A Year in TV
In recent years TV and cinema have effectively exchanged roles. When I was a child, cinema was the home of narrative driven drama, the exploration of complex social issues and at times even art. It attracted the best writer and as a result the best actors; whereas TV was the home of Airwolf. Thirty years on the opposite is now true. Cinema is often choked with bloated, bombastic franchises, largely devoid of any depth or substance. Television produces numerous multi-layered adult dramas that provide both writers and actors with far broader concepts to explore. Of course there are exceptions on both sides but broadly the analogy rings true.
In recent years TV and cinema have effectively exchanged roles. When I was a child, cinema was the home of narrative driven drama, the exploration of complex social issues and at times even art. It attracted the best writer and as a result the best actors; whereas TV was the home of Airwolf. Thirty years on the opposite is now true. Cinema is often choked with bloated, bombastic franchises, largely devoid of any depth or substance. Television produces numerous multi-layered adult dramas that provide both writers and actors with far broader concepts to explore. Of course there are exceptions on both sides but broadly the analogy rings true.
Once again the past twelve months has provided far more quality television than I could possibly keep up with. Therefore I have confined myself to watching a handful of shows that I can apply myself to. Fortunately some content producers are now favouring shorter seasons, so I have managed to binge view some additional series after their initial run along with someone off dramas and miniseries. Here is a selection of some of the material that I have found entertaining and engaging in 2015.
The Blacklist
In spring I had a gap in my viewing schedule and decided to try season one of The Blacklist. I must admit the pilot episode with its strong opening gambit really grabbed my attention. Needless to say I voraciously consumed the first two seasons. So why is this show so good? Well frankly that question needs a blog post in itself but here are a few bullet points:
The Blacklist maintains a good balance between traditional procedural stories and the ongoing mystery of Raymond "Red" Reddington.
The case and the criminals that feature are consistently inventive and provide a great vehicle for guest star appearances.
The long term back story unfolds at a measured pace and doesn’t overwhelm the episodic format.
James Spader is utterly compelling and just excels at these sorts of roles.
Thunderbirds Are Go
Rebooting a show such as Thunderbirds is a tall order. For it to work you need to be inventive and find a way for the format to appeal to both old and new audiences. It’s a balancing act between keeping the heart of the old show and establishing a new identity. However ITV Studios and Pukeko Pictures have manged to do this and do it well. The production is a superb blend of CGI and miniatures, providing the show with as strong visual aesthetic. Yet despite providing a very contemporary technological environment Thunderbirds Are Go still has numerous homages to the original series.
Ultimately Thunderbirds Are Go strength lies in its scripts and characterisations. Despite running half the length of the original shows the Tracey brothers have established their identities over the first season and are extremely likeable. The stories often have a subtle moral subtext that extols the virtues of team work and collaboration. Furthermore the score by Ben and Nick Foster is suitably heroic. Keeping David Graham as the voice of Parker was also an incredibly good call. I’m very pleased that this show has found an audience and that the kids like it. Roll on season two!
The Hunt
The BBC has always been at the cutting edge of documentary film making. They continue to employ the best wildlife photographers in this field and showcase their work to great effect. Obviously the dulcet tones of Sir David Attenborough are an invaluable asset to these productions. His narrations are informative, enthralling and humane. This latter attribute is especially important as The Hunt focuses on the continual struggle between predator and prey in the natural world. It can be quite grim at times but such is the nature of subject. Over the course of its seven episodes viewers are shown Crocodiles ambushing the migrating Wildebeests, Cheetahs stalking Gazelle and Polar Bears climbing a steep cliff face to feed on the eggs and chicks of nesting birds.
The Hunt is a prime example of intelligent and engaging wildlife documentary film making. Too many natural history programs these days seem to be nothing more than “isn’t nature amazing” or “aren’t we clever, we built a Penguincam”. Considering the scope of The Hunt, the show manages to find the right tone. We are shown the predators stalking their prey but the kills are not excessively dwelt upon. That is not to say that the film makers shy away from the very nature of the subject. Instead they show a measured approach, ensuring that the show remains accessible to a broad audience. The behind the scenes footage shown at the end of each episode are also very insightful and informative.
