If nothing else, 1976’s Network accurately predicted the evolution of TV. Apparently Paddy Chayefsky knew that there’s no “bottom” to the public appetite for crude and crass programming, as his prescient script tells the tale of a foundering network that takes advantage of radicals and the insane to boost ratings.

Long-time UBS news anchor Howard Beale (Peter Finch) gets pushed to retire due to sagging viewership. Howard’s life revolves around his job so he announces on the air that he plans to kill himself.

Rather than seek counseling or support for the clearly-troubled man, the higher-ups - mainly boss Frank Hackett (Robert Duvall) - decide to keep Beale on the air since his stunt sparked ratings. This starts an escalating cycle of outrageous stunts and events designed to keep viewers glued to their screens.

All of this activity begs the question: how far will the TV folks go to maintain ratings? As given in Network, the answer seems to be “exceedingly far”, and frankly, it becomes hard to dispute the film’s hypothesis.

On one hand, much of the action here seems absurd and offers the kind of programming one would not expect to ever see hit the airwaves. The network’s solution to Beale’s declining ratings makes its point but feels more than slightly ridiculous.

However, in this day and age, it can feel tough to say where the line will be drawn. How unbelievable would many of today’s shows have seemed 50 years ago?

Keep in mind that Network appeared not very long after a show like All in the Family could cause a stir because it allowed us to hear the flush of a toilet. How could they have foreseen what we now watch regularly?

As a satire and a prophecy, Network works well. In the former category, the best elements stem from those that concern a radical group who film their crimes as the basis for a weekly program.

Some of Network’s most incisive moments come from the scenes in which we watch them become increasingly caught up in the world of high-stakes TV. They learn how to “talk the talk” and embrace the system against which they ostensibly battle.

Network also boasts pretty solid acting, even if most of the performers verge on being over the top. Dunaway always was a camp queen, and she can’t resist chewing a little scenery.

However, those tendencies seem fairly appropriate for power-hungry Diana, one of the toughest women ever to grace a movie screen. She’s a vicious piece of work who won’t let anyone stand in her way, but Dunaway keeps her from becoming a simple stereotype.

Dunaway won the Oscar for her work, as did Finch. In doing so, he became a famous piece of Academy Award trivia as the first actor to grab a prize posthumously, as Finch died in early 1977 before the ceremony in the spring.

Fincg offers a nice turn as Beale. I’m not sure I ever bought him as a TV anchor, as there’s something slightly off-kilter about him that makes him appear wrong for that task, but he’s able to portray Beale’s changing moods and levels of sanity. He makes these variations seem natural and organic without becoming forced or staged.

Holden’s Max is nominally the movie’s lead, but in retrospect, he doesn’t seem to have much to do. He tries to assist Howard, and he eventually beds Diana, but otherwise he’s left without a lot of work.

However, I suppose Max acts as the film’s symbolic center and stands in for the viewers through his affair with Diana. We get a not-too-subtle message made even more explicit by a monologue in which Max compares Diana to TV itself.

Probably the greatest flaw of Network is that it often comes across as heavy-handed and preachy. This seems especially problematic because TV feels like such an easy target.

It’s not as though many support the small screen as a bastion of high-class intellectualism. Attempts to knock its frequent stupidity appear somewhat pointless and arrogant.

If Network existed as a call to people to wake up and stop accepting whatever the tube spoon feeds to them, it went unheeded. As a film, it suffers from some of the forced social commentary typical for works of its era, but it remains an interesting and provocative piece.

Network appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. This will never be a movie that looks great, but the Dolby Vision 4K UHD served it pretty well.

Sharpness seemed decent to good. Sporadic examples of softness occurred, but these largely appeared to stem from the source photography.

As I alluded, this was simply never a particularly dynamic presentation. The image looked concise much of the time.

No issues with jaggies or moiré effects occurred, and I noticed no edge haloes. Grain felt appropriate and print flaws remained absent.

Network went with a subdued palette, and the tones tended to look a little drab at times. However, this seemed connected largely to the visual design.

When the movie invested in brighter colors, they seemed accurate and lively. HDR added range to the hues.

Blacks were pretty deep, and shadows showed good clarity. Whites and contrast enjoyed a bump from HDR. This wasn’t a showcase image, but it worked nicely given the movie’s design.

The film’s LPCM monaural soundtrack didn’t excel but it satisfied given the movie’s ambitions. The mix consisted almost entirely of dialogue.

Effects were minor considerations; they seemed acceptably clear but played such a small role that unless they displayed serious distortion, they rarely mattered.

