The prestige-y thing to do in TV now is serialization. When you hear shows being talked about, it's almost always in the context of an ongoing plot. Doing something different every week is déclassé. Which is counterintuitive in a way because now we have a couple of generations whose attention span is taxed by a three minute YouTube video, but there are always exceptions.
I think there are severe shortcomings to this approach. There's something appealing about, say, Columbo facing a new killer each week. If this week's episode appeals to you then you can see if the writers can match it next week. If not, at least there's a chance for something better. Heavily serialized TV, by contrast, says, "Is this working for you? Don't care, we're sticking with it."
That's one of the things I've thought about watching The Devil's Hour, a British thriller series that in some ways feels like an attempt to do True Detective: UK. I started watching because it features Peter Capaldi, who was Peter Riegert's boyish sidekick in Local Hero years ago and has more recently starred on Doctor Who. There's a certain sacrilegious frisson to his character, the concept basically being, "What if the Doctor was a violent drifter with some intense beliefs?" He doesn't show up that much, though.
The cast is overall good, but not enough to cover up the holes. Lead actress Jessica Raine, for example, plays a social worker who's also screwing her ex-husband in an attempt to make him love their autistic son. This doesn't work, and how could it? The fact that she seems to think it will if she keeps trying makes her look dense.
But the problem is really how the drama game is played now. You have to watch every episode just to find out what's going on, and if enough people sign on for this maybe you'll get another season to be baffled about something else.
2 comments:
I just looked up Peter Capaldi on imdb only to discover I've missed his whole career. He's appeared in lots and lots of British tv so that's no surprise especially since we haven't watched Dr. Who in donkeys. I see he looks a lot more cadaverous than when he was in Local Hero but, then again, he was just 25 when that was made so once again I ought not to be surprised.
It's true some serializations do work better that others. Recently we watched The Squid Game that would have been far better as a two hour movie than as an 8 part, 8 hour drag on one's time and patience. It was proved by the movie Animal World - a very similar storyline that had been released 3 years earlier.
Serials have become fashionable in recent years mostly because of the success of a few franchises that had excellent stories: Fargo, The Sopranos, Twin Peaks, The Office (Ricky Gervais's version), The Wire, and yes, True Detective among others that actually needed more time than a film allowed for a story to be to be told. Then there was The Walking Dead, a show we saw a few times that basically did nothing but kill fresh recruits and occasionally a main character who likely wanted to renegotiate a contract. Where's the fun in that?
The problem here sounds like the one that soured us on Squid Game and that's plot holes. The other problem we can relate to is that you must pay attention to every episode to understand what's happening. Of course if the story is interesting that's no problem and the fact you already know how much time it takes to watch is already baked in. We just started watching a Korean series called Stranger that has 16 episodes - we're still waiting to see if it holds our attention.
It may be hard to remember what went on in epidodes of Gunsmoke between 1955 and 1975 but that was time when things could take their time. Now with on demand and streaming people can binge watch whatever they want whenever. That's probably not a good development.
Thanks for sending me down this track with your entertaining review.
Aside from Doctor Who I think the thing he's best known for is The Thick of It, where he played a commanding, profane political worker. "Cadaverous" is a harsh but fair descriptor, I guess. Mainly the natural effects of the aging process on a thin face with hooded eyes.
Squid Game was very popular, at least among a certain set. It's weird, although in accordance with certain larger trends, that nobody cares about general audiences anymore. Anyway, yeah, Squid Game may well have bene overconfident that it could keep its storyline fresh over 8 hours. Animal Game does look exciting, as well as having a great poster.
The shows you listed had strong stories and interesting characters, as well as fresh viewpoints. Several do give themselves permission to do an episode a different way here and there, even while there's a greater plot to be served. This was one thing I enjoyed about Mr. Robot as well. The Walking Dead is for someone, I'm sure, but it's not quite for me. I'm guessing the big appeal for guest actors is that they get to look kind of cool and tough and yeah, the time commitment will probably turn out to be light for them.
To be fair I tapped out of watching the series early on, so it's possible any plot holes resolved themselves in time and I just didn't have the patience to find out. But that's the thing. I shouldn't have to force myself to stay with something like it's cod liver oil, and frankly I'm not going to. Stranger looks interesting as well. According to IMDb it has 32 episodes, so I guess it was popular enough for them to renew it.
Gunsmoke is a good example of a show that was dedicated to a kind of story rather than one particular story. As you say, it had time to develop at its own pace. And it worked. People who watched it still remember Marshal Dillon and his milieu, especially Kitty. Binging seems to me another PMC habit that the rest of society has to indulge.
Thanks for the compliment. I had to keep myself amused.
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