History GenreTurningPoint / LiveActionTV

* ''Series/{{Lost}}'' (2004-2010) popularized the idea of shows built around long-term, [[DrivingQuestion mystery-focused]] {{myth arc}}s that [[MindScrew jerk the viewer's mind around]], as well as bringing sprawling, SoapOpera-style storylines into TV sci-fi. While it has its antecedents (''Series/TwinPeaks'', ''Series/TheXFiles'', ''Series/BabylonFive''), the boom in such programming after ''Lost''[='=]s success shows why the trope is called the ''{{Noughties|DramaSeries}}'' [[NoughtiesDramaSeries Drama Series]]. ''Lost'' also played a significant role in convincing networks that a successful mainstream series could experiment with non-linear storytelling.

* ''Series/{{Dallas}}'' (1978-91) wasn't the first successful PrimeTimeSoap (that would be the 1964-69 adaptation of Grace Metalious' novel ''Literature/PeytonPlace''), but it ''was'' the first to become a true smash hit, bringing SoapOpera storytelling and {{melodrama}} to the evening hours with [[SceneryPorn far more lavish and decadent budgets, costuming, and set design]] than were afforded to their daytime counterparts (which ran at a rapid clip of up to five episodes a week and had to stretch their budgets thin as a result). Within the show, the biggest landmark was the "Who Shot J.R.?" StoryArc. As [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny hard as it may be to believe now]], it was considered ''unthinkable'' for an American TV show in 1980 to end a season on a {{cliffhanger}}, so when ''Dallas'' did it, it legitimately shocked the nation and produced what remains one of the most widely-viewed television events of all time. ''Dallas'', together with shows like ''Series/Dynasty1981'', ''Falcon Crest'', and the spinoff ''Series/KnotsLanding'' that [[FollowTheLeader followed in its wake]], changed the soap opera and American television forever by demonstrating that prime time dramas could play around with the same kind of long-running, serialized stories, laying an important crack in the soap opera's dominance of daytime television as the genre migrated to prime time -- especially once shows in genres outside of the "[[BigScrewedUpFamily family drama]]" format common to soaps, from cop shows to sitcoms to sci-fi and fantasy, began [[{{Soaperizing}} doing the same]].

* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' (1989-98) changed the way {{sitcom}} characters and stories are portrayed so completely that the original series seems [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny derivative]] in the new context it created. It helped pave the way for American sitcom protagonists who were [[UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist far less moral and sympathetic]] than before; while there had been people like [[Series/AllInTheFamily Archie Bunker]], [[Series/MarriedWithChildren Al Bundy]], and [[Series/{{Roseanne}} Roseanne Conner]] in the past, the cast of ''Seinfeld'' was unique in that they were ''all'' abrasive, selfish jerks with nobody to balance out their worst tendencies, with the show's humor coming from watching them go through life and handle it badly without learning a damn thing (hence the show's famous credo of "no hugging and no learning"). Along the way, it also increased the standards of sophistication for sitcom humor, its eponymous creator and star, stand-up comic Creator/JerrySeinfeld, eschewing the cornball humor and [[AnAesop Aesops]] of many contemporary sitcoms in favor of biting wit and satire. Shows like ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'', ''Series/CurbYourEnthusiasm'' (created by ''Seinfeld'' veteran Creator/LarryDavid), and ''Series/ShamelessUS'' probably would not exist without the influence of ''Seinfeld''.

** It also left a mark on the ZombieApocalypse genre, doing for zombies what Franchise/UniversalHorror did for [[ClassicalMovieVampire vampires]] and [[WolfMan werewolves]] in how it elevated a cult horror movie baddie into something as instantly recognizable even to mainstream viewers as any of the "classic" monsters. After the show took off, a boom of zombie TV shows hit the airwaves and streaming even as the genre died out in film. Special effects artist Cliff Wallace, in [[https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/walking-dead-ten-years-later-zombie-experts-impact an interview]] with ''Syfy Wire'', credits the show with specifically popularizing a more grotesque look for zombies as well, more reminiscent of desiccated corpses with their receded lips and gums, NightmareFace, and other signs of physical decay than the more "lifelike" zombies of Creator/GeorgeARomero. On a less positive note, it's also been argued to have heralded a shift in the zombie genre's politics away from the anti-authoritarianism of Romero and towards [[TheSocialDarwinist social Darwinism]], portraying the zombie apocalypse as a world where only the strong survive and [[SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids compassion and empathy get people killed]].

* ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' (2010-present).

** Modern {{fandom}} was also birthed by ''Star Trek''. While there had been antecedents like ''[[Theatre/TheRingOfTheNibelung Der Ring des Nibelungen]]'' and the Franchise/SherlockHolmes novels, ''Star Trek'' was the first media property to see its fanbase grow into an entire UsefulNotes/{{subculture|s}} with its own dedicated fan communities, [[FanConvention conventions]], and {{fanfic}} (including popularizing SlashFic and the term [[invoked]] "MarySue").

** Modern {{fandom}} was also birthed by ''Star Trek''. While there had been antecedents like ''[[Theatre/TheRingOfTheNibelung Der Ring des Nibelung]]'' and the Franchise/SherlockHolmes novels, ''Star Trek'' was the first media property to see its fanbase grow into an entire UsefulNotes/{{subculture|s}} with its own dedicated fan communities, [[FanConvention conventions]], and {{fanfic}} (including popularizing SlashFic and the term [[invoked]] "MarySue").

** Modern {{fandom}} was also birthed by ''Star Trek''. While there had been antecedents like ''[[Theatre/TheRingOfTheNibelung Der Ring des Nibelung]]'' and the Franchise/SherlockHolmes novels, ''Star Trek'' was the first media property to see its fanbase grow into an entire UsefulNotes/{{subculture|s}} with its own dedicated fan communities, [[FanConvention conventions]], and {{fanfic}} (including popularizing SlashFic and the term "MarySue").

** ''Franchise/StarTrek''[='=]s influence would go on to shape far more than science fiction as a genre. Not only is it the TropeCodifier (and {{Trope Namer|s}}) for the PowerTrio, but things like automatic doors, Kindle, iPods, Bluetooth, cell phones, and laptops were all first conceived for ''Star Trek''. Its impact even goes beyond pop culture and technology; Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman to work in space, was inspired to become an astronaut after seeing Lieutenant Uhura on television as a little girl.

* In 1976, UsefulNotes/TedTurner, owner of the UsefulNotes/{{Atlanta}} independent television station WTCG, created cable television as we know it. Before, cable had been primarily used to distribute television to remote areas beyond the reach of broadcast signals, with WTCG itself carried by cable networks in six Southern states, but Turner, wishing to broadcast [[UsefulNotes/MLBTeams Atlanta Braves]] games in UsefulNotes/{{Boston}} so he could watch them from his yacht in Marblehead, hooked WTCG up to cable systems across the US and changed its name to [[Creator/{{TBS}} WTBS]] (Turner Broadcasting System), the first TV "superstation". For the first time, cable had value beyond just utility; it had stations of its own that weren't carried on regular broadcast television.

* Before 1999's ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs'' debuted, most documentaries on prehistoric life were usually talking head-centric works featuring dig sites and lab work, with mostly still images of drawings being the main way of depicting the subjects, with the rest using either traditional animation, stop-motion, animatronics or puppets, and after the 80’s basal CG, but rarely for more then a few minutes. ''Franchise/WalkingWith'' however, went in the style of a pure nature documentary that used then-cutting edge CG and puppets to immerse one in a mesozoic environment with no cuts to any human talking heads whatsoever. It also showed dinosaurs acting for most of it like animals and not as [[PrehistoricMonster Prehistoric Monsters]] that did nothing but fight and attack. It was a monumental success, kicking of not only sequel series, a special, and a spinoff, but also caused many palaeo-documentaries to step things up, most notably from Discovery Channel, bringing audiences ''WesternAnimation/WhenDinosaursRoamedAmerica'' and ''Series/DinosaurPlanet'' just a few years after it. Today, most [[NarrativeDrivenNatureDocumentary narrative dinosaur documentaries]] and to a lesser extent paleo-media as a whole borrows many of its storytelling conventions from it.

