Live from Toronto it’s Thursday night turn-off

Self-referential television shows aren’t anything new, but the announcement of two different NBC prime-time series depicting backstage action at two different programs that bear a conspicuous resemblance to Saturday Night Live reflects the scramble to retain viewers left wondering if they’ve gotten too smart for mass media – while allowing Lorne Michaels to retire with the confidence that audiences will have ceased to gather around the small screen at a specific late hour to glare at sketch comedy. 30 Rock is the SNL-sanctioned sitcom mirror on itself, whereas Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip will be the psychodramatic hour-long incarnation produced by Aaron Sorkin, and those beleaguered real-life network execs obviously anticipate the yin and yang will feed into the conversation about why fewer people are enthusiastic about the launch of a new fall lineup. See, when any idiot with a keyboard can leap into debates about the long-term prospects of the programming choices unveiled at the annual Upfront presentations, a scheme that can keep a few embers burning is a better strategy for a fourth-place broadcaster than just another batch of new shows that quickly fade into oblivion. Naturally, this SNL renaissance is credited to the mid-December enthusiasm for the “Lazy Sunday” viral rap video – but given how Canadian broadcasters have equal access to that virtual pipeline, any failure to develop the sensibilities required to feed it proves how little has changed in the 35 years since the CBC discouraged Mr. Michaels from developing SNL under their roof. With audiences continuing their online migration, a domestic business predicated on inserting commercials into imported shows may well be forced to favour two-minute productions over 22 minute ones – if only someone around here could imagine a launch pad along the lines of NBC’s plan for DotComedy, their new broadband channel that plans to repatriate the traffic flowing to places like YouTube. Without such developments, the only remaining television-related personalities in this town will be people who comment on television itself. The new CanWest Global concoction TVtropolis gets a head start, announcing a slate of CanCon that consists of nine original programs picking over the discarded detritus of the past, even though American cable has already run this type of cheap recycled retro into the ground. Just steer clear of the apartment building featured in the opening of SCTV – what sound does a plasma screen make when hitting the pavement, anyhow?