Ash vs Evil Dead
I was sceptical about Ash vs Evil Dead when I first heard about the show. Not because of its pedigree which is outstanding; my concerns where with the thirty minute format, which traditionally is the province of sitcoms. However after having watched most of season one I can say that my fears were unfounded. Ash vs Evil Dead uses this relatively short running time to its benefit. Each week the story is advanced, there is a wealth of amusing banter between the cast and a blood soaked set piece. The creative freedom that cable networks afford is invaluable to this production. This show is profane, violent and has lashings of gallows humour. Sam Raimi’s original tone is still maintained and runs through each episode. Oh and Bruce Campbell is a joy to watch.
The Man in the High Castle
I first found out about this show via a billboard outside a supermarket I regularly use. At first I thought it was an advertisement for a movie, and then I noticed that it was an Amazon Prime production. A little research piqued my curiosity so I took advantage of a free trial for the video on demand service and binged viewed the entire first season. I must admit that although I enjoyed this curious story set in an alternative reality where Germany won World War II, I was somewhat wrong footed by its philosophical and metaphysical subtext and plotlines. However that in many ways is part of the shows charm as it doesn’t just pursue a traditional linear “alternative history” storyline.
As ever with dramas, the most interesting characters are the villains and those who seem to be at the mercy of fate. Both Rufus Sewell as SS Obergruppenführer Smith and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Trade Minister Nobusuke Tagomi, give robust performances and at times are more interesting than the main protagonists. The production design is also a continuous source of interest with common place items, iconic buildings and everyday technology given a veneer of Nazi aesthetic or Japanese ambience. It should be noted that as this is not a network show so the content is pitched at a more mature audience. The cliffhanger ending of episode ten was very intriguing. I have high expectations for season two.
The Secularisation of Christmas Entertainment
The central theme of this post may well be better suited to a scholarly essay by a noted academic. I'm afraid all you'll get from me are just a few personal observations. But I wanted to raise this subject because I am at an age now where I am very conscious of the changes that have happened in UK society over the course of my life. I'm not advocating one side of the debate over another, just merely collating my thoughts on a broad cultural shift. Christmas has become increasingly secular over recent decades and because I write about popular entertainment that is the medium I viewed this process through.
The central theme of this post may well be better suited to a scholarly essay by a noted academic. I'm afraid all you'll get from me are just a few personal observations. But I wanted to raise this subject because I am at an age now where I am very conscious of the changes that have happened in UK society over the course of my life. I'm not advocating one side of the debate over another, just merely collating my thoughts on a broad cultural shift. Christmas has become increasingly secular over recent decades and because I write about popular entertainment that is the medium I viewed this process through.
As a child of the seventies, I grew up as a cultural Christian. School began each day with a formal assembly in which hymns were sung, Bible passages were often read and a moral lesson was taught by the headmaster/mistress. Shops closed on Sunday, the public broadly attended services and the establishment still showed deference to the Anglican Church and other denominations. Irrespective of my personal beliefs, I was raised in a society that was steeped in Christian tradition (and still is). Remember that church and state have never been truly separate throughout UK history.
As I have previously written about Easter, Christian faith has slowly been driven out of the TV schedules over the years. Faith based content is far from common place on the major TV networks. TV shows and films seem to focus on the secular aspects of the season, such as family, the exchange of gifts and being together. Much of this alternative entertainment is based around the faux mythology of Santa Claus, Kris Kringle or even Dicken's tale of Ebenezer Scrooge's redemption. The Christian message with its fundamental tenets of service to others, giving and personal self-sacrifice do not sit well with a prevailing culture of self-indulgence and hedonism.
In recent years, a new factor has impacted upon the inclusion of Christianity in most forms of Christmas entertainment. Because the debate between religion and the secular has become increasingly polarised the media have naturally focused on extremes on both sides of the debate. Such elements are always good for a cheap binary headline. As a result Christianity is portrayed as the province of killjoys, bigots and the lunatic fringe, despite this not being an accurate or fair representation.
