Interesting article about serialized programming

[startrekwatcher]

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/01/3...ng-towards-extinction-on-broadcast-nets/40642

Sort of an interesting read.

I used to be pretty open to episodic and serialized tv shows but as I've gotten older I am finding myself having a much harder time being invested in episodic and procedural television.

You just know everything is going to be back to normal by the end of the hour so I simply can't buy into the jeopardy or false sense of suspense the writers are trying to get me to.

I was already heading down this path in the late 90s with DS9 but with season one of Heroes and LOST spoiling me with the kind of epic, fast-paced serialized story arcs replete with a large cast offering multiple perspectives coupled with a neverending supply of satisfying twists, turns, unexpected cliffhangers, and most importantly a constant threat to the status quo--I don't think I can ever look at a standalone the same way again and not feel underwhelmed.

I really don't see how people can watch CSI, Criminal Minds etc these days. Even shows that try to walk the balancing act between mixing standalones and arcs are more interesting when focusing on their core material i.e. Supernatural, nBSG or Fringe.

Arcs, in my opinion, actually inspire writers not to run to the same well of tired standbys--arcs force them to create a unique universe and storylines.

I do hope that someone can come along and find a worthy successor to LOST or season one of Heroes because if there is a return to more episodic tv I might find my already limited time in front of the tv continue to shrink even more.

 

[FreezeC77]

Well I think my first step away from the episodic drama happened a very long time ago when Robotech first aired in the US and once I found it what anime was and then got interested in it and manga I think it shifted me away from episodic dramas.

I am drawn to shows that actually have an arc to them and tell a story. Maybe I'll watch an episodic drama here or there, but I want an actual story and show that goes somewhere. That has a start and a finish to it.

The interesting thing is when you look at DVD sales (as that article has a previous article linked to it) 7 out of the top 10 sellers were serialized dramas and you don't see any of the procedural dramas on that list. No CSI, NCIS, House, etc... The reason being maybe because of syndication. You can watch NCIS on USA Network so it doesn't really make you need to go buy it on DVD.

I think the future of serialized dramas is definitely cable and in shorter seasons. It's easier to commit yourself to a 13 episode season on cable then a 24 episode season.

 

[FalTorPan]

Well I think my first step away from the episodic drama happened a very long time ago when Robotech first aired in the US and once I found it what anime was and then got interested in it and manga I think it shifted me away from episodic dramas.

Robotech was my first venture into story arcs on television as well.

 

[StarshipDefiant]

Well I think my first step away from the episodic drama happened a very long time ago when Robotech first aired in the US and once I found it what anime was and then got interested in it and manga I think it shifted me away from episodic dramas.

I am drawn to shows that actually have an arc to them and tell a story. Maybe I'll watch an episodic drama here or there, but I want an actual story and show that goes somewhere. That has a start and a finish to it.

The interesting thing is when you look at DVD sales (as that article has a previous article linked to it) 7 out of the top 10 sellers were serialized dramas and you don't see any of the procedural dramas on that list. No CSI, NCIS, House, etc... The reason being maybe because of syndication. You can watch NCIS on USA Network so it doesn't really make you need to go buy it on DVD.

I think the future of serialized dramas is definitely cable and in shorter seasons. It's easier to commit yourself to a 13 episode season on cable then a 24 episode season.

The thirteen episode season is easier to tell the story, I find that much beyond that, you get stand alone and filler, which to much of can seem like a drag to the story. I know that when I plan out stories (which I never right, but whatever), I find that trying to arc over 13 separate stories/episodes is much easier, and perhaps even, more feasible to do.

That said, I am a bigger fan of arc/serialized story telling.

 

[Warp Coil]

I'm at the point now where I can't watch stand-alone storytelling anymore. It doesn't interest me. And crime/cop procedurals never really interested me in the first place, so you can throw all of those out the door. Well-written, serialized storytelling is what I like and what I demand.

 

[23skidoo]

I'm at the point now where I can't watch stand-alone storytelling anymore. It doesn't interest me. And crime/cop procedurals never really interested me in the first place, so you can throw all of those out the door. Well-written, serialized storytelling is what I like and what I demand.

