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What factor is killing the serial drama right now?

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View Poll Results: What factor is killing the serial drama right now?
Long breaks or Split seasons
20
28.99%
Bad scripts/acting
13
18.84%
Poor casting
0
0%
Bad promotion by the networks
2
2.90%
Bad scheduling by the networks
0
0%
Stupid viewers who like stupid TV like gameshows
34
49.28%
Voters: 69. You may not vote on this poll

What factor is killing the serial drama right now?

Old 04-20-07, 04:37 AM
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What factor is killing the serial drama right now?

I think the 1 main reason that is killing it is long breaks like Jericho and Heroes have done this season.
Old 04-20-07, 06:08 AM
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It seems more & more less people are watch Smart TV Shows these days. Serial dramas arn't the only genre thats getting a ratings low blow. Sitcoms are becoming less & less popular, great shows like Scrubs & 30 Rock av. about 4-5 million viewers a week meantime a show like American idol gets an av. of 28 million viewers everytime its on.
I think people love mindless entertainment. The reason for that is because while watching a reality/gameshow they can do 5 other things at the same time. Of course some people are just plain stupid and don't understand the comedy of scrubs or the mysteries of Lost.
Even my name is earl & the office are seeing fewer ratings week by week sadly. There are lots of great shows still on TV & some of them do well in the ratings like without a trace for example but shows like crossing jordan don't.
Deal or no deal, Are you smarter than a 5th grader?, dancing with the stars, & others with the ratings king American idol are some of the highest rated shows this year-and there's one reason why, its simple minded programming.
People can like whatever they want and have the right to watch whatever they want it's just to bad so many people decide to watch reality shows & game shows when there are so many great sitcoms/drama's that are getting low ratings and are in danger of being cancelled because of it.

-I like my shows to have a storyline and althrough i am guilty of watching 'Survivor' & 'The Amazing Race' they are far from my favorite shows on the tube.
Old 04-20-07, 06:39 AM
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You didn't put an option about being burnt in the past by shows getting cancelled and storylines being left dangling. That to me is a huge reason why serial dramas are on the decline. Viewers are waiting to see how a show does first and will catch it on dvd.
Old 04-20-07, 06:56 AM
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Who wants to commit to a type of show that networks have shown again and again they are not willing to commit to?
Old 04-20-07, 08:34 AM
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Originally Posted by movieking
Who wants to commit to a type of show that networks have shown again and again they are not willing to commit to?
That's my reason for not watching any of them. I never gave 24 a chance until after Season 1 had finished airing and a 2nd season was picked up by Fox.

There is something to be said for the dumb viewer argument though. I'm not some elitist snob or anything, but how else can you explain Arrested Development failing to find an audience while Two and a Half Men is a Top 10 hit? Or Friday Night Lights' inability to get better ratings while a piece of crap like CSI: Miami is still going strong in its 5th year.
Old 04-20-07, 08:38 AM
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no definitive end: if it's a success, the networks find a way to drag the show out until it makes no sense(x-files, lost). if it's a failure, they pull the plug and the viewers that watched it don't get a return on the time they invested.

they need to air shows that have a definite start/end to them... kind of like a season long miniseries.
Old 04-20-07, 08:41 AM
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I don't think any of these reasons are correct, and saying that people are too stupid to follow them is just

Seralized shows are the "hot" thing right now, and many of the ones that have failed did so because they were developed to take advantage of this fact, not out of any desire to tell a long intricate story. There's always a glut of crappy me-toos trying to cash in on the formula of a successful show.
Old 04-20-07, 08:55 AM
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Originally Posted by Original Desmond
You didn't put an option about being burnt in the past by shows getting cancelled and storylines being left dangling. That to me is a huge reason why serial dramas are on the decline. Viewers are waiting to see how a show does first and will catch it on dvd.
This is my reason in not watching some of them. If it doesn't get immediate buzz it isn't gonna last and I'm not gonna bother wasting my time.
Old 04-20-07, 08:57 AM
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People who watch gameshows and other "one shot" programming aren't stupid, they just don't have the time and/or inclination to follow a serialized story. This is compounded, as others have said, with the fact that a lot of these shows get canceled before the story plays out. So what's the point in committing?
Old 04-20-07, 08:57 AM
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Originally Posted by cdollaz
This is my reason in not watching some of them. If it doesn't get immediate buzz it isn't gonna last and I'm not gonna bother wasting my time.
So I take it you have missed the boat on Heroes? It is that sort of defeatist attitude that gets good shows cancelled IMHO.
Old 04-20-07, 09:01 AM
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Smith, Threshold, Surface, Invasion, Kidnapped , Reunion and Vanished. Just some of the shows in recent years which had unsatisfactory conclusions because of cancellations/non renewals.
Old 04-20-07, 09:18 AM
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American Idol. I think a vast majority of people now expect their TVs to show game shows and "reality" programming. Anything else just gets in the way.