With regard to gaming, trying to dovetail a Christian message into such a medium is a difficult task. The lore and other worldly settings negate any obvious Christmas reference. The fact that games, especially the MMO genre have a global audience, developers are mindful of the diversity of the player base and the multiple faiths they represent. As a result we get Winter Festivals, Yuletide events and other broader concepts. These are more akin to our secular Christmas experiences in the real world. Yet they often come across as somewhat hollow undertakings and somehow fail to capture the sentiment of the season.
At this time of year in the UK, it is traditional for the head of state to broadcast a Christmas message. The Queen is formally the "Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England" and also comes from a generation that genuinely believe in their Christian faith. Therefore, when she speaks on such matters I believe she does so with utter personal conviction. I respect this in principle. Sadly the concept of a Christmas message has now been adopted by politicians as well as anyone with a media presence and an axe to grind. Seasonal messages from such quarters as these seldom have any credibility.
The secularisation of various facets of UK life is a complex subject and this post is far from a thorough exploration. I've simply collated a few thoughts on the matter. This beggars the question as to whether I have an overall point. If I do, then I believe it to be that the ongoing secularisation of Christmas, especially through the medium of entertainment, has not necessarily been to society's benefit. Although one can never recapture ones experiences of the past, I can honestly say that Christmas as it currently exists, is a somewhat hollow and arbitrary experience for me. It has usurped a festival that had positive moral connotations and replaced it with consumerism and “organized” fun. I don't know what the answers are to this conundrum or whether I am correct in my observations. All I know is that I feel that something has been lost and that makes me a little sad.
Rose Red (2002)
I've always been partial to a good ghost story and have recently rekindled my interest in the genre after finally reading Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. I therefore approached Stephen King's Rose Red with moderately high expectations as it is in many ways homage to that story. However this four hour miniseries, directed by action stalwart Craig R. Baxley, failed to live up to these. The main problem is that King plagiarises virtually every major haunted house novel and movie of the last fifty years; Burnt Offerings, Legend of the Hell House, The Amityville Horror and even his own back catalogue. As a result there is too much derivative content and a distinct lack of a new perspective.
I've always been partial to a good ghost story and have recently rekindled my interest in the genre after finally reading Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. I therefore approached Stephen King's Rose Red with moderately high expectations as it is in many ways homage to that story. However this four hour miniseries, directed by action stalwart Craig R. Baxley, failed to live up to these. The main problem is that King plagiarises virtually every major haunted house novel and movie of the last fifty years; Burnt Offerings, Legend of the Hell House, The Amityville Horror and even his own back catalogue. As a result there is too much derivative content and a distinct lack of a new perspective.
Dr. Joyce Reardon, a parapsychologist, leads a team of psychics into a mysterious haunted Seattle mansion named Rose Red. The house was built over ancient Indian burial ground, allegedly causing the estate and subsequent owners to become cursed. Due to its long history of supernatural events and unexplained tragedies, the house is a curious conundrum to the team of psychics. At least twenty three people have either disappeared or died there and the interior of the house appears to change or increase in size, yet only from the inside. It is not long before the team find that they have potentially been lured into a trap and that rather than lift the curse of Rose Red, they may well fall victim to it.
The production boasts a robust cast of good actors such as Nancy Travis, Kevin Tighe, Judith Ivey, Julian Sands and Matt Ross. The characters and initial premise involving an investigation of the haunted premises are efficiently set up. In fact the first hour seems quite promising. There is a particularly interesting plot element regarding a corridor in the house which is has been built with a forced perspective. It soon becomes apparent that it may indeed have a mind of its own. There is another sub plot involving one of the central characters battling with his pre-cognitive gift and an over bearing mother. The off screen deaths in the first act imply shocks to come.
