Free TV shows on television were born much in the same manner as those radio shows of old. First, radio was the venue for playing music and broadcasting the most recent news. Later, there were good old chats, the commentaries and the talk shows. Then, entertainment like songs and stories dramatized for radio arrived and stayed.
When television came into the scene, the network owners more or less followed the same time-tested formula. Only this time, the number of categories was almost doubled because there was an important detail added to the medium - the visual element.
One of the big come-ons for watching free TV shows is the availability of several varieties of these free shows. Each category was created to appeal to everyone's taste. Here are some of the more popular and fundamental ones.
News. Even during the early times of Television, broadcasting the news was of paramount value. Stature and also the continuous standing of networks relied largely on how they deal with and disseminate the news. This time, they are spiced with the added moving visuals in contrast to picture stills in newspapers as well as simple descriptive narrations in radio broadcasts.
TV serials and series. Series are drama stories that vary each week but headlined by the same group of characters. The featured stories or situations could be on specific locales (hospital dramas) or occupations (police action-dramas).
Serials are continuous stories of a band of characters, where each week's episode picks up the narrative thread left off from the preceding week. This is not a popular primetime format in the U.S. at this time, except in daytime soap operas. (Soap operas got their nickname because they were largely sponsored in the early days by soap manufacturers.)
Another variety is the miniseries, a continuing story aired on limited number of episodes. The more notable successes were Rich Man Poor Man and Roots.
Sitcoms. They are basically comedy shows headlined by comic actors in comic stories about everyday lives. The characters in these 30-minute-long shows usually deal with odd, uncomfortable and mostly comic situations.
Specials. As the term suggests, a special is an essential one-time show aired with much fanfare and can interrupt or temporarily replace any regular program. They can be a big movie, a documentary, a musical event, an awards show like the Oscars, a live event like a presidential oath-taking, a big sporting event, or coverage of an important cultural event.
Talk shows. These are shows where people talk about various topics initiated by the host. Sometimes, they feature a panel of guests to help discuss the issues at hand. One other feature is the taking in of live phone calls from viewers. Talk shows may also be comic all throughout, with comedy hosts and celebrity guests talking about current entertainment issues or about the guest celebrities themselves.
Game shows. These are popular shows usually shown on daytime where there is a real contest with big prizes and rewards. To spice up the games, celebrities are usually included as players either playing against themselves or against ordinary contestants. (Spelling Bee was the first TV game show.)
Reality shows. This relatively new show concept is supposedly unscripted and unrehearsed. They have non-actors interacting with one another, dealing with invented challenges (like 'surviving' in an island), or competing with each other for some rewards (affection of one other person, big money, etc.) They often focus on interpersonal conflicts and also the varying emotions of the participants as well as the resulting "real-life drama".
Other choices. These days, there also exist the so-called specialty stations or channels whose programs cater to a particular group of audience. Examples would be cable stations like Animal Planet, Nickelodeon, National Geographic, ESPN, Discovery and many others.
For the average viewer, these are bonanza times of viewing free TV shows. You can pick and view any program you like at any hour of the day, seven days a week. However, one has to live one's life also - eat, sleep, and work.
When television came into the scene, the network owners more or less followed the same time-tested formula. Only this time, the number of categories was almost doubled because there was an important detail added to the medium - the visual element.
One of the big come-ons for watching free TV shows is the availability of several varieties of these free shows. Each category was created to appeal to everyone's taste. Here are some of the more popular and fundamental ones.
News. Even during the early times of Television, broadcasting the news was of paramount value. Stature and also the continuous standing of networks relied largely on how they deal with and disseminate the news. This time, they are spiced with the added moving visuals in contrast to picture stills in newspapers as well as simple descriptive narrations in radio broadcasts.
TV serials and series. Series are drama stories that vary each week but headlined by the same group of characters. The featured stories or situations could be on specific locales (hospital dramas) or occupations (police action-dramas).
Serials are continuous stories of a band of characters, where each week's episode picks up the narrative thread left off from the preceding week. This is not a popular primetime format in the U.S. at this time, except in daytime soap operas. (Soap operas got their nickname because they were largely sponsored in the early days by soap manufacturers.)
Another variety is the miniseries, a continuing story aired on limited number of episodes. The more notable successes were Rich Man Poor Man and Roots.
Sitcoms. They are basically comedy shows headlined by comic actors in comic stories about everyday lives. The characters in these 30-minute-long shows usually deal with odd, uncomfortable and mostly comic situations.
Specials. As the term suggests, a special is an essential one-time show aired with much fanfare and can interrupt or temporarily replace any regular program. They can be a big movie, a documentary, a musical event, an awards show like the Oscars, a live event like a presidential oath-taking, a big sporting event, or coverage of an important cultural event.
Talk shows. These are shows where people talk about various topics initiated by the host. Sometimes, they feature a panel of guests to help discuss the issues at hand. One other feature is the taking in of live phone calls from viewers. Talk shows may also be comic all throughout, with comedy hosts and celebrity guests talking about current entertainment issues or about the guest celebrities themselves.
Game shows. These are popular shows usually shown on daytime where there is a real contest with big prizes and rewards. To spice up the games, celebrities are usually included as players either playing against themselves or against ordinary contestants. (Spelling Bee was the first TV game show.)
Reality shows. This relatively new show concept is supposedly unscripted and unrehearsed. They have non-actors interacting with one another, dealing with invented challenges (like 'surviving' in an island), or competing with each other for some rewards (affection of one other person, big money, etc.) They often focus on interpersonal conflicts and also the varying emotions of the participants as well as the resulting "real-life drama".
Other choices. These days, there also exist the so-called specialty stations or channels whose programs cater to a particular group of audience. Examples would be cable stations like Animal Planet, Nickelodeon, National Geographic, ESPN, Discovery and many others.
For the average viewer, these are bonanza times of viewing free TV shows. You can pick and view any program you like at any hour of the day, seven days a week. However, one has to live one's life also - eat, sleep, and work.
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