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Let's not pretend that network television didn't have its fair share of shows being cancelled mid-stream. It feels like the big difference is that Netflix is c
by jsnell 4y ago
Let's not pretend that network television didn't have its fair share of shows being cancelled mid-stream.
It feels like the big difference is that Netflix is culturally bound to having very short seasons, which get pushed out at once but rarely (like, not even once per year). This has a bunch of effects, that make the cancelations more painful.
One is that the creators can't iterate and learn based on audience reactions. The classic network TV show pattern is a bunch of shaky episodes early on, until things click. If the first try didn't work well enough, too bad. You had your shot.
Another is that the creators get no warning for when the show will be over. The only thing they can do is plan for success. While a network TV show that's not doing well enough would often know "these are the numbers we need to hit in the early part of the season, or it's over". And then they can plan for wrapping things up. Sometimes this goes wrong, the ending gets rushed for a show that then miraculously finds another round of funding. But it is still better than the alternative.
The third is that shows have no time to build up word of mouth. When a new Netflix show drops, it is likely dead in the discourse two weeks later unless it was a once-per-year megahit like Stranger Things or Squid Game. When a once per week show drops, it'll get talked about weekly and (if the vibe is positive) pick up viewers. The most obvious case of this I remember recently is the utterly mediocre The Nevers. On the forum where I do my TV and movie discussion on, a Netflix show of similar quality dropping six episodes at once would warrant 5 messages in an omnibus thread, and then be forgotten. This got hundreds of messages of very engaged chat.
- lumost 4y agoMy two cents. I’m somewhat tired of TV which expects me to dedicate 10-40 hours to it over 3 seasons. Ending on a cliffhanger is lazy. Why can’t I have plain old episodic TV? Strange new worlds felt like a breath of fresh air.
- throwyawayyyy 4y agoAgree! An example I like: the Fargo TV series. Each season is self-contained and none outstays its welcome.
- andybak 4y agoIt's a good model that avoids the pitfalls of "purely episodic" vs "properly long form"
- LarryMullins 4y agoFor the most part, network TV used sitcom or "monster of the week" formats in which most episodes stood on their own as self-contained stories, you didn't need context from other episodes to understand the episode you were watching. 90% of the X-Files can be viewed in a randomized order and it makes no difference. This was important on network TV because it was always a crapshoot whether the schedules of fans would line up with the TV schedule so fans missing episodes was the norm. One advantage of this format is that the importance of a show being ended on a cliff hanger had less relative importance to the rest of the show. If a show like the X-Files was going to get cancelled on a cliff hanger of the "main story", it didn't really matter because 9 out of 10 episodes didn't involve the main story and therefore wouldn't be retroactively devalued by a cliffhanger cancellation.
- Marsymars 4y ago> If a show like the X-Files was going to get cancelled on a cliff hanger of the "main story", it didn't really matter because 9 out of 10 episodes didn't involve the main story and therefore wouldn't be retroactively devalued by a cliffhanger cancellation. This is probably the root of the difference in my take on media - I don't believe it's possible for a later instalment to retroactively devalue previous ones. e.g. The enjoyment I got from reading Dune wasn't diminished by Sandworms of Dune.
- snapcaster 4y agogreat example haha, wish Frank Herbert had had time to finish them himself
- LarryMullins 4y agoDune was complete, additional books are nice to have but aren't necessary to enjoy Dune. Frank Herbert didn't know there would be more Dune books when he wrote the first one, so the first is neatly contained and supports itself. If it had only ever been a single book, it would still have been a great book. A comparable situation to a narrative-driven TV show being cancelled on a cliffhanger would be if your copy of Dune cut off right after Paul meets Chani and the rest of the book is missing. You've just spent hours reading half a book that you now realize will never be completed. Incidentally, I haven't seen Dune 2021 yet because I don't want to watch half a movie until I am certain that the other half exists.
- Lammy 4y ago> Let's not pretend that network television didn't have its fair share of shows being cancelled mid-stream. “Well, I suppose if all those shows go down the tubes, we might have a shot.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oMTmtN7lHI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oMTmtN7lHI
- tomjen3 4y agoI don't think your example is that good. I loved the nevers because it always had you go thats awesome and WTF? Obviously that is not for everybody and that is fine, but I would have watched the shit out of it if it didn't get canceled.