* ''Series/{{LOST}}'' (2004-2010) popularized the idea of shows built around long-term, [[DrivingQuestion mystery-focused]] {{myth arc}}s that [[MindScrew jerk the viewer's mind around]], as well as bringing sprawling, SoapOpera-style storylines into TV sci-fi. While it has its antecedents (''Series/TwinPeaks'', ''Series/TheXFiles'', ''Series/BabylonFive''), the boom in such programming after ''Lost''[='=]s success shows why the trope is called the ''{{Noughties|DramaSeries}}'' [[NoughtiesDramaSeries Drama Series]]. ''Lost'' also played a significant role in convincing networks that a successful mainstream series could experiment with non-linear storytelling.

* Before 1999's ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs'' debuted, most documentaries on prehistoric life were usually talking head-centric works featuring dig sites and lab work, with mostly still images of drawings being the main way of depicting the subjects, with the rest using either traditional animation, stop-motion, animatronics or puppets, and after the 80’s basal CG, but rarely for more then a few minutes. ''Franchise/WalkingWith'' however, went in the style of a pure nature documentary that used then-cutting edge CG and puppets to immerse one in a mesozoic environment with no cuts to any human talking heads whatsoever. It also showed dinosaurs acting for most of it like animals and not as [[PrehistoricMonster Prehistoric Monsters]] that did nothing but fight and attack. It was a monumental success, kicking of not only sequel series, a special, and a spinoff, but also caused many palaeo-documentaries to step things up, most notably from Discovery Channel, bringing audiences ''WesternAnimation/WhenDinosaursRoamedAmerica'' and ''Series/DinosaurPlanet'' just a few years after it. Today, most documentaries and Dinosaur Media and paleo-media as a whole borrows many of its storytelling conventions from it.

* ''Series/{{Today}}'' ([[LongRunners 1952-present]]) wasn't the first morning TalkShow. That was ''Three to Get Ready'', a comedic morning news program created by Creator/ErnieKovacs that aired on the UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}} TV station WPTZ[[labelnote:*]]Now KYZ-TV[[/labelnote]] from 1950-52. ''Today'', however, was the first morning show to air nationally and the one that set the tone for all those that followed, combining a serious newscast covering politics, business and the weather with a much LighterAndSofter tone aimed chiefly at stay-at-home parents and their kids, with plenty of {{human interest stor|y}}ies and light entertainment.

* In 1976, ''Rich Man, Poor Man'', an adaptation of Irwin Shaw's 1969 novel, popularized the {{miniseries}} on American television. It wasn't the first American miniseries; that would be ''The Blue Knight'', which aired in 1973. However, its success gave the format prestige as a way to faithfully adapt [[{{Doorstopper}} big, epic novels]] to the screen: instead of compressing them into a feature film that would have to [[AdaptationDecay leave a lot out]] even at three hours or more, a limited series offered a way to tell the story in as many episodes as needed, the only limits coming more from [[MediaWatchdog Standards and Practices]] than time constraints. From the late '70s through the mid-'80s, as evidenced by the success of shows like ''Series/{{Roots|1977}}'', ''Series/JesusOfNazareth'', ''Series/{{V|1983}}'', and ''Series/{{North and South|US}}'', the miniseries was the TV equivalent of the SummerBlockbuster, what the networks turned to during UsefulNotes/{{sweeps}} when they wanted to strike critical and audience gold with beefed-up budgets, [[AllStarCast star-studded casts]], flashy special effects, and attention-grabbing subject matter.

* Ted Turner revolutionized cable TV a second time in 1980 when he launched CNN, the first [[TwentyFourHourNewsNetworks 24-hour news network]]. Before, people had to wait for the morning and evening newscasts and papers to catch up on the daily news, but CNN allowed them to do so at any time, in real time, and developed the media infrastructure that allowed them to be the first to respond to a breaking news story with national reach. The advantages of this became apparent during UsefulNotes/TheGulfWar, the moment when CNN was catapulted into the national spotlight as its reporters were able to offer on-the-ground, instantaneous updates of the conflict in a way that Creator/{{CBS}}, Creator/{{NBC}}, and Creator/{{ABC}}'s news teams couldn't without interrupting their other programming. CNN's coverage of the Gulf War made cable news a serious competitor to broadcast news in both popularity and legitimacy, leading to the creation of Creator/{{MSNBC}} and the Creator/FoxNewsChannel in 1996 to compete with it.

