All five broadcast networks are piloting military themed shows this season. Coincidence? Or is it a targeted attempt to reach Trump voters?
It took a devastating electoral upset, but the networks have started to learn some lessons. Shows with affluent protagonists, set in big cities and reflecting liberal ideologies were actually alienating a subset of the American populace.
In December, ABC president Channing Dungey admitted as much. “In recent history, we haven’t paid enough attention to some of the true realities of what life is like for everyday Americans,” she told entertainment news source C21 Media.
Running an extensive line up of military themed shows like Fox's Behind Enemy Lines reboot and NBC's For God and Country, are the networks now trying to appeal to a broader audience with traditional, patriotic values?
That’s an “open question,” television critic Myles McNutt told The Hollywood Reporter. But in his opinion, TV will increasingly reflect the fault line in American society. "It seems likely, in the years to come, that we will begin to categorize shows as either complicit or resistant to Trump's presidency," he said.