Sadly before too long it all becomes very routine and formulaic, making that usual miniseries mistake of structuring the story around commercial breaks and feeling obliged to have a quota of scares or plot twists at regular intervals. The effects work is distinctly average and the denouement relies too much on spectacle rather than atmosphere. This adaptation certainly out stays its welcome by sixty minutes and would have definitely fared better with a faster pace and shorter running time. Stephen King adaptations always seem to be a very hit and miss affair. The 1979 version of Salem's Lot by Tobe Hooper still remains the bench mark to aspire to.
New Star Trek Series Premieres January 2017
The announcement that CBS has commissioned a new series of Star Trek is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing in the sense that I have genuine affection for this franchise and therefore I welcome the prospect of a new incarnation of the show returning to TV. However I also consider this situation an absolute curse because well now have to endure at least eighteen months of idle speculation and an ongoing dissection of the entire production of a show before it is even released.
The announcement that CBS has commissioned a new series of Star Trek is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing in the sense that I have genuine affection for this franchise and therefore I welcome the prospect of a new incarnation of the show returning to TV. However I also consider this situation an absolute curse because well now have to endure at least eighteen months of idle speculation and an ongoing dissection of the entire production of a show before it is even released.
Fans have the capacity to be a never ending wellspring of love, loyalty and support. The goodwill of the faithful can be an abject boon to a production company looking to resurrect an ailing franchise and tentatively venture in to virgin territory. Sadly the opposite can also be true. An obstinate, intransigent fan base can be a millstone around the neck of an established brand that is in transition. Every single innovation, change or casting decision can be subject to a wave of negativity and even hatred.
And then we have the press who will happily spend the intervening time publishing anything and everything to do with this production. Be it true or false, all information will be avidly received and trumpeted in suitably hyperbolic terms. Unless one invests a considerable amount of time and effort avoiding the ensuing hype, we’ll all inevitably arrive at the season premiere with unrealistic expectations and a sense of anti-climax. This is the reality of the modern cycle of marketing and promotion. It is the price we pay for living in an age of “choice” and market forces.
I will do my upmost over the next eighteen months to keep my exposure to information, leaks and “exclusives” about the new Star Trek TV series to a minimum. I’ve tried to maintain a similar policy with regard to Star Wars: The Force Awakens but it is very hard to do so. The most effective means is to cease all online activities but that is hardly a viable proposition these days. In the meantime I shall leave the fan base to their feeding frenzy and the corporate bean counters to their hype train and hope that the new show proves to be of sufficient quality once it arrives.
Star Trek: The Animated Series
Star Trek: The Animated Series (or TAS) is often overlooked by the public, getting lost among all the whites noise that accompanies the franchise. Yet it is a surprisingly good series with a distinguished writing pedigree. The series was produced by Filmation in association with Paramount Television and ran for two seasons from 1973 to 1974 on NBC. A total of twenty-two half-hour episodes were produced set in the same timeline and universe as the original series. Often characters and situations that had featured in the live action show re-appeared and where expanded upon, such as Harry Mudd, the Guardian of Forever and of course Tribbles.
Star Trek: The Animated Series (or TAS) is often overlooked by the public, getting lost among all the whites noise that accompanies the franchise. Yet it is a surprisingly good series with a distinguished writing pedigree. The series was produced by Filmation in association with Paramount Television and ran for two seasons from 1973 to 1974 on NBC. A total of twenty-two half-hour episodes were produced set in the same timeline and universe as the original series. Often characters and situations that had featured in the live action show re-appeared and where expanded upon, such as Harry Mudd, the Guardian of Forever and of course Tribbles.
Most of the original cast returned to provide their vocal talents, apart from Walter Koenig. New characters were added, such as Lt. M’Ress, a female Caitian and Lieutenant Arex, whose Edosian species had three arms and three legs. The animated format afforded the writers greater freedom with regard to the scope of the stories. As a result Star Trek TAS features a lot more monsters and planetary vistas that TOS. As with the original series, the standard of writing for the show was above average. The fact that cartoons were still perceived to be the province of children at the time did not deter the narrative from tackling weighty issues. Perhaps we can attribute this to Gene Roddenberry’s guiding hands who would not allow any dilution to the core concept. As a result story editor D C Fontana maintained a high standard, with some material being written by such writers as Larry Niven and Paul Schneider who both penned several stories for the original show.
