Poll: The Eight Eras of Television

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1. 

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   The Milton Berle Show (1948)

   The First Era: Vaudeo (1948-1957) The first era of television was dominated by the stars of Vaudeville and their transition to TV. Legends such as Milton Berle, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Jimmy Durante and more made the jump from stage and radio to TV. The later part of the era also gave rise to timeless classics and that uniquely television medium: the sitcom. Titles include I Love Lucy (1951) and The Honeymooners (1955).

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2. 

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   Gunsmoke (1955)

   The Second Era: The "Adult Westerns" Era (1957-the early 1960s) This era saw the explosive popularity of Westerns on TV screens. Titles in this era are exclusively westerns such as Gunsmoke (1955), Cheyenne (1955), Have Gun - Will Travel (1957), and Bonanza (1959) among others.

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3. 

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   The Beverly Hillbillies (1962)

   The Third Era: The "Idiot Sitcom" Era (early to late 1960s) By the early 1960's the sitcom had been inundated with this format of television and the introduction of the dreaded laugh track. Most if not all series from this era had a specific gimmick for example Bewitched (1964), Gilligan's Island (1964), The Munsters (1964), and Gomer Pyle: USMC (1964). This era also saw the debut of prime time cartoons such as The Flintstones (1960) and The Jetsons (1962).

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4. 

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   The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970)

   The Relevance Era (Late 1960's to 1975) This was the first era of Television in which television began to see a shift from the earlier fantasy undertones to more realistic series. Shows in this era had a more serious undertone and better reflected the turbulence of the area. Examples include That Girl (1966), All in the Family (1971), The Jeffersons (1975), and Maude (1972). This era was also known for counterculture staples Laugh-In (1967) and the like.

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5. 

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   Happy Days (1974)

   The ABC Fantasy Era (1975-1980) The ABC Network dominated this era in television with a return to less controversial TV series of which were mostly apolitical. Series of this era included Three's Company (1976), Eight Is Enough (1977), Mork & Mindy (1978),Welcome Back, Kotter (1975), and Barney Miller (1975).

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6. 

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   Dallas (1978)

   Soap Operas and the "Real People" Era (1980s) With the start of a new decade came the next era of television one of big hair and even bigger egos: The Prime Time Soap. This era featured the soap opera plotlines pioneered by daytime television in the early sixties with a prime time format (running weekly instead of daily). Well known examples include Dallas (1978) and Dynasty (1981). Other non-soap series like Cheers (1982) and Hill Street Blues (1981) adapted to the era by focusing on relationship struggles between the characters, The Cosby Show (1984) featured realistic parenting, and St. Elsewhere (1982) and others attempted to showcase more gritty realism.

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7. 

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   Fraggle Rock (1983)

   The Era of Choice (1990s) The 1990s saw the proliferation of cable TV and with came a new era of choice. Although cable had been around since about 1972 with the creation of HBO, there was never much choice outside of the Big Three Networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC), which themselves had been joined by FOX and its break out hit Married... with Children (1987). Gone were the years of three limited choices. From now on there would kids networks like Nickelodeon and Cartoon NEtwork, music channels like MTV and VH1 which focused on music videos. There were movie networks like HBO, AMC, TCM, among others and general networks such as USA, TBS, and TNT. Network TV adjusted by offering more variety than ever with shows ranging the gamut from intense dramas like ER (1994) to now classic sitcoms like Frasier (1993) and Friends (1994).

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8. 

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   Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (1999)

   The Reality Era (2000s-present) The turn of the millennium saw the last noticeable era of television arrive on the scene; The Reality Era (while reality TV had been around since the days of Candid Camera, it had always been a marginalized genre) and it was ushered in by of all things, a gameshow: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (1999) was the last great ratings juggernaut of the of the 20th century and CBS promptly answered the following year with Survivor (2000). Never had a clear delineation between the eras occurred and what followed was a madcap frenzy to capitalize on the reality TV trend with hits such as The Bachelor (2002), The Amazing Race (2001), and others. While TV in the last few years has seen an increase of scripted television there was a point during the Great Recession that Reality TV ruled the airwaves largely in part to its cheaper production costs.

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