Streaming's BIggest Shows Are Just TV (Big Deal)

[Mark Jeffries]

Chicago Tribune TV critic Nina Metz, a huge supporter of the 22-episode once-a-week season that steamers seemed to be getting away from to be more like HBO (although as an avid ACAB person, she wouldn't mind if there weren't any police procedurals), asked former network exec Preston "The Masked Scheduler" Breckman about this, pointing out the recent report that the most popular shows on streaming are familiar TV (including that USA Network blue sky show starring the Duchess of Sussex)--Breckman replies that there are already shows on streamers (like Netflix's "Virgin River" and "The Lincoln Lawyer") that would fit in a traditional television schedule and that basically, the more TV tries to change, the more it remains the same:

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/02/07/column-most-watched-shows-of-2023-are-not-what-you-think/?share=trocnchwanhbhtmsuybt

[Kevin M.]

There’s a flaw in the reasoning here. If you ask fans of a series if they want more or fewer episodes, of course people will say they want more of what they like. But I believe most people who aren’t just using TV as white noise would prefer fewer well written and well produced episodes to a 22 episode run of an assembly-line procedural like Law and Order. 

Oh yeah, there’s also the fact that Preston Beckman molests collies. 

Kevin M. (RPCV)

On Fri, Feb 9, 2024 at 7:17 AM Mark Jeffries <spotl...@gmail.com> wrote:

Chicago Tribune TV critic Nina Metz, a huge supporter of the 22-episode once-a-week season that steamers seemed to be getting away from to be more like HBO (although as an avid ACAB person, she wouldn't mind if there weren't any police procedurals), asked former network exec Preston "The Masked Scheduler" Breckman about this, pointing out the recent report that the most popular shows on streaming are familiar TV (including that USA Network blue sky show starring the Duchess of Sussex)--Breckman replies that there are already shows on streamers (like Netflix's "Virgin River" and "The Lincoln Lawyer") that would fit in a traditional television schedule and that basically, the more TV tries to change, the more it remains the same:

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/02/07/column-most-watched-shows-of-2023-are-not-what-you-think/?share=trocnchwanhbhtmsuybt

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tvornottv+...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/0f8104ad-3b47-4c76-b0b4-7890f72ce60fn%40googlegroups.com.

[Adam Bowie]

I agree that this slightly muddled thinking.

First off, although there are lots of serialized dramas on streaming, there are also episodic shows. Poker Face and even the new Mr & Mrs Smith are largely episodic. The aforementioned The Lincoln Lawyer is in fact a serialized drama, as is, AFAIK, Virgin River. Sure they could air on network TV, and there's nothing to stop network TV making such shows. Indeed, it's pretty obvious following the success of Suits last summer that we're about to be deluged by soapy legal shows.

But shows were made on an industrial scale to meet an economic need. They had to fill a September to May schedule, and ideally reach 100 episodes as quickly as possible for syndication. Audiences got trained to expect the same show airing year around, but now audiences are quite capable of getting used to 10 episodes once a year, or once every 18 months. 

I mean why stop at 22? In the sixties, some series would run 30+ episodes a season. Should we go back to that?

*Marketing* shorter run shows might be a little harder, and I definitely think Netflix in particular is bad at this. They also seem to be the one outlier in still dropping everything at once, or at least in two tranches. But that's just bull-headedness at this point, like not putting some of their films in cinemas.

(Sidenote: I had to switch on my VPN to read that piece because lots of US newspaper groups still can't cope with European privacy regulations and just don't bother).

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKgmY4DHV7u-M9tSSs7D5gt3Lwy9jHNUfo1yQKoqM%2B_QddFNXg%40mail.gmail.com.

[Joe Hass]

On Fri, Feb 9, 2024 at 11:09 AM Adam Bowie <ad...@adambowie.co.uk> wrote:

(Sidenote: I had to switch on my VPN to read that piece because lots of US newspaper groups still can't cope with European privacy regulations and just don't bother).

Hey: that sweet venture capital profit ain't gonna make itself, ya know? 

[PGage]

I have been an advocate of the shorter seasons we often see on streaming (and Euro?) series, but was given pause when we learned during the strikes the impact this is having on professional TV writers. This made me wonder if short TV episode counts are less about quality control and more about cost control.

Is there a future in which Netflix hires a stable of writers who get assigned to work on 6-10 episode seasons of a particular show, but have annual contracts, reliable benefits and job security for some period of time?

Also, I am a big fan of the Big Dump of all episodes at once (which Netflix does not always do, so I had to force myself not to start the most recent season of British Bake Off until all episodes had been released and I could binge as I wanted. Also no waiting on HBO to release all episodes of current True Detective).

Sent from Gmail Mobile

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAD_sJGDTkkukb-J9VXojyhrwoL2LKjVPQZE%3DdXMv9y4R9AgXUg%40mail.gmail.com.