3 ms·

With all due respect, I think you might be getting old and cranky. Streaming services are all over the place, but in terms of actual content we are in the golde

by m_a_g 3y ago

With all due respect, I think you might be getting old and cranky. Streaming services are all over the place, but in terms of actual content we are in the golden age of tv shows. Streaming services enabled serious writers to work on tv shows. There are so many wonderful limited series that would’ve never happened in the olden days.

2OEH8eoCRo0 3y ago
> we are in the golden age of tv shows. I disagree. > Streaming services enabled serious writers to work on tv shows. There weren't serious writers in TV before? https://www.economist.com/culture/2023/10/27/a-golden-age-of-tv-is-losing-its-shine https://www.economist.com/culture/2023/10/27/a-golden-age-of... > Some of the people who helped to create tv’s golden age are downbeat about its future. hbo “died at 50”, Michael Fuchs, who ran the network in the 1980s, tells Mr Biskind. “There’s no longer an hbo.” A producer of “The Wire”, one of hbo’s grittiest and most celebrated shows, says the company would never make it today.
- imbnwa 3y ago
  And The Wire had a notable hiatus between seasons 4 & 5 as the final fifth season wasn’t guaranteed. The show only really was lauded at a popular level after it'd already completed. No way a show like that gets past its first season in today's climate.
- qwytw 3y ago
  > There weren't serious writers in TV before? To be fair kind of.. Before the 2000s were few shows had complex plots which developed over several episodes. Basically every episode basically had to work on a standalone basis. So compared to movies writing in tv shows was mediocre at best. Although I agree that we're probably past the peak (~2010 +- 10 years)
  - legitster 3y ago
    I think the thing I really miss is that episodes still had to work on a standalone basis. If you look at an episode of Mad Men or Breaking Bad, they still had a structure to them with an arc and multiple storylines in an episode. You had to be satisfied with a single episode for a whole week. A single episode of The Mandalorian may literally have nothing happening and no memorable moments and only exists to be consumed between two other episodes.
    - qwytw 3y ago
      True. Many modern "TV shows" can hardly be called such in the traditional sense. They are basically serialized (very long movies) and mainly an evolution of the mini-series format.
legitster 3y ago
Maybe it's that the services themselves do not know how to market their own shows. When I log into Netflix all I see is endless trash. Amazon at least tries to show off their marquee shows (Rings of Power, Wheel of Time, Reacher - it doesn't help they are all mediocre).
- asdajksah2123 3y ago
  Part of it is that Netflix is trash. There is no benefit for Netflix to make great shows. They don't need to attract new viewers. In fact, high quality shows with intricate and difficult story lines are a detriment to the slow drip sugar dose Netflix wants to give its viewers so they keep hitting "Play Next" and spending hours on their platform. A good quality show is hard to get into but its also hard to keep binge watching it.
- Wytwwww 3y ago
  > Rings of Power, Wheel of Time, Reacher - it doesn't help they are all mediocre Mediocre is a huge compliment for those shows though. Especially for the Rings of Power...
- kcartlidge 3y ago
  I agree with all of that, except that I really enjoy Reacher. And if you're a fan of the books, then it's good to see the main character played by someone so much truer to the original than Tom Cruise ever was.
  - legitster 3y ago
    Season 1 was pleasantly entertaining, even if the ending was a bit lame. But Season 2 - man, I dunno. It's like they went with the first draft of a script and just shipped it.
    - kcartlidge 3y ago
      Fair point. I finished the season 2 finale this evening and it just ... ended. Still entertaining but whilst there was a final set-piece showdown and things were wrapped up okay, it felt like loads of episodes of digging around followed by a highly compressed surge of closure in the final episode. Similar to season one, though again I enjoyed both.
Fire-Dragon-DoL 3y ago
The limited series are the way we get good content, tv shows are mostly garbage due to the whole "if it's good we will increase the amount of seasons"

by m_a_g 3y ago

2OEH8eoCRo0 3y ago

> we are in the golden age of tv shows. I disagree. > Streaming services enabled serious writers to work on tv shows. There weren't serious writers in TV before? https://www.economist.com/culture/2023/10/27/a-golden-age-of-tv-is-losing-its-shine https://www.economist.com/culture/2023/10/27/a-golden-age-of... > Some of the people who helped to create tv’s golden age are downbeat about its future. hbo “died at 50”, Michael Fuchs, who ran the network in the 1980s, tells Mr Biskind. “There’s no longer an hbo.” A producer of “The Wire”, one of hbo’s grittiest and most celebrated shows, says the company would never make it today.

imbnwa 3y ago
And The Wire had a notable hiatus between seasons 4 & 5 as the final fifth season wasn’t guaranteed. The show only really was lauded at a popular level after it'd already completed. No way a show like that gets past its first season in today's climate.
qwytw 3y ago
> There weren't serious writers in TV before? To be fair kind of.. Before the 2000s were few shows had complex plots which developed over several episodes. Basically every episode basically had to work on a standalone basis. So compared to movies writing in tv shows was mediocre at best. Although I agree that we're probably past the peak (~2010 +- 10 years)
- legitster 3y ago
  I think the thing I really miss is that episodes still had to work on a standalone basis. If you look at an episode of Mad Men or Breaking Bad, they still had a structure to them with an arc and multiple storylines in an episode. You had to be satisfied with a single episode for a whole week. A single episode of The Mandalorian may literally have nothing happening and no memorable moments and only exists to be consumed between two other episodes.
  - qwytw 3y ago
    True. Many modern "TV shows" can hardly be called such in the traditional sense. They are basically serialized (very long movies) and mainly an evolution of the mini-series format.

legitster 3y ago

Maybe it's that the services themselves do not know how to market their own shows. When I log into Netflix all I see is endless trash. Amazon at least tries to show off their marquee shows (Rings of Power, Wheel of Time, Reacher - it doesn't help they are all mediocre).

asdajksah2123 3y ago
Part of it is that Netflix is trash. There is no benefit for Netflix to make great shows. They don't need to attract new viewers. In fact, high quality shows with intricate and difficult story lines are a detriment to the slow drip sugar dose Netflix wants to give its viewers so they keep hitting "Play Next" and spending hours on their platform. A good quality show is hard to get into but its also hard to keep binge watching it.
Wytwwww 3y ago
> Rings of Power, Wheel of Time, Reacher - it doesn't help they are all mediocre Mediocre is a huge compliment for those shows though. Especially for the Rings of Power...
kcartlidge 3y ago
I agree with all of that, except that I really enjoy Reacher. And if you're a fan of the books, then it's good to see the main character played by someone so much truer to the original than Tom Cruise ever was.
- legitster 3y ago
  Season 1 was pleasantly entertaining, even if the ending was a bit lame. But Season 2 - man, I dunno. It's like they went with the first draft of a script and just shipped it.
  - kcartlidge 3y ago
    Fair point. I finished the season 2 finale this evening and it just ... ended. Still entertaining but whilst there was a final set-piece showdown and things were wrapped up okay, it felt like loads of episodes of digging around followed by a highly compressed surge of closure in the final episode. Similar to season one, though again I enjoyed both.

Fire-Dragon-DoL 3y ago

The limited series are the way we get good content, tv shows are mostly garbage due to the whole "if it's good we will increase the amount of seasons"