* Speaking of ''Series/TheMortonDowneyJrShow'' (1987-89), it popularized a very different sort of TV TalkShow: one in which the host was openly combative towards his guests, using his program as a bully pulpit to pontificate on political and cultural issues. While Downey's career as a talk show host only lasted two years before going down in disgrace, he was also a clear case of ShortLivedBigImpact, as the style of his show has been pointed to as an inspiration for the "trash TV" boom of TheNineties in the short term, and the rise of RealityTV and the Creator/FoxNewsChannel in the long term. Even Al Sharpton, a pundit who sits on the opposite end of the political spectrum from the conservative Downey, cited him as an inspiration for his confrontational style; perhaps not coincidentally, Sharpton was a frequent guest on Downey's show. Andrew O'Hehir, [[https://www.salon.com/2013/06/04/morton_downey_jr_the_man_who_broke_talk_tv/ writing]] for ''Salon'', said that "[i]f he wasn't quite the first host to understand a political talk show as primarily a form of theater or a revival meeting, rather than a conversation or debate, he pushed that realization to its illogical extreme."

* Ted Turner revolutionized cable TV a second time in 1980 when he launched Creator/{{CNN}}, the first [[TwentyFourHourNewsNetworks 24-hour news network]]. Before, people had to wait for the morning and evening newscasts and papers to catch up on the daily news, but CNN allowed them to do so at any time, in real time, and developed the media infrastructure that allowed them to be the first to respond to a breaking news story with national reach. The advantages of this became apparent during UsefulNotes/TheGulfWar, the moment when CNN was catapulted into the national spotlight as its reporters were able to offer on-the-ground, instantaneous updates of the conflict in a way that Creator/{{CBS}}, Creator/{{NBC}}, and Creator/{{ABC}}'s news teams couldn't without interrupting their other programming. CNN's coverage of the Gulf War made cable news a serious competitor to broadcast news in both popularity and legitimacy, leading to the creation of Creator/{{MSNBC}} and the Creator/FoxNewsChannel in 1996 to compete with it.

* In 1976, UsefulNotes/TedTurner, owner of the UsefulNotes/{{Atlanta}} independent television station WTCG, created cable television as we know it. Before, cable had been primarily used to distribute television to remote areas beyond the reach of broadcast signals, but Turner, wishing to broadcast [[UsefulNotes/MLBTeams Atlanta Braves]] games in UsefulNotes/{{Boston}} so he could watch them from his yacht in Marblehead, hooked WTCG up to cable systems across the US and changed its name to [[Creator/{{TBS}} WTBS]] (Turner Broadcasting System), the first TV "superstation". For the first time, cable had value beyond just utility; it had stations of its own that weren't carried on regular broadcast television.

* ''Series/AmericanHorrorStory'' also revived the {{miniseries}} on American television, one of its main hooks being that each season was

* The eruption of the quiz show scandals in 1958, in which it was found that hit shows like ''[[Series/TwentyOne Twenty-One]]'', ''Series/{{Dotto}}'', and ''Series/The64000Question'' were being rigged at the behest of advertisers, has been pointed to as the end of the first GoldenAge of Television for the impact it had on the medium.

** Four months later, CBS premiered ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' (1971-79), which marked the arrival of Creator/NormanLear as one of the most revolutionary TV producers of all time. Starting with ''All in the Family'', Lear's shows brought a new level of social consciousness to American television in TheSeventies, raising the bar for the social, cultural, and political topics that could be discussed on TV and demonstrating that the "idiot box" could tackle serious issues with nuance and depth while still being funny and entertaining. He brought the "social realist" theater of the early 20th century into the age of television, telling stories about ordinary people living ordinary lives while confronting, and being confronted by, the issues and changing social norms of the day. His shows also brought a previously unheard-of degree of diversity to television, with his various female and non-white lead characters including the likes of [[Series/SanfordAndSon Fred G. Sanford]], [[Series/{{Maude}} Maude Findlay]], [[Series/GoodTimes Florida and James Evans]], [[Series/TheJeffersons George and Louise Jefferson]], and [[Series/OneDayAtATime Ann Romano]].

