WE’RE here today to mourn the death of an old prime- time friend: The catch phrase.
Back when there were only three networks, it seemed barely a week went by without a zinger like “Dyn-o-mite!” (“Good Times“), “Two wild and crazy guys!” (“Saturday Night Live“) or “Nanu Nanu” (“Mork & Mindy“) sweeping the country.
“Get Smart” was a catch phrase industry unto itself, with gems like “Sorry about that, Chief,” “Missed it by that much” and “Would you believe . . . ?” becoming instant pop culture.
But now? Not so much.
Sure, we’ve had “You’re fired!” (“The Apprentice“) and “Oh my God! They killed Kenny!” (“South Park“) in the last decade, but they burned brightly for only a short time before going pffft.
And “Yada Yada Yada” from “Seinfeld“? That was a catch phrase for only one episode and seems so 1990s now.
So what gives? How did the TV catch phrase follow the TV theme song over the cliff to pure nostalgia?
Two reasons, say the deep thinkers of TV.
First, no one seems to be writing catch phrases any more.
And second, even if they were, not enough people are watching any one show anymore to create the social tidal wave need to create a national catch phrase.
It’s politicians that have that power now. No modern TV show could have come up with “You can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska” (Sarah Palin) or “I’m the decider” (President Bush).
“Think about the fragmentation of the TV audience, and from that comes a basic formula – mass plus repetition equals a catch phrase,” says TV Land president Larry Jones, who knows a thing or two about catchy TV lingo.
Jones says the sheer number of shows available today and the migration of viewers to lower-rated cable networks have contributed to the dearth of catch phrases.
“Even a show like ‘American Idol,’ which is the number one show outside of football, has never chosen anything to say over and over again,” he says.
“I love ‘Gossip Girl,’ and they’ve used the phrase ‘xoxo’ a million times, and when I hear that I think of that show,” Jones says.
“But ‘Gossip Girl’ isn’t being viewed by 35 million people who’ve got the ability to generate that kind of repetition.”
And the medium itself is helping turn the catch phrase into a TV dinosaur, says industry analyst Brad Adgate of Horizon Media.
“There’s not just fragmentation in the number of shows and networks we have to watch, but in the number of choices we have on which to watch them,” he says.
Another factor both Jones and Adgate cite is the slumping viewership of sitcoms, the usual progenitor of catch phrases.
“There hasn’t been a comedy in the top 10 in the last three years [since ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’],” Adgate says.
“There’s no ‘broad’ in broadcasting anymore with all the continued erosion.”
Adgate says there could also be a simpler explana tion.
“Maybe they’re just not doing that kind of thing anymore,” he says.
“I mean, think of top- rated shows like ‘CSI,’ ‘Dancing With the Stars‘ and ‘Grey’s Anat omy.’ None of them has anything that resonates with a catch phrase.”
Does the sound-effect “doink doink” from “Law & Order” count?