3 ms·

I’m enjoying The Orville but a series without an overarching storyline feels pretty dated.

ademup 9y ago
I love the 'new trend' of 10 episode story archs... And I find The Orville's return to single-episode stories to be extremely refreshing.
ravenstine 9y ago
The modern cliche of long story arcs and backstories is much worse than the "dated" approach of episodic storytelling. I'd rather put up with some "meh" episodes and see some really fantastic ones than binge watch some long-winded drama that has little payoff.
- megy 9y ago
  I disagree, but different people like different things.
  - ravenstine 9y ago
    I can't argue with that. I did used to prefer longer story arcs, at least in concept, but over time I've realized it's become a facilitator of lazy story writing. It takes a lot of tact to wrap on up an idea into an episode or two, and I think that's a good constraint for writers to have, whereas a story arc spanning multiple seasons can quickly turn into a bait and switch. I've seen too many arcs start with interesting concepts that get dragged out to a point where they completely trail off, leaving me wondering why I'm still watching. Modern TV can be a lot like the ol' boiling a frog in a pot of water. Only it's not so much people are getting hurt as their time is getting wasted. It's not that I don't appreciate arcs, and I know why people want continuity, but too much continuity over concrete ideas has lead me to leaving my TV mostly off this last year.
pronoiac 9y ago
Tastes vary. With Ghosted, the lack of a mythology or arc was refreshing.
MBCook 9y ago
Honestly I’m kind of tired of it because I’m trying to watch three or four shows right now that I have caught up on my TiVo that all have big story arcs. On top of that I’m watching the number of shows that are still airing that have big story arcs. At this point I really like the show that generally has episodic content just as a simple break. Not everything needs to have a giant arc.
mtgx 9y ago
"...and this is how Captain Mercer met Picard's mother."
asdgkknio 9y ago
I have no problem with an episodic show, but I think an episodic Trek-like has problems. It just isn't plausible that a starship can come inches from destruction every week. The crew would wind up severely traumatized. If space travel were that dangerous, interstellar society would collapse. And it's implausible that they discover some Amazing Thing (like time travel) that should totally shatter their conception of reality and then forget about it in time for the next episode.

I love the 'new trend' of 10 episode story archs... And I find The Orville's return to single-episode stories to be extremely refreshing.

ravenstine 9y ago

The modern cliche of long story arcs and backstories is much worse than the "dated" approach of episodic storytelling. I'd rather put up with some "meh" episodes and see some really fantastic ones than binge watch some long-winded drama that has little payoff.

megy 9y ago
I disagree, but different people like different things.
- ravenstine 9y ago
  I can't argue with that. I did used to prefer longer story arcs, at least in concept, but over time I've realized it's become a facilitator of lazy story writing. It takes a lot of tact to wrap on up an idea into an episode or two, and I think that's a good constraint for writers to have, whereas a story arc spanning multiple seasons can quickly turn into a bait and switch. I've seen too many arcs start with interesting concepts that get dragged out to a point where they completely trail off, leaving me wondering why I'm still watching. Modern TV can be a lot like the ol' boiling a frog in a pot of water. Only it's not so much people are getting hurt as their time is getting wasted. It's not that I don't appreciate arcs, and I know why people want continuity, but too much continuity over concrete ideas has lead me to leaving my TV mostly off this last year.

pronoiac 9y ago

Tastes vary. With Ghosted, the lack of a mythology or arc was refreshing.

MBCook 9y ago

Honestly I’m kind of tired of it because I’m trying to watch three or four shows right now that I have caught up on my TiVo that all have big story arcs. On top of that I’m watching the number of shows that are still airing that have big story arcs. At this point I really like the show that generally has episodic content just as a simple break. Not everything needs to have a giant arc.

mtgx 9y ago

"...and this is how Captain Mercer met Picard's mother."

asdgkknio 9y ago

I have no problem with an episodic show, but I think an episodic Trek-like has problems. It just isn't plausible that a starship can come inches from destruction every week. The crew would wind up severely traumatized. If space travel were that dangerous, interstellar society would collapse. And it's implausible that they discover some Amazing Thing (like time travel) that should totally shatter their conception of reality and then forget about it in time for the next episode.