** Shows like ''Series/{{Oz}}'' (1997-2003), ''Series/SexAndTheCity'' (1998-2004), ''Series/TheSopranos'' (1999-2007), and ''Series/TheWire'' (2002-08), with their focus on cinematography, acting, and complex themes and storylines developed through sharp writing and in-depth characters, proved that television productions can be just as good as Hollywood movies, and that cable television could seriously compete with the broadcast {{networks}} on their own turf. This has led to what has been widely called a second GoldenAge for American television, one that very quickly spread to basic cable channels in the '00s and the nascent streaming services in the '10s. The catalysts for ''those'' are described in more detail below.

** The launch of Netflix's streaming service in 2007 changed television from "appointment" viewing, where people tuned in at specific times to catch programs or set their [=VCRs=] or [=DVRs=] to record them, to a model where any episode could be watched at any time. One major consequence of this was that serialized storytelling, built around {{Story Arc}}s spanning multiple episodes or even seasons, grew to displace procedural storytelling, built around standalone episodes with contained stories, as it became possible to "binge-watch" multiple episodes at once and follow a long-running story more easily. Binge-watching had first taken off a few years prior with DVD releases of TV shows, and for decades TV networks had known the appeal of running marathons of popular programs, but streaming made binge-watching much easier and less expensive for viewers now that they no longer had to purchase expensive DVD box sets or check their listings for when networks were running marathons. The streaming revolution that Netflix heralded is often pointed to as a key factor in the "GoldenAge of Television" that took off in the 2000s, which was characterized by critically acclaimed, BetterOnDVD serialized TV shows like ''Series/BreakingBad'' and ''Series/MadMen'' that, just a few years prior, likely would've been canceled due to their low ratings in first-run broadcast.

* With the daytime SoapOpera needing to evolve to keep up with the prime time challenge from ''Dallas'', the hiring of Gloria Monty as the showrunner for ''Series/GeneralHospital'' in 1978 ended up giving daytime its sought-after boost. Given three months to save the show from cancellation, Monty decided the way to go was to appeal to younger viewers. She turned the show's focus to its younger characters, especially NaiveEverygirl Laura, switched the show's tone to high {{Melodrama}}, and sped up its pacing, putting in twice as many scenes per episode as the then-standard for soaps, as well as abandoning the archaic "live-to-tape"[[labelnote:explanation]]i.e. the show had been staged like it was a live broadcast, but was pre-recorded for later playback[[/labelnote]] production format, which allowed it to start doing things like filming on location. It paid off dramatically, as it suddenly became a major sensation, with 30 million viewers tuning in for the wedding of [[SuperCouple Luke and Laura]] in 1981. With other soaps benefitting from the renewed attention to the genre, youth appeal, fast pacing, increased production values, over-the-top storylines and an emphasis on the SuperCouple became the daytime norm.

* Before 1999's ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs'' debuted, most documentaries on prehistoric life were usually talking head-centric works featuring dig sites and lab work, with mostly still images of drawings being the main way of depicting the subjects, with the rest using either traditional animation, stop-motion, animatronics or puppets, and after the 80’s basal CG, but rarely for more then a few minutes. Walking With however, went in the style of a pure nature documentary that used then-cutting edge CG and puppets to immerse one in a mesozoic environment with no cuts to any human talking heads whatsoever. It also showed dinosaurs acting for most of it like animals and not as [[PrehistoricMonster Prehistoric Monsters]] that did nothing but fight and attack. It was a monumental success, kicking of not only sequel series, a special, and a spinoff, but also caused many palaeo-documentaries to step things up, most notably from Discovery Channel, bringing audiences ''WesternAnimation/WhenDinosaursRoamedAmerica'' and ''Series/DinosaurPlanet''. Today, most documentaries and Dinosaur Media and paleo-media as a whole borrows many of its storytelling conventions from it.

** It also heavily impacted the PoliceProcedural, and not just by raising the bar in terms of the violence such shows could get away with. Emily St. James, writing for ''Vox'' at the time of [[https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/10/23/17989508/x-files-25th-anniversary-monsters-of-the-week-excerpt-todd-vanderwerff the show's 25th anniversary]], has said that "our modern crime dramas are usually just ''X-Files'' that have jettisoned the supernatural elements", namely in terms of the greater focus that they have placed on technology, forensics, and the process of investigation versus earlier police dramas.

