You are about to enter another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination.
No, it’s not “The Twilight Zone.” It’s primetime TV. Lately, however, it’s getting harder to tell the difference.
After enduring years of so-called “reality” television, we are now embarking on a form so stooped in fiction, it’s getting more difficult to decipher whether we’re watching ABC or the Sci-Fi Channel. It’s as if primetime programming is permanently stuck in Halloween mode – ghosts, aliens, slutty nurses and all.
It was only appropriate when NBC spent the recent costumed holiday airing three episodes of its spooktastic soap “Medium.” Patricia Arquette, who dabbled in the demonic with the movie “Stigmata” and later “Little Nicky,” plays Allison Dubois, a law student and mother of two who gets by with a little help from her psychic friends. Using her ability to see surreal visions, Allison often beats the professionals to solving the crimes.
But “Medium” is not the only show seeing dead people. Jennifer Love Hewitt (that’s right, sheeee’s baaaack. Scary enough, no?) is touched by a wandering spirit weekly on CBS’ “Ghost Whisperer.” A little less “Law and Order” than her counterpart on “Medium,” Hewitt portrays Melinda Gordon, who uses her special gifts to help the deceased with their unfinished business. As Hewitt recently told Entertainment Weekly, “There’s nothing scarier than dead people.” (I don’t know Jen, your single “Bare Naked” still sends shivers down my spine.)
Both “Medium” and “Ghost Whisperer” claim to be based on real-life mediums (oxymoron?), but the ghastly and ghostly misadventures of Hewitt and Arquette fall definitively on the fiction side of the spectrum.
It doesn’t end with spirits, however. Three shows – ABC’s “Invasion,” CBS’ “Threshold” and NBC’s “Surface” – turn our attention (and fears) toward the sky.
All three have a close resemblance to the soon-to-be released Nicole Kidman remake of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” tentatively titled “The Visiting.” “Invasion” tells the story of a post-hurricane Florida town where certain residents have started acting strange. It could be the mysterious lights that fell after the storm. Then again, it could also be gas.
“Threshold,” on the other hand, comes right out with their alien theory and crop-circle like signature markings, while “Surface” makes us want to stay out of the water. In what might be an alien or a distant cousin of the Loch Ness Monster, the deep-sea creature terrorizing this town is enough to give even the Gorton’s fisherman nightmares.
Sure, these shows are trying to capitalize on the former success of “X-Files” and the current smash “Lost,” but sometimes these kinds of outrageous situations find their way into some of our more conventional programs.
Take one of my personal faves, the “ER” meets “Melrose Place” dramedy “Grey’s Anatomy.” On Sunday’s episode alone, there was a male patient who was (at least momentarily) very possibly pregnant and a human heart literally burst into flames on the operating table. Even popular evening dramas like FOX’s “House,” “The OC” and “Reunion” have their moments of inexplicable plot developments.
In all of this escapism, what is it exactly we’re trying to escape?
In the last year alone, we’ve witnessed a tsunami, bombings in London and Hurricane Katrina (not to mention an unfolding war, continuing chaos in Africa and, oh yeah, Bird Flu). It’s enough to make anyone want to turn off Anderson Cooper and turn on “Smallville.”
But what is going to be the effect of all of these flights of fantasy? With less prominence of government-based dramas like “24” and “The West Wing,” will we forget our patriotic duty to fight for what we believe is right? Without the socio-comedy staples like “Friends” and “Sex and the City,” will we no longer be able to relate to one another?
We depend on TV for a lot of things – to entertain us, to comfort us and also to teach us. I can say I’ve learned more about the White House cabinet from “The West Wing” than I ever have from U.S. History. Though ghosts, aliens and bursting hearts may be cool, let’s not forget that sometimes even primetime needs to keep it real.
– Bobby Hankinson can be reached at [email protected].
