BewilderedSociety.com

America’s favorite television couple: Jon and Kate Gosselin, filed for divorce in a move that promises to shake things up the fifth season of the TLC show. But the move is not uncommon. Once a television program enters it’s fifth season, the format is quickly becoming stale and predictable. During this time producers of the program will throw a major plot twist into the works in a attempt to revitalize the series.

During the break between the fourth and fifth season of The West Wing, creator and show runner Aaron Sorkin, who wrote almost every episode in the first four season, was forced out by NBC and replaced with John Wells. This led to cast shakeups and a tone change that lasted through seasons five and six before season seven returned to a more populist message, despite not focusing on The White House.

LOST introduced time travel during the shows fifth season to put the characters into a new and unique situation. Fox’s House introduced three new doctors in the shows fourth season, limiting time of past regulars while creating new dynamics to keep the shows formula unique. Before the fourth season of 24, the producers introduced a whole new cast, and slowly reinvented itself throughout the fourth and fifth seasons. Following a critcally panned sixth season, the show reinvented itself again for the seventh season.

Of course this is nothing new. Happy Days began to focus more and more on The Fonz as the series progressed. Shows have forced minor characters into the light as major characters have passed on. Jon and Kate’s divorce is merely giving the people what they wanted: new situations for a tired old formula.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Tags: 24, Happy Days, House, John and Kate Plus 8, LOST, The West Wing, TLC, tv