From the 1950s onwards, the first television programs entered households as true family rituals. Variety shows and quizzes such as “Lascia o raddoppia?” in Italy or “The Ed Sullivan Show” in the United States created fixed appointments that marked the rhythm of the week, offering a shared grammar of jokes, songs, and gestures. Linear TV acted as a glue: in the evening, in the living room, people recognized themselves as part of a national community that laughed and cheered together. Television was not just entertainment: it educated consumer habits, introduced new languages, and built aspirational models. Even advertising—think of “Carosello”—turned products into cultural icons, linking brands to family memories.
The golden age of formats: the globalization of entertainment
As media markets matured, formats began to travel. The “talent show” found clones and variations everywhere: from “Idol” to “Got Talent”, the mechanisms of competition, judges, and public voting gave people the tangible feeling of “mattering,” anticipating the logic of likes. Reality shows also crossed cultural boundaries, redefining the idea of authenticity—from cohabitation under constant observation to survival challenges, the viewer took on the role of judge, co-author of the outcome. Game shows (“Wheel of Fortune”, “Jeopardy!”) were adapted in dozens of countries because they were easy to understand and highly participatory: knowledge, luck, suspense. These formats consolidated a global language of entertainment, proving that narrative structure is often more exportable than specific content.
From show to game: when TV becomes an interactive experience
Television has always had a playful soul—quizzes, symbolic wagers, collective challenges. With the expansion of digital media, that soul has turned into real-time interaction: second screens, companion apps, games inspired by shows and, conversely, shows inspired by games. Some contemporary products are born as hybrids, halfway between a TV studio and a live platform. An interesting case is Crazy Time, which brings the logic of the “game show” into a real-time interactive environment, with hosts, wheels, bonus rounds, and an aesthetic reminiscent of contemporary variety shows: an experience that takes the rhythm of television and transposes it into a participatory, fast-paced, multi-sensory dimension. It is the sign of a migration: it is no longer the viewer who follows the show, but the show that chases the viewer, wherever they may be.
Today: the long wave of the digital revolution
The digital revolution has not “killed” television; it has made it fluid. Today, the mechanisms taught by shows—serialization, suspense, climax, call to action—live on platforms, social media, and streaming. Viewers have become distributed communities: they comment live, create memes, remix iconic moments. This does not only mean fragmentation; it also means new forms of support and connection. Entertainment and belonging intertwine: talent seeks its audience without necessarily passing through traditional schedules, stories find niches that become creative tribes, and formats adapt to people’s time, not the other way around.
On the deeper meaning of this shift, sociologist Marshall McLuhan remains a key reference: “the medium is the message” is not a vintage slogan, but the lens through which to read today. The form of the medium—now mobile, interactive, algorithmic—shapes how we learn, relate, and even hope. If yesterday’s TV organized the evening and the domestic space, today’s digital media organize our attention into micro-moments: brief, repeated, shareable. But within this fragmentation lies a possibility: when oriented toward people’s well-being, technology creates access (to content, to opportunities for expression), inclusion (voices once invisible), and resilience (communities that support each other).
Television shows taught societies to recognize themselves in shared stories; digital media are teaching us to recognize ourselves in our differences, connecting micro-audiences into networks of meaning. The important thing is not to confuse speed with value: the digital revolution is a tool. It is up to us to use it to amplify what makes us human—curiosity, creativity, empathy—just as the best shows have always tried to do.