It's not TV! It's HBO, USA, FX…

What this signifies for the future of network television is up for speculation. The doomsayers who say network TV will not survive are probably as wrong as the optimists who say network TV always will be around making gobs of money. What it metals to the consumer right now is a cornucopia of drama and comedy that arguably makes this the golden age of television. Add in such network treats as "Grey's Anatomy," the "CSI" and "Law & Order" franchises, "Desperate Housewives," "House," and a handful of others, and ... well ... anyone who says there is nothing to watch on TV simply has not been looking hard enough. Buy them a TiVo for Christmas.

Joe Saltzman, Associate Mass Media Editor of USA Today: associate dean and professor of journalism, University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication, Los Angeles: and director of the Image of the Journalist in Popular Culture, a project of the Norman Lear Center, is the author of Frank Capra and the Image of the Journalist in American Film.

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