Does "liveness" have staying power?

I think live TV will be around until the time audiences get tired of seeing people screw up in front of millions of people... which will be never.

I think that audiences are attracted to live television for numerous reasons, but I think one of the bigger reasons is that with "liveness" you can expect the unexpected. People are drawn to unpredictability. The same human instincts that make us attracted to live performances are the same instincts involved in watching things like fireworks or car crashes... you can't look away for fear of missing something that can never be authentically duplicated again.

This unpredictability factor can go two ways. "Screwing up" can either be to the benefit or the downfall of the performer, but always to the amusement of the audience. It is easy to imagine the embarrassment or public scrutiny factor that come with live line flubs, lip syncing blunders, or (for lack of a better word) nip-slips. But some live sketch shows, especially Saturday Night Live, thrive on their stars being so funny that they actually make the other actors laugh during live performances. To me, the funniest skits that have been on SNL in the past five or so years weren't ones that went as rehearsed but rather the one's where someone spontaneously added a line or a gag, or started laughing and couldn't recover. Will Ferrel was very successful although he constantly strayed from the script--his "screw ups" paid off in the end.

As audience members we like to be reminded that people on TV aren't perfect, and live television is the only way we can witness this "first-hand." Although authentic live TV is becoming very rare, tons of shows are trying to mimic the "liveness" so I think this fascination will never truly disappear.