Although animation offered some advantages, its cost required some additional compromises. Thus Star Trek TAS has a lot of stock shots and minimalist animated sequences. Life support belts providing personal force fields were introduced to dispense with the need to draw complex spacesuits. Also because of musical rights issues, the iconic theme music could not be used, requiring a contrived reworking of it by Ray Ellis and Norm Prescott. However it works well, as do the music cues that were used throughout the series from the Filmation library. Overall, considering the general low standard of animated material at the times, Star Trek TAS exceeds expectations. Each episode covers a lot of ground throughout its twenty three minutes duration.
Curiously enough, despite Gene Roddenberry’s involvement, the show is not officially considered canon, which is a shame. Several episodes really do stand out due to their strong stories and character exploration. Yesteryear features Spock having to revisit his past to prevent his own death. It’s a rather thoughtful and sad tale that provides further details on the Vulcan’s troubled youth. More Troubles, More Tribbles sees the return of everyone’s favourite squeaking fur balls. This direct sequel to the episodes from TOS is fun as well as expanding more on Tribble physiology and Klingon’s inherent aversion to them. The Slaver Weapon perhaps is the most cerebral episode of them all. The story which centres on Spock, Uhura and Sulu touches upon wider issues in the galaxy, by way of the extinct slaver race and their legacy of artefacts. This is far from shallow storytelling and it’s a shame that aspects of the plot were not explored further in later episodes.
Star Trek TAS is a worthy addition to the overall franchise. It has all the hallmarks that made the original series so enjoyable. Despite having a somewhat minimalist animated style, the strong narrative and presence of the original cast makes this an engaging show. Each episode is very story focused and follows the established themes of the live action show. Its shame that more episodes were not made and I’ve often wondered why other popular series from the time, didn’t make a similar transition to animation. Perhaps TAS is just yet another example of Star Trek doing something different and breaking new ground.
The World at War (1973)
The seventies were a Golden Age for cerebral documentaries with such outstanding examples as The Ascent of Man, Cosmos and Life on Earth. Such shows were content driven, relying heavily upon the quality of the script along with the charisma and gravitas of the presenter. Jacob Bronowski, Carl Sagan and David Attenborough were exemplars of this. Jeremy Isaac’s The World at War is another archetype of quality documentary film making from this decade.
The seventies were a Golden Age for cerebral documentaries with such outstanding examples as The Ascent of Man, Cosmos and Life on Earth. Such shows were content driven, relying heavily upon the quality of the script along with the charisma and gravitas of the presenter. Jacob Bronowski, Carl Sagan and David Attenborough were exemplars of this. Jeremy Isaac’s The World at War is another archetype of quality documentary film making from this decade.
The World at War was first broadcast in the UK on Wednesday 26th October in 1973 on the ITV network. This was the year of the oil crisis, one of many miners' strike and Ted Heath's three-day week. World War II still loomed large in the nation’s collection psyche and influenced global politics. Forty Two years on, The World at War it is still being watched all over the world via DVDs, VoD and TV repeats. It can be cogently argued that the documentary still remains an powerful account of World War II. There are some areas that possibly may revision due to the emergence of de-classified information but as a whole this is still an in-depth, scholarly and accessible historical analysis.
Isaacs always was motivated by wanting to tell the story of World War II from a truly global perspective. At the time UK film makers and scholars still tended to follow a very UK-centric narrative adhering to Churchill’s "finest hour" mindset. Noble Frankland the director of the Imperial War Museum and the series historical adviser encouraged Isaacs to not only adopt this approach but emphasise the role of the Red Army and explore to a greater degree the significance of the war against Japan.
