The State of the TV industry

I am a TV show person. Always have been and always will be. Yes, I enjoy movies too, but TV shows are my favorite medium. Throughout middle and high school I was the TV girl. If someone wanted to know if a show was worth the watch, they would come ask me, as I had most likely watched it. From the CW classics to Netflix originals, I have pretty much seen it all. Sure there were some subpar series in the mix, but a majority of the shows I was watching were well made and really entertaining.

In more recent years I feel like the TV industry has changed a lot. There has been a move away from the classic TV show format of multiple seasons with around 22 episodes airing at least once a year, to a new shorter format. Production companies are now making shows with limited seasons and only around 8 episodes. Series also usually have at least 2 years between each season and seem to be canceled at the drop of a hat. While yes, you could argue that this new format has created some amazing series, like Succession, Stranger Things, or White Lotus, it has also changed the very nature of TV. 

The original format of TV was for it to be viewed for about an hour weekly, for a few months of the year. With this type of format we got to see more of the world and the characters. While there were usually a few filler episodes per season, these episodes allowed us to gain a deeper sense of the characters and show another level of world building. For example, did an episode of Grey’s Anatomy need to be a mock-umentary? No, but it showed us another side of the series and is one of my favorite episodes to date. Many people praise the new format of TV shows for typically having deep and better developed characters, but I wouldn’t say that’s always the case. Many shows that followed this older format had very complex characters and storylines, look at Sex in the City and The Sopranos. Even a regular cable show like Grey’s Anatomy had intense and well planned characters and storylines. Many shows that followed the older format were also just more fun. TV doesn’t need to be so serious all the time. Some level of seriousness is needed to make it interesting, but fun should also be a major part of the show. We watch TV to be entertained and seriousness is not always entertaining. 

Despite this new direction of the TV industry leading to more critically acclaimed series I think that it is an overall negative direction for TV. While I’m not saying we need to fully revert to the way we made TV shows 5-10 years ago, I think a middle ground needs to be found between these and the profound yet short series that have taken over the industry.