Q: What does the phrase "peak television" mean? — Rosalie of Troy, Mich.

A: For me it means needing a cable service that allows me to DVR six shows at one time and to store over 200 hours of television at one time. It also has me searching for the 97-hour day. In general it means there are 400 scripted shows on air. We will not even add reality TV to the mix. Some pundits call this era the

"Golden Age" of television.

The real Golden Age of TV, which lasted until 1956, was about quality not quantity. All shows were live. Actors had to know their lines and where to stand. Scripts were compelling, written by the likes of Paddy Chayefsky and Rod Serling. Cameras were gigantic. The resolution for TV was so minimal that sets had to be lavish for it to translate to the viewers. Almost all shows were produced in New York. Composers such as Leonard Bernstein and Arturo Toscanini graced the TV screen with their talents. Mary Martin performed in TV productions of "Peter Pan."

All that changed with the 1957 advent of being able to tape television. "Live on tape" became the guiding byword of television. It is still true today. Shows like "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" and "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" are live on tape. It means that after the taping editors can splice and dice a show to fit time constraints and erase mistakes. Bill Maher's show on HBO is actually live. No cutting, no editing. What you see is what he is doing in the moment. Stephen Colbert's debut for CBS almost did not make it to air due to technical issues in the taping and editing process.

For over 25 years I did a five-day-a-week live talk show. There were no do-overs. It was wonderful — great fun, thinking on your feet. What could be better than doing a live cooking segment and having a bug crawl out of the bowl? That is when you get to ad lib, "This food is so good they are coming out of the walls for it."

Today it is considered major event when NBC does for-real live TV for its Neil Patrick Harris show, their Broadway specials and the comedy show "Undateable."

Many in the television industry are afraid of this notion of "peak TV." For them it means television has peaked. They say production of shows has nowhere to go but down. The same folks said sitcoms were dead, but along came "Big Bang Theory." They said the hour long drama was kaput — can you say "Scandal" or "Empire"? And of course soaps operas were shedding viewers. In the past three months every daytime drama has curried new sets of eyes.

In the era of "peak TV," an agent told me, "If a Hollywood client cannot book a TV show, I tell him to consider becoming a telemarketer."

To find out more about Lynda Hirsch and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.