The United States is simply becoming an unhappier place

Do you get the impression that not just American politics, but the average American’s outlook on life itself is growing more downcast, more agitated, more fearful, more fatalistic, more depressing?

I do. Unlike many others, though, this did not hit me with the COVID panic, the increased nastiness of politicking over the last few years, or even the ongoing social media purge of those who big techies unperson.

The ungraceful tenor of our age became clear as Waterford crystal to yours truly in mid-2016. Why? I tuned in for cable television history.

Two days after the Fourth of July, one of the longest-running dramas on cable reached its end. USA Network's Royal Pains lasted eight seasons, beginning in June 2009. The oft-lighthearted series focused on a concierge medical service to the beautiful people of oceanside Long Island.

While set in the Hamptons, it was actually filmed along the Gold Coast (Jay Gatsby's stomping ground), featuring perhaps the most picturesque array of locations ever secured for an American show — miniseries not included. Indeed, the Rockefeller/Vanderbilt/Astor-esque vibes were so palpable that one could easily overlook the Long Island Sound's dubious doubling for the Atlantic.

Seriously, beaches in the Hamptons without waves crashing on the sand? Come on! Okay, like I said, this is not worth harping on. I will note, though, that the Gold Coast’s old money atmosphere imbued a certain aesthetic and historical richness, excuse the pun, which the Hamptons cannot quite equal, although they have long since surpassed the Coast in socioeconomic status.

Royal Pains was about more than an unjustly disgraced doctor trying to rebuild credibility or his hotshot brother biting off more than any man can chew. It was the most enduring example of drama done in a highly unique fashion. This is referred to as the “blue sky” technique.

It revolves around two words, both of which served as USA's catchphrase until the mid-2010s: "Characters Welcome.” Blue sky series featured not only strong, but compelling characters who were striving for a better future. They went about their lives under bright sunshine, in well-lit rooms, and amid inviting atmospheres.

Of course, the settings for each program were not necessarily paradisiacal. That being noted, a conscious effort was made to avoid the outright gruesome and emphasize those time-honored values of hope, hard work, genuine relationships, and personal redemption. Essentially, blue sky dramas made for fantastic summer evenings.

Note the word ‘made.’

When Royal Pains debuted, it was an out-of-the-park ratings bonanza. Television industry insiders were pleasantly shocked. Beforehand, they thought that a serial depicting white-collar folks serving the spectacularly wealthy might not run so well in the financial crisis's wake. Conventional wisdom was chucked on account of the show's smart writing, engaging leads, and soft-lens focus on how humans relate with each other.

Like all programs, Royal Pains had its ups and downs, but it never became any sort of comprehensive disappointment. The viewing public, however, proved another story. Nielsen claimed that 5.9 million folks tuned in for the first season's finale, which USA hailed as record-smashing. By the close of Royal Pains’s seventh season, however, Nielsen's numbers were far from the stuff of jubilation. Merely 1.57 million people watched, and prospects were dim for a turnaround.

The problem was not with Royal Pains; it endured longer than almost any other blue-sky show. The once-invulnerable Burn Notice folded during 2013, with the similarly fallen-from-grace Psych on its heels. Two darker-blue sky shows were introduced for 2014, but these went nowhere. All in all, it was clear to USA executives that viewer tastes had changed radically.

"USA's qualitative research found that the national mood among the demographic that the network most covets — the span of the twentysomething millennials through the fortysomething Gen-Xers — is darker and grittier these days," Variety's Cynthia Littleton reported.

Replacing Royal Pains as USA's marquee offering was Mr. Robot, the well-liked techno-thriller whose sickly-looking lead character amounts to Julian Assange without the celebrity status or charisma. Mr. Robot was bleak as the day is long, more paranoid than Tony Montana on Colombian pure, and about as much of an escape from daily mayhem as the Chicago nightly news.

This is the sort of thing which audiences, at some point between the late ‘00s and mid-’10s, came to want, however, so the USA honchos can hardly be scoffed at for going down their chosen path. They tried to keep the skies blue for as long as possible, but the downward trend for their entire sunshine lineup was ultimately impossible to reverse. After the finale of Royal Pains, just one blue sky drama remained — the darker-blue Suits — and it concluded in ‘19.

Such an occurrence speaks to the ever-more-disharmonious tone of our national dialogue, along with the hardening personal sentiments which fuel this devolution. Gallup says that merely 16 percent of Americans are satisfied with their country's direction. 83 percent believe that the United States is circling the drain.

Said dissatisfaction has made for a jarring turn in television programming. What it has accomplished in the real world can only be regarded as downright frightening.

Certain individuals look at the fractious state of U.S. politics and the country’s cultural abyss — presuming that a national culture even exists, of course — as an anathema to American values. Truthfully, it is a reflection of what these values have become. The demise of Royal Pains merely punctuates the gloom of ‘10s American life.

The ‘20s are so degenerate, thus far, at least, that they lead me to glance back with longing at those unraveling years of the previous decade. Compared to what we are confronted by today, the ‘10s were glory days of sorts.

How truly horrendous the times have become.

Picture of the Day

Manhattan, New York, taken by yours truly almost ten years ago. Feel free to use in any way you like; please credit me if used in public outside of social media, though.

Poem of the Day

By Richard Watson Gilder, from The New Day

INTERLUDE

The cloud was thick that hid the sun from sight
And over all a shadowy roof outspread,
Making the day dim with another night—
Not dark like that which past, but O, more dread
For the clear sunlight that had gone before
And prophecy of that which yet should be.
Like snow at night the wind-blown hills of sand
Shone with an inward gleam far down the land:
Beneath the lowering sky black was the sea
Across whose waves a bird came flying low,—
Borne swift on the wind with wing-beat halt and slow,—
From out the dull east toward the foamy shore.
There was an awful waiting in the earth
As if a mystery greatened to its birth.
Tho' late it seemed, the day was just begun
When lo! at last, the many-colored bow
Stood in the heavens over against the sun.