I'm actually going in the reverse direction. I find myself with less patience for serialized stories as I get older and my time gets more demands placed upon it. If I do get into a serialized show, I tend to not bother watching it on the broadcast version and go for the DVD instead (Deadwood, for example).

Alex

 

[startrekwatcher]

If I do get into a serialized show, I tend to not bother watching it on the broadcast version and go for the DVD instead (Deadwood, for example).

I prefer to watch a new episode of serialized dramas on a weekly basis in first-run since I find the week off in between episodes gives me time to fully take in everything that is occurring in the episode before the next installment. Shows like LOST I have to watch at least twice to pick up on all the various character connections and subtle details. I find that if I get a serialized show on DVD first I am a little impatient to put on the next chapter to find out what happens next since I know it is right there one button away.

But DVDs are great to go back through after a series has wrapped up and armed with all the things you didn't know before and then see various scenes or comments in a different light--you really can appreciate the structure and examine the various storypaths.

 

[FalTorPan]

The obvious problem with serialized shows is that it can be tough for potential new viewers to get up to speed on an in-progress storyline.

Another problem is that sometimes individual episodes' stories don't seem to go anywhere.

Having said that, I tend to prefer "lightly serialized" shows.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I don't watch episodic TV either, which is why almost all my viewing has shifted over to cable.

I find myself with less patience for serialized stories as I get older and my time gets more demands placed upon it.

I also have increasing demands on my time, which is why it works out so well that a larger and larger percentage of TV is pure drivel. Gimmee a few worthwhile serialized shows, and 99% of TV can be as drively as it pleases.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I'm at the point now where I can't watch stand-alone storytelling anymore. It doesn't interest me. And crime/cop procedurals never really interested me in the first place, so you can throw all of those out the door. Well-written, serialized storytelling is what I like and what I demand.

I'm actually going in the reverse direction. I find myself with less patience for serialized stories as I get older and my time gets more demands placed upon it. If I do get into a serialized show, I tend to not bother watching it on the broadcast version and go for the DVD instead (Deadwood, for example).

Alex

Yep.

Beyond everything else this nonsense encourages people who want to be writers to think in terms of series and arcs and all sorts of multi-story stuff when in fact they can't yet write a simple short story with a beginning, middle and end.

In fact, a number of the "metastory" luminaries themselves seem to have the same problem.

What really drives the entertainment industry's on-again/off-again fascination with arcs (when a series comes along that succeeds, they're in, and when a few fail then execs all want to talk about "procedurals" again) is the audience-loyalty success of daytime soap operas. In their heyday these things basically paid for network operations, and they didn't even have to be good.

I'm too busy to waste time on anything other than casual dating that requires this kind of investment. If I can't turn on your show, watch it for an hour and feel thoroughly entertained without needing to care about your wonderful backstory then fuck you.

 

[Agent Richard07]

I like serialized shows, but episodic television has value too. You can watch a single episode and get a nice little story right there, which you can't do with a serialized show.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

You can watch a single episode and get a nice little story right there, which you can't do with a serialized show.

The writing and acting have to be of unusually high caliber to make me feel like I'm not "wasting my time" with an episodic show. And there are shows like that, they're just very rare. I recently discovered Archer, which is frakkin' hysterical (and sorry Chuck, you're not the funniest spy comedy on TV anymore).

 

[startrekwatcher]

I like serialized shows, but episodic television has value too. You can watch a single episode and get a nice little story right there, which you can't do with a serialized show.

I guess that is true if the story has a new interesting spin on it but so much of episodic tv seems to rely on old chestnuts with a pretty fomulaic feel to them. Rarely do they surprise me by a new twist or a new take on the material coupled with the fact that once you've experienced something as ambitious as really good arc-storytelling everything else seems kind of small and unimpressive.

I guess it has just raised the bar for what I expect out of my entertainment these days and so far I can't seem to get interested in episodic series.

 

[Goji]

I typically prefer shows that dabble in both, like Deep Space Nine, The X-Files, and recently The 4400 and Chuck. It makes for a nice of balance of instant satisfaction and ongoing intrigue.