** Together with ''The X-Files'', it played a major role in boosting the critical respectability of 'genre' television. Early in its run, the show's title alone saw it dismissed by critics expecting teenybopper junk, but by the time of its GrandFinale, it and its SpinOff ''Series/{{Angel}}'' were the subject of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_studies serious academic analysis]]. After ''Buffy'' and ''The X-Files'', the SciFiGhetto began to crumble on television, as critics could no longer dismiss fantasy and science fiction shows sight unseen. ''Series/VeronicaMars'', ''Series/{{Lost}}'', ''Series/TrueBlood'', the Series/{{Arrowverse}}, and the relaunched ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'' and ''Series/DoctorWho'' are just some of the shows that proliferated in their wake, winning a level of acclaim that had never been afforded to similar shows in the fairly recent past.

** Shows like ''Series/{{Oz}}'' (1997-2003), ''Series/SexAndTheCity'' (1998-2004), ''Series/TheSopranos'' (1999-2007), and ''Series/TheWire'' (2002-08), with their focus on cinematography, acting, and complex themes and storylines developed through sharp writing and in-depth characters, proved that television productions can be just as good as Hollywood movies, and that cable television could seriously compete with the broadcast {{networks}} on their own turf. This has led to what some have described as a new GoldenAge for American television, one that is still apparent on HBO with shows like ''Series/GameOfThrones'' and ''Series/{{Westworld}}'' but has also spread to basic cable channels. The catalyst for ''that'' is described in more detail below.
** Said shows also brought more mature content into American television, which, until then, was largely restricted to fairly tame (about a mild PG-13) programming due to [[MediaWatchdog the FCC]], whose rules only covered broadcast networks (cable, as a pay service, was exempted). By contrast, shows on broadcast TV like ''The X-Files'' and ''Series/NYPDBlue'' regularly had to tone down their most graphic content in order to avoid getting their networks slapped with fines. Due to these restrictions, much of the creative boom in American TV during the 21st century has been on cable networks -- and more specifically, on ''premium'' cable networks, which not only don't have to worry about the FCC, but also don't have to worry about advertisers being pressured by MoralGuardians to pull their ads.
** If any one HBO series can be pointed to as the most impactful, then most people would suggest the gangster drama ''Series/TheSopranos'' as the harbinger of the era of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Age_of_Television_(2000s%E2%80%93present) "Peak TV".]] It took the innovations of the aforementioned ''The X-Files'' and brought them from science fiction to a comparatively grounded crime story, focusing on character drama, GreyAndGrayMorality, a deep and complex MythArc, risky storytelling that wasn't afraid to "go there", bar-raising performances from its ensemble cast, production values on the level of a Hollywood movie, and a contemporary, easily-recognizable setting in the form of [[{{Joisey}} suburban New Jersey]]. Many critics have hailed it as the greatest TV show of all time, or at least in the upper echelon, the show that proved that television could be TrueArt on the level of film; Maureen Ryan, [[https://www.popmatters.com/the-sopranos-is-the-most-influential-television-drama-ever-2496186702.html writing]] for ''[=PopMatters=]'', said that "[n]o one-hour drama series has had a bigger impact on how stories are told on the small screen, or more influence on what kind of fare we've been offered by an ever-growing array of television networks." Its impact can be felt on crime shows in particular (especially those with a VillainProtagonist) but also throughout the landscape of modern serialized television.

* ''Series/{{LOST}}'' (2004-2010) popularized the idea of shows built around long-term, [[DrivingQuestion mystery-focused]] {{myth arc}}s that [[MindScrew jerk the viewer's mind around]], as well as bringing sprawling, SoapOpera-style storylines into TV sci-fi. While it has its antecedents (''Series/TwinPeaks'', ''Series/TheXFiles'', ''Series/BabylonFive''), the boom in such programming after ''LOST''[='=]s success shows why the trope is called the ''{{Noughties|DramaSeries}}'' [[NoughtiesDramaSeries Drama Series]]. ''Series/{{LOST}}'' also played a significant role in convincing networks that a successful mainstream series could experiment with non-linear storytelling.

