You did not see it on your television screen. Its Ground Zero included such decidedly non-TV-glamorous sites as Cleveland and Philadelphia. But the television story of the year is the affiliate raid that Rupert Murdoch, CEO of Fox Broadcasting, pulled off last May at the expense of CBS, NBC and ABC.
Even though it was seven months ago, the aftershocks continue to rumble with great force through the television world.
NBC's recently filed petition with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) against Fox over the extent of foreign ownership (read: Murdoch) is a direct result of the raid. And, next week, Baltimore viewers are going to see 40 years of viewing habits turned upside when all three local affiliates switch networks -- again, as a result of Murdoch's audacity.
But perhaps the most important effect of the affiliate raid and all the multimillion-dollar deals that it set in motion involves perception. For some 40 years, most of us thought of ABC, NBC and CBS -- known in most quarters as simply "The Networks" -- as giant and all-powerful corporations, spanning the globe to bring us the latest information and the best entertainment.
But Murdoch's raid forced us to see the networks as they really are -- a loose confederation of affiliation agreements that can be ended with a six-month notice. Most apartment renters would have a harder time getting out of their leases than the effort it took for ABC and WJZ to end their relationship of some four decades.
In that sense, it's the story of the television networks biting the dust as symbols of our nation's commercial might -- another example of downsizing in America.
Summarizing the year in television, it was an off-year from a programming perspective:
* Biggest loss: On Fox, we lost "Roc." Forget the fact that it was set in Baltimore and featured a great actor, Charles Dutton, who happens to be from Baltimore. This isn't about being a hometown booster.
In terms of social class and race, "Roc" was one of the most important sitcoms in the history of television. It was the first to treat black, working-class characters with respect and dignity instead of as buffoons.
What did black viewers think of "Roc"? Here's a fact I just discovered: During the one season (1991-'92) when both "Roc" and "The Cosby Show" were in first-run, the black audience for "Roc" on Fox was as large as the black audience for "The Cosby Show" on NBC.
* More loss: On PBS, we were denied a sequel to "Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City" even though that miniseries about gay life in San Francisco of the 1970s was one of the highest rated shows in 1994 on PBS.
Too expensive, says PBS. Too controversial for PBS, whose commitment to diversity is mostly on paper, says me.
* More loss yet: Keep telling yourself how great Jimmy Smits is on "NYPD Blue." But in your heart you know that a bit of the buzz and some of the thrill is gone since David Caruso walked.
* And even more: Will somebody please put "Northern Exposure" out of its misery without Rob Morrow?
* Actually, I don't think I can go on: "My So-Called Life" goes off the air Jan. 26, and ABC says it doesn't know if it will make more episodes of what is the greatest female coming-of-age television show ever done.
* Best and brightest adult drama: "Prime Suspect III," with Helen Mirren as Inspector Jane Tennison. Why does it always have to be an English import? I hate bowing to English television, but facts are facts. This is as good as television drama gets.
* Best new character: Robbie Coltrane's Dr. Fitzgerald in "Cracker" on the Arts and Entertainment (A&E;) cable channel. Yes, I know: this, too, is an English import. But it, too, is head and shoulders above any crime drama produced in America. Fitz is a psychologist with a gambling and alcohol addiction, who just might be the worst father and husband on TV. But what a great flawed character he is -- full of rage and empathy, anger and love, as he goes about his sad-sack, gambling, drinking, crime-solving ways on his anti-hero quest.
* Best new network series: I refuse to kowtow to "E.R." just because it's a big ratings hit. "Me and the Boys" and "Friends" are likable newcomers, but with "My So-Called Life" about to disappear, there is no new series to love.
* Is there any hope?: There's a small ray of hope the success of the redux versions of "Cagney & Lacey" and "The Rockford Files." The plan to make two or three films with these characters each year could give us a home-grown "Cracker" or "Prime Suspect" and start a trend in such limited-run series.
* Any predictions, Dave?: In recent weeks, Brett Butler's "Grace Under Fire" has been the highest rated regular series on network television. The third-highest-rated has been "Roseanne," which means that two of America's three most popular shows are about decidedly working-class characters.
In a medium that celebrates the middle class and measures virtue in direct proportion to buying power, that's worth thinking about.
I think we're going to see more working-class TV characters succeed in 1995, as fissures in the real-life middle class grow larger and viewer antagonism mounts against elites. Forrest Gump is slouching toward prime-time. Look for him to make his way in many shapes and forms across the television landscape.
* A white Ford bunko: Finally, I reluctantly acknowledge the TV "moment" from June that featured a white Ford Bronco on a California freeway. I have read too many wannabe-pop-culture critics this year telling me how it "resonated within the American psyche," brought us together around the "electronic hearth" and was ultimately the most important media event of 20th-century American life.
That's not pop culture critique. It's pop culture babble. And I got seven hours and 59 minutes too much of it this year with Ken Burns' eight hours of "Baseball."