Broadcast networks go for milk-and-cookies comfort this fall
NEW YORK — If provocative, psyche-jangling shows like “The Handmaid’s Tale” are your taste, head directly to streaming or cable. But if you’re feeling the urge for milk-and-cookies comfort, broadcast television wants to help.
The upcoming TV season will bring more sitcom nostalgia in the “Roseanne” and “Will & Grace” mode. More heartwarming dramas taking a circle-of-life page from “This Is Us.” More crime and medical dramas in which the good guys always win, and in just an hour (minus commercial time).
As once-mighty broadcast ratings continue to be shredded by media alternatives, the networks are going where viewers are pointing them.
That means family-friendly shows in the reality genre as well as scripted: Say “awwww” for “Dancing With the Stars: Juniors,” a kiddie version of the original. While networks have tried before to compete with the daring fare of the likes of HBO, FX, Hulu or Netflix, the 2018-19 season won’t see much of that.