TV Kinda Sucks Now - But Not For The Reasons You Think

Overview

This episode critiques the current state of television, focusing on the shift in production schedules, storytelling formats, and the industry's business model. It laments the loss of traditional TV practices, such as annual releases, episodic storytelling, and efficient pacing, while highlighting the challenges of serialized formats and extended production gaps.

Notable Quotes

- Gone are the days of episodic storytelling where each new week brought a new adventure. Now everything has to be in service of one big overarching storyline, and at a certain point, it gets pretty boring.

- Fan bases, fickle and terminally online as they are, can just as easily drift away to other shows and IPs during that three-year gap, or just lose interest entirely.

- Studios are turning movie scripts into TV series without asking if there's even enough material for it, resulting in flabby, inefficient shows that nobody's excited about.

📅 The Problem with Long Gaps Between Seasons

- Shows like Rings of Power and Stranger Things now take years between seasons, leading to a loss of momentum and audience interest.

- Extended gaps force creators to spend time recapping prior seasons, as audiences often forget key plot points.

- Examples like House of the Dragon show how multi-year delays can lead to significant audience drop-offs (e.g., a 20% decline between seasons).

👶 Aging Actors and Casting Challenges

- Long production gaps create issues with younger actors aging out of their roles, as seen in Stranger Things, where the cast now looks far older than their characters.

- Conversely, The Last of Us faced the opposite problem, with Bella Ramsey not aging as expected for a time-jump storyline.

📖 The Decline of Episodic Storytelling

- The shift from episodic to serialized storytelling has made TV feel like homework, requiring constant attention to follow overarching narratives.

- Episodic formats allowed for creative risks, variety, and self-contained adventures, which are now largely absent.

- Modern attempts at episodic storytelling, like Alex Kurtzman’s Star Trek, are criticized for poor execution and lack of audience interest.

🎬 Movie Scripts Stretched into TV Shows

- Studios, particularly Marvel and Star Wars, are accused of stretching movie-length stories into multi-episode series, resulting in filler content and inefficient pacing.

- This approach leads to disengaged audiences and a lack of excitement for the final product.

📉 The Emotional Fatigue of Modern TV

- The speaker expresses frustration with the emotional and time investment required for serialized TV, citing examples like Peacemaker and Stranger Things.

- The current TV model is described as unsustainable, with a call for change to recapture audience interest and engagement.