5 ms·

Truth. This always struck me about most American TV shows, they always drag on to milk every cent instead of formulating strong coherent stories and always end

Truth. This always struck me about most American TV shows, they always drag on to milk every cent instead of formulating strong coherent stories and always end up very shallow as a result.

greggarious 8y ago
>This always struck me about most American TV shows Let me guess: UK/EU based? It's easy to make a good season when you only have to write six episodes :)
- M2Ys4U 8y ago
  Maybe American productions should do the same thing. Though, I guess they're already edging towards it with the ridiculous half-season break...
- michaelbuckbee 8y ago
  What I like about the UK/EU model is that: 1. Yes - fewer episodes. In particular one of the main criticisms of things like the Netflix produced Marvel shows (Daredevil, IronFirst, Defenders, etc.) is that they would be much more effective if there were less episodes / season. 2. Actually having endings. If you skip the need to leave things open ended so you can have a 10 season run, you can actually tell a story arc with a beginning middle and end. 3. The UK TV model seem to allow more creativity. If a good producer/director/writer/actor team puts out a good series, they then move ahead and build out a new series with maybe some of the same "bones". Good and bad with both systems.
- mixmastamyk 8y ago
  On that subject, I've noticed that shows with a 10-13 episode season are a cut above those with the 22-26 episode season. The later ultimately must be padded with ten more garbage episodes even after the writers are spent.
opportune 8y ago
The movie industry is even worse about this. Heaven forbid a studio actually invest money in a new title. I'm so tired of all this shitty superhero crap
- pixel_fcker 8y ago
  They will absolutely invest money in new IP just as soon as shitty superhero crap and Star Wars stop making billions of dollars.
js2 8y ago
Let me offer you Justified as a rare exception. Possibly the most satisfying ending to any TV show I've watched.
bwat49 8y ago
Yeah, IMO ~4-5 seasons or so is usually as long as a show should run (if even that) I'm currently watching 12 Monkeys on Syfy (currently on it's 4th/last season). IMO this is a great example of a show that goes on just as long as it needed to and nothing more... Solid and tightly plotted all the way through.
mywittyname 8y ago
A huge portion of the American TV-watching demographic doesn't pay very much attention to shows while they are watching it. So they prefer shows that have predictable rehashing of the same plot each season. Think Supernatural, Grey's Anatomy, Once Upon a Time. You don't really need to put effort into remembering previous episodes because you've seen them enough to get the gist without any background. Shows like NCIS, Law & Order, and Criminal Minds will literally run the same plot each episode. These are some of the most popular TV shows in history. Studio executives don't want to accept that they have a hit show that doesn't cater to this demographic. Once the main story wraps up, usually after 4-5 seasons, the original creator will get fed up or fired because they are unwilling to drag the story out any longer. Then the studio brings in a generic writing team to transform the show into one of those a predictable rehash shows. It never works because the people who are into those shows won't get past the first four seasons, and the original fans of the show get tired and stop watching.

Truth. This always struck me about most American TV shows, they always drag on to milk every cent instead of formulating strong coherent stories and always end up very shallow as a result.

greggarious 8y ago

>This always struck me about most American TV shows Let me guess: UK/EU based? It's easy to make a good season when you only have to write six episodes :)

M2Ys4U 8y ago
Maybe American productions should do the same thing. Though, I guess they're already edging towards it with the ridiculous half-season break...
michaelbuckbee 8y ago
What I like about the UK/EU model is that: 1. Yes - fewer episodes. In particular one of the main criticisms of things like the Netflix produced Marvel shows (Daredevil, IronFirst, Defenders, etc.) is that they would be much more effective if there were less episodes / season. 2. Actually having endings. If you skip the need to leave things open ended so you can have a 10 season run, you can actually tell a story arc with a beginning middle and end. 3. The UK TV model seem to allow more creativity. If a good producer/director/writer/actor team puts out a good series, they then move ahead and build out a new series with maybe some of the same "bones". Good and bad with both systems.
mixmastamyk 8y ago
On that subject, I've noticed that shows with a 10-13 episode season are a cut above those with the 22-26 episode season. The later ultimately must be padded with ten more garbage episodes even after the writers are spent.

opportune 8y ago

The movie industry is even worse about this. Heaven forbid a studio actually invest money in a new title. I'm so tired of all this shitty superhero crap

pixel_fcker 8y ago
They will absolutely invest money in new IP just as soon as shitty superhero crap and Star Wars stop making billions of dollars.

js2 8y ago

Let me offer you Justified as a rare exception. Possibly the most satisfying ending to any TV show I've watched.

bwat49 8y ago

Yeah, IMO ~4-5 seasons or so is usually as long as a show should run (if even that) I'm currently watching 12 Monkeys on Syfy (currently on it's 4th/last season). IMO this is a great example of a show that goes on just as long as it needed to and nothing more... Solid and tightly plotted all the way through.

mywittyname 8y ago

A huge portion of the American TV-watching demographic doesn't pay very much attention to shows while they are watching it. So they prefer shows that have predictable rehashing of the same plot each season. Think Supernatural, Grey's Anatomy, Once Upon a Time. You don't really need to put effort into remembering previous episodes because you've seen them enough to get the gist without any background. Shows like NCIS, Law & Order, and Criminal Minds will literally run the same plot each episode. These are some of the most popular TV shows in history. Studio executives don't want to accept that they have a hit show that doesn't cater to this demographic. Once the main story wraps up, usually after 4-5 seasons, the original creator will get fed up or fired because they are unwilling to drag the story out any longer. Then the studio brings in a generic writing team to transform the show into one of those a predictable rehash shows. It never works because the people who are into those shows won't get past the first four seasons, and the original fans of the show get tired and stop watching.