One of the most powerful features of the series was the use of in-depth conversations with ordinary people, often those who were directly involved in the event being explored. The first hand experiences of the average soldier at Anzio or the perspective of the civilians that endured the Blitz remains compelling viewing. The World at War also contains an unprecedented wealth of interviews with the politicians and military leaders of the time. Admiral Dönitz, Anthony Eden, Mark Clark and "Bomber" Harris are among those who shared their often contradictory views on the way key event unfolded. Perhaps the most significant contributor was Hitler's secretary Traudl Junge who paints a very human picture of the Führer's final days.
Two elements worthy of note are the series score by composer Carl Davis and narration by Laurence Olivier. Both underpin the archive newsreel footage and add gravitas to the overall narrative. The script although focusing upon the global scope of World War II, maintains a very human perspective with passages from letters, journals and popular songs from the time. Olivier’s understated delivery often affords the viewer opportunity to contemplate the magnitude of events. Davis’ score adds focus to each episode and never strays into melodrama.
Although the factual rigour of The World at War remains robust there are areas where the narrative requires updating and theatres of war that need a broader exploration. Since the shows original broadcast the facts regarding the breaking of the enigma code at Bletchley Park have come to light. As a result the episode "Wolfpack" about the battle of the Atlantic is now somewhat passé. Both China and India’s experiences during the war are conspicuous by their absence; likewise Yugoslavia’s war time ordeal is only alluded to.
The World at War was a significant undertaking for a major television network at the time and keenly reflected the production and audience standards of the decade. It is highly unlikely that a documentary series of this calibre could be produced today. Not only are there no longer any surviving interviewees with first-hand experience of the events in question, there may no longer be an appetite from the general public for such an in-depth analysis of a period of history we are becoming increasingly removed from.
Subtitles
My hearing is fairly robust for a man of my age. I also pride myself on my ability to concentrate. Yet despite the benefits of both those attributes, I still often find myself struggling to keep up with the dialogue and plot of many a game, TV show or movie. It’s something that is not unique to me and seems to be part of a growing phenomenon. Take last year’s science fiction blockbuster Interstellar. Amongst the critical praise there was a lot of grumbling over the mixing of ambient sound effects and the movies score drowning out dialogue. Similar complaints have been levelled at a lot of contemporary TV shows.
My hearing is fairly robust for a man of my age. I also pride myself on my ability to concentrate. Yet despite the benefits of both those attributes, I still often find myself struggling to keep up with the dialogue and plot of many a game, TV show or movie. It’s something that is not unique to me and seems to be part of a growing phenomenon. Take last year’s science fiction blockbuster Interstellar. Amongst the critical praise there was a lot of grumbling over the mixing of ambient sound effects and the movies score drowning out dialogue. Similar complaints have been levelled at a lot of contemporary TV shows.
This problem frequently manifests itself in video games, although it is more often than not due to overlapping dialogue. All too often I’ve been playing a game in which an essential piece of narrative from a key NPC is competing against the ambient dialogue from background characters. As someone who enjoys a good story and likes to absorb as much details as possible, this problem can be quite frustrating. Hence I’ve recently started enabling all subtitle options on games, TV shows and movies by default. It was a little disconcerting initially but it’s something I have adapted to quite quickly.
Subtitles apart from reflecting the main dialogue, often have the benefit of providing a lot more detail. Audio descriptions of sound effects, as well as secondary dialogue and other background noise can prove to be most illuminating. When watching the movie Right at Your Door, the subtitles displayed all the details of the radio and TV broadcasts that were playing in the background. This greatly enhanced the plot and provided some invaluable narrative detail. Subtitles are also a great way of obtaining an accurate quote and resolving the esoteric spelling of certain words and character names.
I find subtitles in gaming to be increasingly useful. Unlike a movie you cannot easily rewind a cutscene or the bestowal dialogue for a quest. If like me you find the story one of the main selling points of a game then you don’t really like to miss any of the plot. Also games don’t always have the best voice acting and subtitles allow you a means of penetrating poor accents and poorly expressed dialogue. Therefore having an additional tier of information is useful. It can also provide some amusement when the text is misspelt or has not been updated and is merely place-holder content.