The film also featured virtually no score. The most prominent music heard came from the Howard Beale Show theme. It sounded pretty clear and bold, as it included some nice low-end punch as well.

Dialogue was pretty good, as a few reedy lines emerged, but most of the dialogue was reasonably natural and concise. This was a more than adequate track for a chatty movie.

How did the 4K UHD compare to the simultaneously released Criterion Blu-ray? Both came with identical audio.

The UHD's Dolby Vision image boasted superior accuracy and blacks along with more natural colors. Although the UHD couldn't overcome the nature of the source, it turned into the best visual presentation of the film yet seen on home video.

As we head to extras, the 4K UHD disc includes an audio commentary from director Sidney Lumet. He offers a running, screen-specific chat that looks at the film’s themes, tone and visual style, cast, characters and performances, his background in live TV and the flick’s prescient elements, locations and sets, and a few production notes.

We get a decent commentary but not one that stands out as particularly memorable. The best moments come from Lumet’s memories of the early days of TV.

I like his remembrances and think these become illuminating. He also tosses out some nice insights into the performances and other nuances.

Unfortunately, there’s too much dead air, and at times Lumet offers basics that don’t really tell us much. He comes across as a curmudgeon when he berates the lousy state of modern TV. Lumet’s commentary has enough to make it worth a listen, though.

The remaining extras appear on the included Blu-ray copy, where we find a documentary called The Making of Network. This one-hour, 25-minute, 31-second program includes notes from Lumet, producer Howard Gottfried, editor Alan Heim, production designer Philip Rosenberg, director of photography Owen Roizman, newscaster/reporter Walter Cronkite, and actors Lance Henriksen, Faye Dunaway, Ned Beatty, and Kathy Cronkite.

The show covers writer Paddy Chayefsky and the script’s development, Chayefsky’s history with Lumet and how the director came onto the project, and Chayefsky’s vision for the story. From there we go through cast and characters, a spotlight on the movie’s signature “I’m mad as hell” scene, rehearsals and shooting the film, and many anecdotes from the production.

We also learn about editing, reactions to the film and its legacy, the movie’s visual style and set design, and general thoughts. Finally, the piece includes notes from Walter Cronkite about his relationship with Lumet, a few comments about the early days of TV news and its development, and reactions to the film.

While “Making” covers a lot of good subjects, I can’t say I care for its disjointed presentation. Some of that stems from the fact it really exists as six featurettes connected together.

I’ve seen that format many times and think it works better elsewhere. Here it comes across as a bit scattered.

Still, we get more than a few nice tidbits about the film. Despite the somewhat less than coherent presentation, the show goes over the requisite subjects well. Some of this repeats from the commentary, but there’s plenty of new information to pique our interest.

From 2025, Paddy Chayefsky: Collector of Words runs one hour, 29 minutes, one second. It delivers statements from filmmakers James L. Brooks, Mel Brooks, Aaron Sorkin, Oliver Stone, Judd Apatow, Billy Ray, Justin Simien, Phil Alden Robinson, writers Merrill Markoe, Alan Zweibel, Sam Wasson and Tom Fontana, journalists Julia Turner and David Itzkoff, commentator Keith Olbermann, film producer Mike Medavoy, and actors Rob Lowe, Bryan Cranston, Jason Alexander, Robert Klein, Jeff Daniels, Dustin Hoffman, Billy Crystal, Dabid Steinberg, Norbert Leo Butz, Delbert Mann, Jeff Garlin, and Richard Kind.

"Words" offers a retrospective appreciation of Chayefsky's work, with a smidgen of information about his career as well. Though it comes with sporadic insights, it leans hard into movie clips and praise, so it doesn't become the most effective program.

Along with the film’s trailer, the set concludes with a booklet that mixes credits, art and an essay from political commentator/columnist Jamelle Bouie. It finishes the package well.

Note that the Criterion release loses a few extras from the 2011 Blu-ray. It drops an excerpt from the Dinah! TV show with Chayefsky as well as a nearly hour-long interview with Lumet. I don’t know why the Criterion release loses these – rights, I’d assume – but I miss them.

At this point, Network seems better remembered as a catch phrase than as a film, which is an ironic fate for a picture determined to knock such simpleminded behaviors. I found the movie to be a flawed but compelling work that had enough strengths to merit a viewing. The 4K UHD provides good picture and audio along with a collection of bonus materials. Network remains an involving flick, and this 4K UHD presents it well.