Back when sitcoms were huge, you couldn't flip a channel without seeing a 4-show block on every station.

Now, with shows like Idol and Deal or No Deal bringing in tens of millions of viewers each week, the networks are moving away from traditional programming. And since it's becoming apparent that people don't want to watch anything but bad karaoke and shitty game shows, the networks are less inclined to stick with anything that isn't that kind of show.

Same thing happened to MTV. When they showed videos, it was popular. Then they tried shows like TRL, cutting the videos a little shorter and showing more "reality" stuff (the fans.) Went over like gangbusters. Add in "The Real World", and why would you show videos anymore since the kiddies love to see their text messages to each other on live TV and watch twenty-somethings try to nail each other? All part of the cycle.
Old 04-20-07, 09:22 AM
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I can understand not wanting to commit to a show that stands a good chance of being cancelled. Especially since the big payout is down the road. But I think it's a cop out answer to say that's why people don't watch serialized shows.

For the most part, serialized shows didn't air on network TV. Then Lost came around and was a big hit. So you had the copycat phenomenon. And most of these copycats never got good ratings (and many weren't that good of a show either). So a whole bunch got canceled. And now you have this stigma that serialized shows will get cancelled, so why bother watching? But the fact is that people will watch, if the show connects. Lost still gets decent ratings and Heroes seems to be doing fine.

Just like any genre/type of show, plenty of them will get cancelled, and plenty of good shows will get cancelled. Very few shows are successful for 5 plus years. Serialized shows are no different. And no matter what the genre/type is, it seems that many good shows will get cancelled. Arrested Development was a great comedy.

I think the simple answer is that people don't watch all types of good shows, and they don't discriminate.
Old 04-20-07, 09:23 AM
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Originally Posted by rfduncan
So I take it you have missed the boat on Heroes? It is that sort of defeatist attitude that gets good shows cancelled IMHO.
No I watched Heroes from the beginning as it got good buzz and seemed very likely to stay around.

After Threshold, Surface, and a few others which were cancelled after not immediately taking off, I decided not to waste my time unless it was very likely they would be airing the whole season.

As far the defeatist attitude, screw the networks. If they are not willing to make a commitment, why should I be willing to do the same?
Old 04-20-07, 09:28 AM
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I think one reason 24 has become so successful is that the viewers know that everything will be tied up by the end of the season and if that particular season isn't as strong as in the past (season 6 anyone?), there will be a fresh start the next time around. I think with Lost and similar shows, people are becoming afraid to spend years on it and then be disappointed in the end.
Old 04-20-07, 10:28 AM
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Another big plus --24 committed itself to pretty much running straight thru. Other successful serials like Prison Break, clearly identified when the series would be on. Abrupt schedule changes have definitely killed a number of series -- nobody knew when they were going to be on.
Old 04-20-07, 10:48 AM
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I don't think most of the items in the poll are factors at all. One thing I know is an issue is the time commitment required to watch a serialized show. People feel that if they miss an episode they'll be missing something important so they don't make the commitment. People miss episodes because they go on vacation, travel for work, have social events, school activities, etc. If it's only one serialized show you're following you can usually make up the viewing, but if you follow several and miss episodes it can be difficult to stay caught up. Serialized shows pretty much only lose viewers as a season goes on because very few pick up the show in the middle of the season.

