So. Genre tv. sci-fi, horror, hard hitting drama. All those 40-60 minute weekly shows dubbed 'water cooler tv' that keep us watching again and again once they hit the tv box set isle of the HMV or whatever.
What happened to them? 10 years ago they were the shit. things like star trek, bufffy, dead wood, the sopranos, later things like battlestar galactica, LOST and Heroes- at least to begin with- were the shows that appealed to the various 'genre crowds'. Nerd's in particular. Sure they are still going? but why do they seem so muted? gambling on getting another season before the stories done?
We have stuff still going, breaking bad, dexter, fringe, supernatural and there are more coming out. So why do we not seem to be able to give a fuck anymore? is it because we just expect most to die after a single season? and why do we think that?
Let's take spielbergs new show terra nova. A show where a family are part of an expedition in a future dying earth to go back in time to 85 mil. BC in another time stream to refound human civilisation.
right from the description of this show i am getting the exact same vibe as falling skies; 7 or 8 freak of the week episodes then they reveal theres a big bad to set up season 2.
My guess is taking a note out of the sliders book "well this is a parallel timeline with divergent evolution where 85 million years before human existed super humanoid dinosaurs did and they are evil because they are cold blooded- get it!"
at which point many comparisons will be drawn to cromags, the super mario bros movie and how long till they announce no third season.
problem is over the last 5 years genre tv has tried to reinvent itself again and the worst symptom is that they dont tell you the real plot of the show till the END of a season.
Think about stuff from 5 years agos, roughly, stuff like bsg and LOST, and further back stuff like deep space 9, buffy and stargate. They all told you exactly what to expect in the season with the pilot episode. It's their to establish the story for a reason afterall.
Nowadays its not about telling a story but 'how can we make the fans ask questions so we have to drip feed as little story as we need to?' something falling skies was very bloody good at. The plot of that season was paper thin and could have been a tv movie instead.
Naturally people arent drawn in by this stuff anymore. Genre tv used to be a character study exercise. from TNG to LOST you didnt watch for action, or mystery. You watched to see data try to be human. Jack o'neil drop a simpsons reference when talking to an alien. giles be so awfully british when dealing with american teens. Bill adama and saul tigh throw shit off desks. Sawyer and Hurley shoot the shit on the beach.
Thats why we watched those shows. not for water cooler what if's , but for the journey, not the destination. When are you happy when you get the answers? when the stargates were made by super greeks who attained homestuck god tier? that ben sisko does, well, pretty much the same thing in d29- bad example, or when the galactica found earth?
The overacing story is just there to keep the characters together. To let the little stories we love so much unfold. We shouldn't have to sit through a season of establishing that with just sad moments set to piano solos in between. Thats bad television. It's why shows rarely get to a 3rd season now.
Tell the audience what to expect for the show in the pilot. Not make them guess. That doesnt keep people watching from a pilot onwards. save that stuff for the end of a season.
Know what i mean? why has this type of television just become so 'blah' in your opinion?
-can a mod fix the title? i dont know why its copied part of the post into it and the advanced title edit for members isnt fixing it.
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