Don't miss a second -We'll be right back after this…

[trekkiedane]

What's up with that?

I have noticed a tendency in TV shows to make every single second (or even: frame!) count.

It used to be that when you were watching a one hour TV show the actual show was about 50 minutes and commercials the remaining 10 minutes.

These days -of course- it's most common for the show to last about 40 minutes and the commercials to have a duration of about twenty minutes (not including the ads that appear on screen while the actual show is running)…

I wonder if that is the reason why the storytellers (writers, directors, producers, whomever really) cram every single second -frame actually: when was split screen ever popular? Or even good for that matter?- full of information that you just can't miss if you want to follow the story.

I remember the days when you could actually follow a story even if you missed a few seconds while fetching a refill of coffee in the kitchen. You can't do that anymore; if you miss the ten frames shot of a computer read-out that says “DNA-match found” you might not understand the remainder of the entire story-line! (Which could be several episodes).

At the same time the prolonged scenes of people looking at each other, aerial shots -or montages- of the place (mostly: city) the story takes place seem to have become mere interruptions of the actual story; I mean, I'm watching a show called CSI:Miami, so you don't have to show me an animated tourist brochure cover every time the 'action' changes from one location to the next -keep that for when you re-locate the action to, say, Moscow or Beijing -that's when I need to re-adjust myself to somethiing taking place elsewhere!


Am I being very slow for not noticing (or as it actually is: becoming irritated by) this till now? -How do you think about this development in TV fiction?
And: Where did it all start? -why did it all start?
And, lastly, most important: How do we stop it?

_________________________
Mods: Please let this be in Misc. -I seriously believe it is broader than the scope of TV & Media.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Well, part of it is that shows are now aimed at Generation ADHD-- this trend started with MTV and has been getting worse ever since.

Part of it is that they have less and less time to tell a story. Shows used to have a 60-second credits sequence that had catchy music or a song and set the tone and atmosphere of the show. Now they run the credits over the story because they don't have the time to spare.

Part of it is that most shows now have websites, so people will be able to catch up on things there, which means that they don't have to focus on details in the story itself.

How do we stop it? I wish I knew....

 

[Hermiod]

The irony of this is that I've heard people complain about how short the advertising breaks during Dollhouse are.

 

[jamestyler]

I've always loved seeing conversations in TV shows that had nothing to do with the plot whatsoever. Tarantino's ep of CSI sticks out of my mind for just having a conversaiton or two that was just the characters chatting away instead of trying to be a link in the story.

Theres a moment in the Vagas ep in Atlantis that was th same deal. Just two people not vital to the plot, chatting away about nothing that really mattered.

I just love taking time out for character moments. I quite like shows like Lost where the character development is tied into the story, and that pretty much everything has some tie to whats going on, but there is something refreshing about taking a step outside the vital information to just show people... being people.

 

[MetalPants]

How do we stop it? I wish I knew....

Be like me, quit watching television altogether.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I'm very close to that. There's very little I watch anymore.