"How the TV set is used has changed drastically in the last decade," it was explained in 1993. "...With the advent of pay cable, the video-cassette and even some of the programs on basic cable systems, your television in your living room has become a vessel for programing that you can access with a punch of a button..." In 1992, 'Donahue' celebrated 25 years on the air. Of its appeal, Phil Donahue believed, "We have to be a lot of things, just like a newspaper does...The more we ignore subjects, the more we promote prejudice, which I think thrives on fear and ignorance." One commentator remarked, "The old journalism had news that people needed to know, had to know. The new stuff is what they want to know."
It was said, "What is happening in our world has become entertainment...Do we tell the viewer what they should watch, or do we give the viewer what they want to watch?" Tom Brokaw reasoned, "We want to reconnect with the audience with one-hour programs on issues of importance to them. What you have now are lots of magazine shows, and most of them are chasing each other. It may be time, in a new and compelling way, for a show to take on one issue at a time. I think there is room in the schedule for a one-subject, one-hour, prime-time program." In 1993, Judith Light starred in the series 'Phenom'. She made the observation, "When you're on a show like this, it’s a family. What family doesn't have problems? If you push it down and hide it, nothing is ever resolved."
Also in 1993, the Oliver Stone's mini-series 'Wild Palms' starring Angie Dickinson and James Belushi went on air. Inspired by 'Twin Peaks' and based on Bruce Wagner's comic strip in the 'Details' magazine, 'Wild Palms' looked into the future, to the year 2007, when the Church of Synthiotics (or "New Realism") was mounting a takeover of the nation. From the outset, James acknowledged, "It's very tough, very challenging - a lot of viewers probably won't dig it. It's like 'Dynasty' on peyote. It's 'thirtysomething' gone to hell. It's Donna Reed getting stabbed. It's got everything in it - 'The Singing Detective', 'The Prisoner'. You name it, it's in there." Dana Delany added, "It's a futuristic melodrama with a dash of virtual reality. You shouldn't even try to make sense of it. Just let it wash over you, enjoy each scene, and by the end it'll make sense."
It was noted, "'(Twin) Peaks' probably should have been a 7-hour event series. The lesson we learned was that we need to tell a complete story, with a beginning, a middle, and an end."
