Once upon a time television was considered much less prestigious than the movies, and then cable and other forms of pay TV showed up. Producers no longer had to think mainly about sponsors and family sensitivities because they could target programs at specific demographics. Delivery delineated content, because when network shows and specialized cable fare were coming out of the same set-top box (or router) no one made a distinction. Cable dramas forced broadcast counterparts to up their game and vice versa. Now the movies have nothing over TV except scale, which is why the only cinematic product Hollywood is interested in any more is that which can be projected in 3-D or on giant IMAX screens.
I'm talking, of course, about the United States. Japan has not enjoyed this entertainment revolution. In fact, over the years movies have stooped to the level of TV, owing to the ever-increasing dominance of idol culture and the homogenization of media beholden to major advertising agencies such as Dentsu and Hakuhodo, who control the money for both TV and movies. In such a noncompetitive environment, cable TV isn't even a player, much less a stimulus.
Consequently, some people had high hopes for Fuji TV's "Going My Home" (Tues., 10 p.m.), a drama series written and directed by world-renowned filmmaker Hirokazu Koreeda. The series premiered on Oct. 9 to considerable fanfare, not only because Koreeda, whose "Maboroshi," "Nobody Knows" and other movies have won awards all over the world, was making his first television series, but also because of the high-profile cast, which includes Hiroshi Abe, Toshiyuki Nishida, Aoi Miyazaki and, in her first TV drama appearance in 16 years, Tomoko Yamaguchi, the queen of "trendy dramas" in the 1990s. But the initial rating of 13 percent was a little disappointing, and then every subsequent week audience share became even smaller. By the time episode six was broadcast it was only 5.9 percent.