Like cdollaz said, knowing 24 will wrap up by the end of the season helps you make the commitment to watch it. If you didn't start watching Lost from the first episode of season 1, it would be tough to pick up now. Between those 2 shows and Survivor and TAR, that's 4 shows I feel I need to watch every episode or I'll be missing something important. I don't have room for any other serialized shows. I like a show like NCIS that has self-contained episodes, yet has a continuity from episode to episode and season to season. Add in smart scripts and great cast chemistry and you have a winner that you want to watch, but don't feel left out if you miss an episode. If you do miss an episode of a show with self-contained episodes like NCIS, you can watch the rerun in the summer out of sequence and it still makes sense.
Old 04-20-07, 11:13 AM
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Mostly true, Jim, but it doesn't explain how Prison Break INCREASED its audience during the season. That's why it was renewed.
Old 04-20-07, 11:22 AM
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Interesting. I don't watch Prison Break, but I've seen so many previews for it while watching football on Fox that it is one show I got the impression that I could have joined midway and still enjoyed. It seems like the exception to the rule.
Old 04-20-07, 06:22 PM
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I voted bad scripts/bad acting.

It seems there are so many cliched shows right now, like Law & Order and CSI shows.

The breaks are a bit of a problem too. I watch Heroes, but I hate having to wait through the month and a half breaks. I need to pay close attention to that show to keep up with it and after the breaks I tend to forget what was even happening. I usually just wait to shows come on dvd and then watch them, but I happened to catch the first Heroes episode, thinking I wouldn't like it, and fell in love with the show.
Old 04-20-07, 06:47 PM
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I don't see what the big deal is about the mid-season breaks. Cable dramas have shorter seasons and longer breaks and they don't suffer from it.

I think it is because shows like Jericho, Heroes, and Prison Break aren't that good to begin with.
Old 04-20-07, 07:11 PM
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It's funny, it's like serialized shows can't win no matter what kind of schedule they have. If they do the traditional way of showing repeats among new episodes to stretch out the season, people complain about the repeats. If they save up all their new episodes for long stretches, people complain about that. If they take a longer hiatus between seasons so that they can air them all in a row, they complain about that.

I'm not sure what people expect. That they finish filming a show per week so that they can have no breaks?

I wonder if the advent of TV on DVD is a factor... you can get a season of a serialized show for pretty cheap, watch all the episodes back to back with decent quality without having to worry about missing an episode, and you're guaranteed a complete season.
Old 04-20-07, 07:14 PM
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Originally Posted by Lee Harvey Oswald
I voted bad scripts/bad acting.

It seems there are so many cliched shows right now, like Law & Order and CSI shows.
Those are procedurals, not serialized dramas.
Old 04-20-07, 07:17 PM
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Originally Posted by cdollaz
I think one reason 24 has become so successful is that the viewers know that everything will be tied up by the end of the season and if that particular season isn't as strong as in the past (season 6 anyone?), there will be a fresh start the next time around. I think with Lost and similar shows, people are becoming afraid to spend years on it and then be disappointed in the end.
I can't speak for everybody, but that's the main reason for me. Most of these shows have no payoff. I get the feeling that writers/execs don't want storylines to ever end for feer of losing viewers. The first thing I think of when I hear about one of these shows is "will I be able to sit through 5 years of that crap?"

"Twin Peaks" is a great example of what networks don't want to happen. A great storyline that was impossible to followup which caused the demise of the show. These days, they seem much more interested in never wrapping up a storyline.

24 is a great example of a drama done right. You don't need to formalize each arc, like they have done, but please let us know that there will be arcs, each one with a satisfying conclusion. Not this parade of open-ended crap.
Old 04-20-07, 07:30 PM
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Originally Posted by Peep
24 is a great example of a drama done right. You don't need to formalize each arc, like they have done, but please let us know that there will be arcs, each one with a satisfying conclusion. Not this parade of open-ended crap.
The snuke story arc in 24 came to a satisfying conclusion? Must have missed that. It came to an abrupt conclusion with Jack Bauer kicking much butt, but that further underscored how much of a waste of time it was following 18 hours of it.

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