The Golden Age of Television (2000s–present) is a period marked by the production of a large number of internationally acclaimed television programs in the United States. The period began in the late 1990s or early 2000s. It resulted from advances in technologies of media distribution, as well as a large increase in the number of hours of available television, which prompted a major wave of content creation.
Its name refers to the original Golden Age of Television which occurred in the 1950s. It has also been referred to as the "New", "Second" or "Third Golden Age of Television" ("third" being used when a period in the early 1980s is considered a second Golden Age).
History
French scholar Alex Pichard has argued that TV series enjoyed a Second Golden Age in the 2000s which was a combination of three elements: first, an improvement in both visual aesthetics and storytelling; second, an overall homogeneity between cable series and networks series; and third, a tremendous popular success. Alexis Pichard contends that this Second Golden Age was the result of a revolution initiated by the traditional networks in the 1980s and carried on by the cable channels (especially HBO) in the 1990s.
Television shows thought to have contributed to the rise of the new golden age of television include the influential HBO shows Oz, The Sopranos and The Wire. With the rise of instant access to content on Netflix, television shows like Breaking Bad, Friday Night Lights, Mad Men, and The Shield gained cult followings that grew to become wide popularity.
Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, 24, Mad Men, The Shield, The Sopranos, Lost and The Wire are generally considered the basis of the so-called Golden Age of Television, i.e. the new creator-driven tragic dramas of the 2000s and 2010s. The Writer's Guild of America vote for 101 Best Written TV Shows includes a complete foundation of the current Golden Age of Television. Some have argued that it began earlier with network shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine & Babylon 5.
Recent years have seen a dramatic rise in the number of original scripted television shows; in 2015 alone, more than four hundred scripted TV series aired in the United States, an increase from 2014 which saw 376 air during the year. The number of shows are also rising exponentially due to Internet companies like Netflix, Amazon Video and Hulu investing heavily in original content. John Landgraf, the CEO of FX Networks, has stated that the United States has reached "peak television", where the amount of television series being aired could be overwhelming for the viewer to choose from, especially for critics obligated to review as many shows as possible, which results in a decreased output of television series in the future.