Futurology

Anybody who saw the film Network back in 1976 when it was released, knows that it is a great piece of movie making. To revisit it today, it is stunning how accurately the film's writer, Paddy Chayefsky, predicted the future of television. There are lines of dialogue about how explosions and terrorism make great television.

Many critics and viewers saw the film as a satire in it's depiction of TV as exploitation and sensationalism. Chayefksy and director Sidney Lumet didn't see it as a satire. They knew better. The film is still the most accurate depiction of the current world of network television - made thirty years ago. In interviews, Lumet only regrets the fact that Chayefsky, who died in 1981, isn't around to see how right he was.