* ''Series/BreakingBad'' (2008-2013), in addition to leading the aforementioned trend towards DarkerAndEdgier direction on American television in the 2000s and '10s, also left its mark in terms of CharacterDevelopment (such as the longest, most complex FaceHeelTurn in modern TV) and impact on crime dramas set in modern times. It eschewed the classic [[TheMafia Mafia]] tropes and ViceCity setting that had dominated the genre since the early days of Hollywood, instead taking place in [[NewOldWest rural New Mexico]] and focusing on a crude, gritty, macabre storyline where [[TheCartel Mexican cartels]], {{corrupt corporat|eExecutive}}ions, and [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels white supremacist biker gangs]] are in charge of the drug market. Its influence [[FollowTheLeader led to a wave of crime shows and movies]] set in [[FlyoverCountry the small-town American heartland]] rather than the big city, such as ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'', ''Series/QueenOfTheSouth'', and ''Series/{{Ozark}}''.

* ''Series/ILoveLucy'' (1951-57) has so many turning points attached to it that one can honestly wonder if television as a whole would look the same today without it. It was a KillerApp for television in the days when a TV set still cost almost as much as a small car. The show's cinematographer Karl Freund [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQvjD2-p98U perfected and codified]] the three-camera {{sitcom}} setup that is still in use by many popular shows to this day, even with the rise of the single-camera sitcom in the 2000s. It invented the live StudioAudience, and their laughter was used by Creator/{{CBS}} to create {{laugh track}}s for their other sitcoms. And when Creator/LucilleBall got pregnant in the second season, leaving her unable to fulfill the 39-episode order, executive producer (and Ball's husband and co-star) Creator/DesiArnaz decided to rebroadcast older episodes instead -- inventing the {{rerun}} and, later, UsefulNotes/{{syndication}} once it became clear that these episodes were a potential cash cow. Emily Todd [=VanDerWerff=] of ''The Website/AVClub'' [[https://tv.avclub.com/why-does-i-love-lucy-endure-after-all-these-years-1798230734 described the show]], together with ''Series/TheHoneymooners'', as "one of the two foundational texts of American TV comedy."

** It also heavily impacted the PoliceProcedural, and not just by raising the bar in terms of the violence such shows could get away with. Emily Todd [=VanDerWerff=], writing for ''Vox'' at the time of [[https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/10/23/17989508/x-files-25th-anniversary-monsters-of-the-week-excerpt-todd-vanderwerff the show's 25th anniversary]], has said that "our modern crime dramas are usually just ''X-Files'' that have jettisoned the supernatural elements", namely in terms of the greater focus that they have placed on technology, forensics, and the process of investigation versus earlier police dramas.

* In 1993, the Creator/{{Fox}} network was already known for hit shows like ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'', ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', and ''Series/BeverlyHills90210'', but it was still viewed as something of an upstart in American television, having launched just seven years earlier. But when they outbid CBS that year for the rights to air [[UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball NFC football]] games, and proceeded to pillage most of CBS Sports' on-air talent and several of CBS' most valuable affiliates (including UsefulNotes/{{Atlanta}}, UsefulNotes/{{Milwaukee}}, UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}}, UsefulNotes/{{Cleveland}}, and UsefulNotes/{{D|FWMetroplex}}allas) the following year, they were established as a power player. No longer were they "the fourth network"; after 1993, the Big Three networks ignored Fox at their own peril, and by the 2000s Fox had joined their rivals in what are now the Big ''Four''. CBS, meanwhile, saw its DorkAge, already ongoing since the mid-late '80s, deepen further; it wouldn't be until 2002 when they fully recovered.

* Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, creators of ''Radio/HancocksHalfHour'' (1954-59 on radio, 1956-61 on television) and ''Series/SteptoeAndSon'' (1962-65), gave the sitcom format a uniquely British spin and, as such, are generally credited with inventing the BritCom. In particular, they codified the idea of the head writers as the most important figures in the staff of a British sitcom, diverging from the American style that was built more around the lead actors.

* ''Series/{{Today}}'' ([[LongRunners 1952-present]]) wasn't the first morning TalkShow. That was ''Three to Get Ready'', a morning news program created by Creator/ErnieKovacs that aired on the UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}} TV station WPTZ[[labelnote:*]]Now KYZ-TV[[/labelnote]] from 1950-52. ''Today'', however, was the first morning show to air nationally and the one that set the tone for all those that followed, combining a serious newscast covering politics, business and the weather with a much LighterAndSofter tone aimed chiefly at stay-at-home parents and their kids, with plenty of {{human interest stor|y}}ies and light entertainment.