cetera? >> we hunt. >> and on top of that there's this whole mystery where are we? why can't we get a rescue signal? why is there a polar bear? what is going on here? >> the show averages more than 15.5 million viewers each week and spawned countless web locations where millions of avid fans can obsess. >> the fan base can saying when are you going to answer these

mysteries? personally i started feeling hamstrung storywise almost instantly because we had to do 25 hours of "lost" in the first season so we started communicating to abc, we're going to run out of flashback stories. >> call it, jack. >> you call it. >> and abc was am month in saying, no, like the show is a hit show, people love the flashbacks, don't worry, you guys are great at it. keep it up. >> are you okay, freckles? >> at the beginning of the third season we had our characters locked in cages. that's metaphorically how we felt. we felt we were locked in cane. >> around halfway through the third season abc says, okay, we will let you end the show and we're like, yes, thank god. after ten seasons. >> "desperate housewives" and

"lost" launched the same year. they had two shows that everybody was talking about. >> in truth i spent the day as i spent every other day, quietly polishing the routine of my life until >> i had a lot to say about women who go into the iconic roles of wife and mother. and are unfulfilled. >> i think the good news it brought is women who are not perfect, who are not young are viable. and the fan base was amazing and the, you know, there were t-shirts. i remember going into a store and there was "i am lynette." >> are you saying i'm a bad mother? >> ma'am, you need to get back into your car, please. >> "i am gabby." "i am susan." "i am brie." >> are you at a bar?

>> we stand on the shoulders of those who came before, you know, strong women characters in television, but in the wake of "desperate housewives," a lot more shoulders with older women came on the air. >> what you doing? >> locked myself out. naked. >> oh. >> and then i fell. so how are you? of savings and service. whoa. travis in it made it.

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while it's tempting to play it safe, the more we're willing to risk, the more alive we are. in the end, what we regret most are the chances we never took. >> there's an old showbiz axiom, you've got to get off the stage before somebody says, hey, you should get off the stage. ♪ all that you dream >> endings are hard in general, and i think "the sopranos" was able to accomplish this thing that everybody in television is always trying to accomplish, which is do something that no one has ever seen before. ♪ >> tony is meeting the family at a restaurant and we're listening to a journey song and watching as one by one the family members come in and there's these

sinister people lurking around. ♪ strangers waiting >> we were wondering, is tony going to survive this? was tony going to be shot? what was going to happen? >> [ bleep ]. they're cutting to meadow parking a car. all these things that are completely normal but they're imbued with this dread ♪ don't stop believing ♪ hold on to that feeling ♪ >> nothing is happening. they're enjoying a family meal and listening to journey and it's building and it's building ♪ don't stop ♪ >> the long black which everybody said, did i just lose my hbo signal? what's going on there? i actually thought was kind of like the cord at the end of "sergeant pepper" in which nine pianos just hit this long, long major bong and it goes on and on

and on and on and on and on and on and on. that black was sort of like what the series needed in order to communicate the fact that it is now officially over. >> as for "spran owes" creator david chase, he got whacked in the headlines. he got whacked by the "new york post" cartoonist. >> three weeks later, carlton and i were in new york talking to a couple of television critics about how amazing it was and they're like, oh, you know, there's a lot of controversy about "the sopranos" finale. we're like, what? oh, yeah, some people absolutely hate it. the whole cut to black. it's pretentious. nobody knows what it means. they're all discussing if tony is alive or dead. those are the things that make it brilliant. and then we realize that we're totally [ bleep ]. >> if you've been fortunate

enough to be successful, they've gone along for a long ride with you and the viewer has a through line for every character in the show that you could never possibly have. >> you know i love you, right? more than anything. >> of course, honey. >> so it is a fool's errand to try and please anyone but yourself when you're writing a series finale. >> finales have become increasingly more important. you know, if you don't do a really good finale to a really good series, the series can sort of lose its luster. but "six feet under" comes up with a perfect ending and the show is actually enhanced a little bit. the end of "six feet under" has the daughter just driving away in the car and music stars to play. it's sia's "breathe me" and she

looks up in the rear view mirror, so she's looking backwards, but then the show looks ahead. ♪ ouch, i have lost myself again ♪ ♪ lost myself and who i'm meant to be ♪ >> that season ended and everybody died. and i thought it was brilliant. >> the work on tv is as good as any work that's on a big screen, and so that hierarchy of film and television i think has been changed dramatically. partially because of the great work that people did at hbo and also because of the work they did at a lot of other places.

>> oh, yeah, you can't sit there. >> why not? >> that's where sheldon sits. >> he can't sit somewhere else? >> oh, no. no, you see in the winter, that seat is close enough to the radiator that he's warm yet not so close that he sweats. in the summer, it's in the direct path of a crossbreeze, opening windows there and there. he can still talk to everybody, yet not so wide that the picture still looks distorted. >> perhaps there's hope for you after all. four of the biggest money-making films of recent