CJ, The ODI and Adam are all back to discuss if TV shows work better as half season or full season shows? Quality over Quantity? These are the issues up for debate. We also discuss the latest TV and movie news.
Hey guys, we are back once again. This week we discuss the latest episodes of the Walking Dead, The Following, Person of Interest and Cult. We start our preview of the new season of game of thrones as well as looking at some of the latest movie news and trailers including Iron Man 3 and Star Trek. We also discuss the new OZ film (beware spoilers).
We discuss the topic of TV show lengths this week. Do shows work better if they have a shorter episode run (12-15 episodes) compared to a full season (22-24 episodes). Do shows work better with less filler and more thriller type seasons? We discuss the pro's and cons.
We would love to hear your opinions on what you think about the length of TV shows and the podcast today.
Health Warning: The ODI and Adam would like to warn you in advance about the weird rubbish that CJ speaks throughout the podcast and apologies at the amount of laughing at CJ and his comments found throughout the podcast.
(Times are approx.)
0.00 - Opening
0.01 – Intro / Site News
0.13 - The Walking Dead
0.40 - Game of Thrones / The Following / Cult
1.10 - Person of Interest
1.23 - Movies
1.43 - Show length Debate
2.14 - End
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@STV_Podcast | @TheODI | @CJSonic | @AdDHarris |
Podcast recorded on Wednesday 10th March 2013
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I think having full seasons are better. The time in between seasons with only 11-13 episodes is too long. It's harder to get back into a show when it's been off air for most of the year. And I think having 22 or so episodes allows for better development of the plot - IF the writers take the opportunity and don't just use the extra episodes for fillers/stand-alones.
ReplyDeleteMost shows do fine with this, but I have a couple shows I get annoyed with sometimes because of all the stand-alone episodes.
Some shows I love having stand-alone type episodes. The best non-criminal show example would be Once Upon A Time. Some of the episodes focusing on non-major characters have been some of the best (the ones about Ruby/Red, Jefferson/Mad Hatter, etc.).
For crime shows that usually have a crime-of-the-week, it's fine to have "stand-alones", of course, that's what they're all about. So they work fine with long seasons.
While I was happy to have Grimm back as early as last August, and therefore did not mind their having a little mid-season break, that hiatus was too long. We were right in the middle of a story. So I guess this would be considered a full season, but with too long a break in the middle. No matter whether you call it half seasons or a full season with a too long break, it was annoying.
ReplyDeleteAs for Breaking Bad, why Season 5 didn't end with "Gliding Over All" and let it pick up with Season 6, I don't know. Just silly.
I don't think there should be shorter seasons...sometimes it takes a season's length for a show to develop and grow to maturity. If shows were only allotted 12 to 15 episodes, at least newer shows, that doesn't give a lot of growth and I feel as if a shorter season will butcher show quality. 22 episodes seems like a standard length because too short might make television shows rush the plot line. Longer seasons, like 30 to 40 episodes, won't do the show justice either because then the show might lose interest of the viewers because it might end up dragging or finding episode fillers. Seasons should remain 22 episodes or 25 episodes because it gives enough room for seasons to grow yet doesn't give too much time for fillers.
ReplyDeleteHow about 12 episode season and you get 2 per year. That way you get a quality story for that season without the filler and less of a wait?
ReplyDeleteSome shows have really good stand alone episodes where they focus on stand alone character development like OUAT. However some shows that have a smaller main cast struggle with these types of episodes and maybe they would be better suited to a shorter season?
ReplyDeleteI do like the idea. And it's not only the wait that's the problem, but the feeling of being left hanging. A true season break would seem legitimate and make the wait acceptable. Look at Dancing with the Stars--they have two 10-week seasons per year. They're up to Season 16 now, and they've only been on 8 years. Nobody minds.
ReplyDeleteI do wish it were Breaking Bad's Season 6 coming up instead of "the rest of season 5."
Hey guys,
ReplyDeleteI really liked the topic this week, especially because sometimes I think about that. I mean every time that I'm watching some series and the episode is boring, just a "filler" to get the season completed, I think why they do that? Then I'm watching the season finale of a short series and I'm thinking why they don't do a complete season? As you can see never satisfied.
Anyway I think it depends on series, Rookie Blue, White Collar, Suits, Psych, Parenthood for example are show that I love to watch and they had pretty good seasons during the last years. The story is consistent, intense and it has quality. Off course with a complete season some stories could be better developed ( I hated how fast some plots finished in last Parenthood season) but I think they could also get boring in some point like Hawaii Five-0.
Last season of H50 the only episodes that matter were the ones that Terry O Quinn participated, the others were just procedural episodes and I'm saturated of that already. A shorter season for me would be better in this case, the series could turn more interesting. Also I think a character could grow with only 16 episodes, I watched The Tudors I loved it and Charles and The king had growing a lot during the seasons. Neal on White Collar has changed a lot as well, so I don't think a complete season is necessary to development a great character, but a great writer/producer.
About the hiatus, I think if all the series were short, the hiatus between them could also be shorter, for me the hiatus are only long because there are shows with complete seasons to be on air.
Well these are my thought about it. Great podcast as usual.
Mari
Ps. Did you guys watched Golden Boy? Did you liked it? I really enjoyed.
I don't see the difference, if they can write 24 eps a year without filler as 12 eps each, why can't they do it all together. After all the 22, 23 ep shows do have several breaks during the year, a month or more each.
ReplyDeleteI would not put "reality" shows on the same level as they don't have a story to tell and networks use them as filler.
ReplyDelete