Michigan Journal

Issue date: 4/1/08 Section: Features

Media Credit: Google

Media Credit: Google

Recently, the braniac blog Mental Floss, which contains a cornucopia of random facts, articles and research, complied a list of 10 television shows that changed the world. They included shows that helped destroy communism's grip on eastern block, reform welfare and bring down McCarthyism.

While "Dallas" may have helped bring democracy to Romania, it is hardly a show that is in the public eye much anymore. Certainly the creators didn't think it was a socially responsible drama that could overthrow dictators. Despite its popularity, it was really just a prime time soap opera.

The lesson here is that history can make mountains out of mole hills. If "Star Trek," a show that, to the uninitiated, is a geeky escapist pastime, can be considered by many to be a progressive show that taught us about equality and tolerance, what are we watching now that might be consider monumental in the future? Here are a few shows we enjoy now that could be looked back upon as ones that transformed our culture.



"The Daily Show": Let's begin with the most obvious choice. No other television show right now is like "The Daily Show." The people who watch it are some of the most culturally and politically informed people in the nation, but it's not because this show attracts those kinds of people. It creates them. The humor on the show is use to explain complex situations, tear apart the ridiculousness of politics and ask brilliant writers and politicians the questions other reporters are afraid to. It's a show that insists we aren't all as dumb as Washington believes we are.



"24": A discussion about war and torture: How many times has Jack Bauer's name been mentioned by a republican senator in reference to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? A lot. Both Democrats and Republicans are in love with the show. It's edifying after years of a failing war to see someone kicking the bad guys' asses in a way we can't.

But the show did something more than just give war hawks wet dreams; it helped open a national dialog on tactics used by agents of America. America tortures, Jack Bauer tortures, but real life isn't like dramas on FOX. This immensely popular show helped beat the war drums, probably without meaning to.



"South Park": OK, hear me out on this one. It challenges the limits of free speech, it comments on social problems and political situations and it started the wave of adult-oriented cartoons that are currently sweeping the nation. They've started a national conversation about Scientology and freedom of religion, not to mention what can and cannot be said on television.

South Park has most likely already changed what we watch and how we watch it. As Stan says in the episode "Cartoon Wars" in regards to free speech, 'Either it's all OK to write or none of it is."



"Will and Grace": Though not a personal favorite of mine by any stretch, it has one good point to it; the show introduced, in a light-hearted way, gay issues into the mainstream. Sure, there have been shows before with gay characters, but never any shows as popular or as pervasively gay. Yes, the show did promote some negative stereotypes, but most comedy shows do.

"Will and Grace" gently began to push popular television toward a more balanced and gay-friendly line-up. No longer the butt of jokes, gay people now had their own prime time television show. Say what you want about the quality of it, the show is still important.



"Planet Earth": A riveting and moving nature show, this is one of the most comprehensive and beautiful shows to come on television in a long time. It also comes at a time when the Western world is becoming hyper aware of our effect on the planet.

The show displayed the wondrous diversity of our planet, and the precarious position all these life forms find themselves in. The anti-pollution message is very strong and is helping motivate people to act in environmentally conscious ways when they otherwise wouldn't.



Television is a pervasive medium in every home and is on everyone's mind. Our shows define who we are as people and follows trends of what we believe in. It has the power to change the world bringing us imagery at lightning speed from around the world, and ideas and opinions to places that need them. The shows in the Mental Floss article have the luxury of hindsight. We don't know how our culture, or what programs will ultimately not only change us, but the whole world. These five shows display our shifting society with the power of images and ideas that will be remembered for many years to come.

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