the TV series

[keikiwai]

I'd like to discuss how awesome TV series are. Why it took so long for directors, viewers, actors, etc. to realize this (or did it?). Your views on TV series vs. movies. Why big screen actors are also appearing on the little screen. If you wrote a book, would you rather have it turned into a movie or a TV series?...... etc.



[/ QUOTE ]

Some of my thoughts:

Somewhat recently big screen actors have started appearing frequently on the little screen. You'll see people like Charlie Sheen, Rob Lowe, etc. (there's tons more, you know what I mean) appearing in TV series. I think this is partially due to the fact that people have realized that a TV series can be used very effectively to tell a story and develop characters, to an extent that is impossible in a movie.

For example, could 24 ever be made into a movie? Lawrence of
Arabia was a long sit.... 24 would be nuts. But as a TV series, it's almost natural.

I'm surprised more books don't get made into TV series. I mean obv. Lord of the Rings would lose a lot (and does lose a lot on DVD vs. big screen) due to the size of the screen alone, but the story could be better told.

I mean, who do you feel you undertand better as a character, J.J. 'Jake' Gittes (Chinatown) or Magnum PI - or Psych lol - If one considers only character development, the best movies will lose vs. the worst TV worst...... Charmed has more developed characters than say Chinatown (arguably).

There's also the phenomenon of actors moving from one series to another. This seems more pronounced than in movies, but that's just my personal view. For example Felicity spawned a huge number of carreers. Jennifer Garner owes the seeds of here fame and success in both movies and Alias, in part, to Felicity. Sean (the character name on Felicity - lol - yes I watched it) appeared in Alias and is now on Heroes.

There are TV series that present a long story - like 24 or Lost - but even the ones that are separete individual stories for each episode - like CSI - will have things that happened in previous epsisodes end up affecting future episodes.

As a fan of books, I am also a big fan of the TV series, since it gives writers, directors, actors, and everyone else the chance to enjoy not only a longer and more intriciate story than a movie can showcase, but a TV series also allows a development of characters that is miles and miles beyond anything a movie can hope to accomplish (of course this means that character development is often much more elegant in a movie).

It seems that TV series are really in their halcyon days currently. Why did it take so long for this artform to bear fruit? Does it have anything to do with the spread of the DVD? Renting or buying an entire series, and watching it all the way through is a really fun experience, and DVD box sets make it possible - the same on VHS would be very space consuming, and before VHS???.

Anyway, I've been thinking about TV series recently, and I'm wondering what others think about them.

[guids]

Honestly enough, I can only get into series (other than comedies), that are on non-censored networks. Entourage, Sopranos, Brotherhood, Weeds, all AWESOME, but otherwise there isnt much else I like, and I think it is becasue of the censorship.

[JaredL]

I think it's good for any sort of drama show. I think it's bad for comedy shows.

Lost, 24, and even CSI shows benefit from the "what's going to happen next?" anticipation effect, but the same kills comedies I think. Friends, which is the best example, got noticeably less funny when they started to push the "See what happnes with Ross and Rachel" type angles and not "See what ridiculously funny situation Chandler will be in." The popularity of the show went up I'm sure, they especially gained a lot of rabid fans, but the overall quality went down and the show was much less funny.

Even Seinfeld had references that came up repeatedly and references to past episodes. What makes it better is that it never was the focus of the show at all, except in that it provided comedy. Nobody watched to see whether Elaine and Puddy would stay together.

Jared

[guids]

Ok, I guess I was confused about what a series is, I just figured it was any tv show, ie Im assuming south park isnt a series? I agree with Jared, once comedies start becoming structured/too serious, they usually begin to suck a little, save a few (the office, scrubs, etc).

[Aloysius]

Keikiwai - with the power dynamic shifting from content companies to the consumer side... there is as you mentioned a much better TV consumer experience due to more choice and flexibility (renting / buying DVDs of series, Tivo, IPTV etc.).

But state of network TV is pretty weak (especially half-hours), with cable picking up the slack with really quality fare. So I would say overall that TV series quality is not necessarily better today than it was 10 years ago. It just seems that way.

-Al

[Slow Play Ray]

this was actually an article in last week's newsweek - "why tv is better than the movies"

[Aloysius]

Oh - to amend the above. There is nothing really that has changed (as far as I know) in the way network TV does business. They've always been targeting an A18-49 demo, and while social mores have loosened (so possibly more edgy fare gets through development now, say vs. 10 years ago) nothing in the creative or business process has changed materially.

The one thing I can think of is that networks no longer have long "holding deals" for talent. Meaning there's more of a churn of what's in development, so this could lead to overall fresher material for each new TV season.

HBO is the real standard bearer, imo, for incredible quality TV. So yeah, I'm not sure if say "The Wire" could get made 10 years ago. So there's that. (I don't know the cable business incredibly well, but obviously we've seen them push the boundaries for one-hour TV format the past 10 years).

-Al

[keikiwai]

[ QUOTE ]
this was actually an article in last week's newsweek - "why tv is better than the movies"

[/ QUOTE ]

oh cool.... maybe i'll have to look at that.... i tend to rabidly avoid newsweek

[Aloysius]

[ QUOTE ]
As a fan of books, I am also a big fan of the TV series, since it gives writers, directors, actors, and everyone else the chance to enjoy not only a longer and more intriciate story than a movie can showcase, but a TV series also allows a development of characters that is miles and miles beyond anything a movie can hope to accomplish (of course this means that character development is often much more elegant in a movie).

[/ QUOTE ]

You are basically quoting the creator of The Wire, David Simon. And very true (if well executed, which is rare and I would argue very difficult to do on network TV in a meaningful way).

-Al

[Slow Play Ray]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
this was actually an article in last week's newsweek - "why tv is better than the movies"

[/ QUOTE ]

oh cool.... maybe i'll have to look at that.... i tend to rabidly avoid newsweek

[/ QUOTE ]

what the hell do you read on the shitter then?