 

[stj]

Act breaks for commercials and the ever increasing amount of time spent on commercials put many single episode stories in strait jackets. I suppose the miracle is that there is as much tolerable programming as there is, given that the true interest of television executives is the commercial. So, multiepisode stories or a closely linked chain of episodes can permit bigger stories. And it is very common for episodic series to be quite aware of previous developments for characters and reuse story elements. Since that acknowledges the fans have actually watched the show, that too is beneficial.

None of this is very controversial. None of it is going to go away. What they're really talking about is open ended serialization. The main form of this is the soap opera (also the main form of character driven writing.) As stated above, that is strictly about using a serialized story to keep the viewers coming back to find out how it ends. If a viewer invests in character(s)/actor(s), the audience overlooks the general awfulness of the writing. Almost all such serials end horribly. St. Elsewhere's snow globe, Roseanne's novel, Sopranos nonending, The Wire's McNulty going crazy. And those are some of the better ones!

The open ended serial means artifically delayed resolution which ruin the story lines. Most of the characters end up changing radically (quite unlike life, though commonly hailed as realistic!) Most of these shows are also thematically incoherent. The rule of thumb is that open ended serials are crap. But art, even television drama, is not engineering or sausage. When someone makes a good serial, someone will imitate it.

 

[BrotherBenny]

I think that, as has been kind of mentioned upthread, that if you have stand-alone series then a full season is fine, but serialized shows should only have half/three-quarter seasons (10-15 episodes). If it goes for longer you usually end up doing a recap episode halfway through, especially if you just had a three month gap like Flashforward is getting.

 

[Kegg]

A problem I've had with some arc shows is that they basically repeat the same problems as episodic series - just more slowly.

There's a status quo that needs to be maintained and at the end of the arc, the show reverts to that status quo.

Some things can permenately change (as indeed they can in episodic TV) but they tend not to be major things. Or, occasionally, these changes occur in the characters rather than the plot - I'm mainly thinking of New Caprica in Battlestar Galactica here.

You can threaten the life of one of your leads with a deadly illmness and have it cured at the end of the week, or postpone it to next year, but at the end they're still cured. So to speak.

That said I'm pretty happy with either kind of storytelling provided the given series can do these sorts of stories well; some shows are better suited to arcs than others (again, Battlestar Galactica's basically empty universe is rather limiting; political and character arcs are the lifeblood of that premise); and I also like shows that mix and match at their conveinence - like, say, Farscape.

That said, I'll admit I lean rather heavily towards arc shows. They're more fun to marathon and more satisfying appointment viewing; I can watch an episodic show mostly in any order and be satisfied, but a good arc show will leave me dangling and requiring to progress in order.

 

[FPAlpha]

Since DS9 and B5 i'm a firm believer in story arc shows because it allows the writer to tell grander stories and have more time to develop characters and situations.

However it's not suited to every genre but everything that has drama in it benefits from it for sure. However i'm really getting fed up with stunt story writing as i call it where you hype up a situation so badly, heat it up so high that the only sensible way to resolve it would be to have the character leave the show somehow because it became impossible for them to continue.

Yet the realism of show writing means that once everyhing comes out in the open it deflates like a balloon and everything is glossed over or a few lines are said why said characters can stay and on to the next story arc.

This made me almost quit Greys Anatomy last season where some newbie interns did something so stupid and against the rules that the normal procedure on all accounts would have them seen fired from the hospital and their medical license revoked. Yet what happened is a small slap of the wrist, a few stern words and angry looks and on with it.

If you don't have the balls to go through with the logical conclusion of a storyline resulting in the death of a main character/removal from the show then simply don't start it because after the xth time the viewers will simply not get engaged because they know that their multimillion per season main star will not leave the show because of it (at best vanish for the first few episodes after the story arc.. usually to film a movie or do other stuff).

So have the balls or stay away from it.. that's all i want.

 

[Starbreaker]

My favorite shows are Lost and Dexter, which are highly serialized. However, I do like CSI and Criminal Minds a lot. There are very interesting characters with ongoing problems and you don't have to wait 6 years to find out who the killer is.

 

[tharpdevenport]

I could care less if I know the good guys will survive the situation (though there should be realistic peril, even if you know they'll make it), as long as the dialogue and plot are good, and the episode is trying to say something.