However subtitles are not for everyone. Some people find onscreen text very distracting and a major impediment to their enjoyment of the game or movie. Plot and dialogue are also not important to all gamers, many of whom simply want to get to the action, rather than waste time upon a story that is superfluous to them. Therefore it very much is a question of taste and mercifully subtitles are more often than not optional. For me I consider them to be a great asset and an enhancement to my entertainment. They also play a great part in making many leisure activities far more accessible and inclusional. As a result I find their absence from certain mediums an inconvenience.
Binge-viewing
During the seventies I watched TV programs as and when they were broadcast. This was not through choice but because that was the only means available. Therefore the advent of the VCR in the eighties was a very liberating experience. However although I was free from having to watch at a specific time, I still tended to view recorded programs on a weekly basis, rather than allow them to accumulate. All the technology was doing was freeing me from the broadcasters schedule and allowing me to create my own.
During the seventies I watched TV programs as and when they were broadcast. This was not through choice but because that was the only means available. Therefore the advent of the VCR in the eighties was a very liberating experience. However although I was free from having to watch at a specific time, I still tended to view recorded programs on a weekly basis, rather than allow them to accumulate. All the technology was doing was freeing me from the broadcasters schedule and allowing me to create my own.
TV audiences had a very different relationship with the shows they watched during the seventies and eighties. Families often watched together and the previous night’s viewing was usually the topic of discussion at work or school the following day. If you missed an episode of your favourite show then you would have to wait months or even a year before it was re-run. The advent of the VCR improved this situation significantly but the esoteric nature of setting the timer still meant that this was not a full proof system.
Nowadays unless you are technophobic or a militant Luddite, it is far easier to access the shows that you want and watch them at your leisure than watch live. VOD, DVRs, the ubiquity of the “plus one” channel and even the old school DVD boxset ensure that you can keep abreast of your favourite TV shows. This shift in availability has led to the phenomenon of binge-viewing; something that I personally have resisted until recently but have now fully embraced.
There are three major reasons why I have adopted this viewing habit for some of the shows that I currently watch. Firstly, my life like many others peoples, no longer follows a traditional nine to five schedule. My working pattern is irregular and my online activities, especially those associated with the blog and podcast, span multiple different time zones. Therefore I do not like being tied to third party schedules. Secondly, TV shows are a lot more complex these days; frequently have long term story arcs. Watching episodes back to back provides a greater understanding of the plot. Thirdly, binge viewing can be an efficient means to catch up with shows that straddle multiple seasons. At present I can blitz out season two of The Blacklist and be ready for new content when season three starts in October.
The way we consume TV content is also having an impact upon the way the material is created. VOD providers have market research that suggests that viewers like slightly shorter seasons. Sometimes twenty plus episodes can be too much, where a season consisting of eight or thirteen episodes is sufficient to tell an in-depth tale. Recent examples of this are True Detective and Penny Dreadful on cable and Under the Dome and Hannibal on Network TV. All maintain a standard of writing and storytelling yet do not outstay their welcome with weak or superfluous episodes.
Binge-viewing is not relevant to all genres of TV programs. Many sporting events are still best viewed live. On most days, rolling news is often cyclical, so watching for hours will provide only a finite amount of information. Also binge viewing may not appeal to all age groups. My own parents who are in their eighties are still very much creatures of habit and like to adhere to the networks schedules. If it’s Tuesday then it’s Pork Chops for dinner and NCIS at 9:00 PM. The notion of watching an entire season will invoke judgemental comments about over indulgence and a lack of self-control.
However I think the future of TV lies with content delivery upon demand. Perhaps Kevin Spacey summed it up best in 2013, while speaking at the Edinburgh Television Festival:
“The audience wants control. They want freedom. If they want to binge then we should let them binge. Give people what they want, when they want it, in the form they want it in, at a reasonable price, and they’ll more likely pay for it rather than steal it.
For years, particularly with the advent of the Internet, people have been griping about lessening attention spans. But if someone can watch an entire season of a TV series in one day, doesn’t that show an incredible attention span? The audience has spoken: They want stories. They’re dying for them. All we have to do is give it to them.”