Do the collective you think that the genre of television is improved or diminished by our now unlimited access? I've always enjoyed the experience of following a show, week to week, but I find it nearly impossible to maintain. Until recently, I thought my internet wasn't capable of streaming netflix, so I only ever watched tv on dvds or at other people's houses. Was I missing out on something? Or was I released?
Of course, we can also tie in ideas about instant gratification, shortened attention spans and less investment on the part of the creators. Or lower production costs, wider audience access, and more creator control?
For my part, I've always been a fan of tv, but as with many things I enjoy, I have trouble with the whole "moderation" thing. I binge watch. So I would like to be on the side of less east access, but who am I kidding.
I always liked the happy medium of if you missed a show when it came out, wait for the DVDs. But I can't really dispute the ease and popularity of streaming TV shows. I do feel that it cheapens the importance of a show to the person viewing it if you are streaming it off your computer or your iPad or whatever, but that is probably my own bias. I do like going through shows on DVD and watching all of the commentaries and special features and feeling like I live in the show, or am at least more connected to it. There is a sense of intimacy and connectedness through owning a show that I would never get through streaming it, and for any show that I really care about, I would always like to own it. Of course it's probably best to catch a show each week as it airs, but it's almost impossible to watch a good show from its beginning like this, catching every episode. That didn't matter back in the day, but in today's world of complex narratives, it is mandatory that we watch many shows in order.
ReplyDeleteTV has definitely evolved tremendously over it's time, but particularly in the past couple decades. It's interesting to look at how certain mediums evolve especially depending on how they are presented. TV, like comics and radio shows of old or even the TV mini-series (a hybrid of types), is viewed in successive episodes, rather than in one entity meant for consumption in sitting (of course people can watch an entire series in one sitting, but it takes a bit more guts and trust in comfortable furniture).
ReplyDeleteThe series can either be one in which each episode continues the growth of elements and plotlines from previous episodes, or each episode can be more independent without requiring knowledge of previous episodes (but may feature the same characters or recurring themes). In a way TV episodes can be like chapters of a book (or acts in a play), or they may be more similar a collection of short stories.
Considering the push for the chapter approach in the last ten or so years, I think it helps to have more access to TV on DVD or online. This way, there is less of a chance of losing track of a series due to missing the scheduled time per week and not having a way to catch up for the rest of the season. One can even try to pace themselves on their own varied schedule in watching the show if they own all the episodes (as hard as this may be for binge watchers).
Shows that have independent episodes lend themselves better to the weekly format in that they don't carry so much pressure to have to keep up with the plot line.
Of course, this rules out the sort of collective suspense of a hanging plotline that everyone looks forward to watching at the same time every week then discussing afterwards - ruling out the sort of big event phenomenon that once was for the release of an album, and once seemed bigger for the release of blockbusters.
I think it also depends on the content itself of the show. As in, does the show seem more contrived or perhaps overwhelming if it's seen back to back to back until it's done rather than stretched with spaces in between? Would something like the Wire or Arrested Development be better watched on a weekly basis or all at once? Does pacing the watching help the viewer savor individual moments and the division of episodes as the director saw fit - or even the individuality of episodes if directed/written by different people?
To use another medium, would Watchmen be more compelling if you had to wait for each chapter to come out on a weekly/biweekly/monthly basis (I forget what the original gap was), or is it better consumed as one all-encompassing graphic novel in which one would read multiple chapters per sitting?
I'm not really sure the answers to all these questions, because I've never been really good at consistently watching or reading something that is left up to me (although I'm getting better). I end up being better at watching the scheduled weekly shows (when I have TV to do so), just because I know it's coming whether or not I make time for it, and since I want to watch it then, I will. I also tend to think that there are good and bad things involved with either binge or weekly watching but overall, I think the medium as a whole has been helped by the surge of the last ten years, because it widens the field for the type of shows that can come out now - sort of like how even though video games have pushed into super high def graphics and realism, many, many successful 2D and classically formatted video games are still released.
Anywho, this was long-winded and not pointed in any real direction, and I'd be surprised if you made it this far with no ongoing plotline or recurring characters.