Greed is ruining TV-shows! (rant)

[Psionicist]

Is it just me who have this feeling TV executives and owners of all the different channels (be it fox, abc, cbs etc) deliberetaly destroy TV-shows by forcing the producers to make them longer, just so they have a safe income from those who buy advertisement? Think about it: When it comes to TV, the TV-series and all the programs is not the product. We who watch TV is the product. The consumers are those who buy the ads. It's not in the interest of the executives to air GREAT tv-shows. It's in their interest to air PROFITABLE tv-shows. And the most profitable kind is the kind you can air for several years.

Take Lost for instance. This is a gold mine: It has a huge user base, lots of cliffhangers and whatever stupid things happens it's good enough people continue too watch it. Because of this, Lost is doomed. Lost can never be one of the greatest TV-series in history. I am confident the creators of Lost could have created an excellent series of 25 episodes max. But when the executives of the channel noticed people liked the show they did what they always do: extend. They will continue to buy more episodes until every single possible source of income (watchers) gets tired. This always happens with those series who have an excellent first 5-10 episodes. I predict a minimum of 5 seasons of Lost, based on the 5 seasons of Alias (the first seasons of Alias was, like Lost, awesome. Then it went downhill because they didn't stop creating episodes).

It is a good business plan though:
1) Buy potentially good TV-shows
2) Get your users hooked
3) Tell your consumers (ad buyers) you have the most popular show right now
4) Buy more episodes
5) Repeat 3 for as long as deems fruitful
6) Profit

Notice the difference between the executives interests and the "potential" interest of the creators to create A Really Good TV-Show. Of all the different TV-shows I watch, the only ones I've _not_ been disappointed in the end is series with stand alone episodes. I have a vague feeling I once upon a time loved Alias, 24, X-Files and a couple of other shows. Well, in the third season or so you realize the series sucks, completely ruining the positive experience of the first season. In ten years, I won't remember these series.

Lots of episodes doesn't make a great TV-show. Right now, I pray every monday Prison Break will actually end as planned, as I did for Lost, Alias, 24, X-Files, Numb3rs, CSI (...). If it doesn't, it will become as boring as all the others.

Comments?

 

[Ranger REG]

Comments?

Umm... Are you pissed they canceled Star Trek: Enterprise? For me, yes and no.

I couldn't stand the Berman-Braga's work on the series, but when they finally let a more qualified person take over for what will be the fourth and final season, it sucks.

And I don't know what you mean when you say the difference between GREAT and PROFITABLE? If it's a great TV show, more people will watch it and see advertisements which satisfy both advertisers and network execs in terms of profit. That's how the mainstream works.

But I'm a genre fan, not a mainstream. What shows I watch tend to be on the fringe. If the mainstream like what I like then I'm sure it won't be cancelled soon.

But hey, TV shows and films don't grow on trees. They need money to produce and the ones that giving the money -- invest, I mean -- or those media production companies, from 20th Century Fox to Paramount. And when you invest, you're gonna want some return, a biggger return. It's not charity, it's gambling.

In the end it's up to the series production crew to make good shows to bring audience back for more and perhaps get more new audience in, or in this antiquated case, the Nielsen audience. Sighs.

 

[mojo1701]

If it's a great TV show, more people will watch it and see advertisements which satisfy both advertisers and network execs in terms of profit. That's how the mainstream works.

Two words to disprove that: Arrested. Development.

Actually, I quite agree. That was a little joke in the face of the ever-depressing cancellation-talk of the show.

 

[Crothian]

Ya, look at reality TV. All that is greed, they don't pay writers or actors and the people that are staring in it they use up and throw away. Greed has been a problem for a long time though.

 

[Lazybones]

I don't even watch TV anymore. I purchase or rent entire season DVD sets, with the decision based on the reviews of each season of a show individually. Of course the tendency is to get hooked on a show and want to keep watching, but if I've seen, say, the first two seasons of a show and the reviews say that the third is poor upon release, then I'll shrug and move on to the next one.

I used to me more of a completist vis-a-vis series of books, movies, and television shows, but I got over that thanks to the very phenomenon that the OP cited. Producers of media care more about making money than creating quality (IMO/YMMV), so I've had to be more vigilant in making my selections. Of course I consider 90% of what is produced in all 3 areas to be crap, so I'm probably a harsher audience than most consumers.

 

[trancejeremy]

So you want TV shows to go off the air after one season, because that way they never reach the "jump the shark" moment? That seems rather silly to me.

If they didn't have enough ideas for at least a couple seasons, they would never have pitched it as a show in the first place, but like a mini-series. Or they would have gone to a cable network with a shorter season, like 13 episodes.

Why not just stop watching the show after a year or so? And if other people still like it, yet them keep on watching.

 

[Psionicist]

That's like saying it's okay if movies are 10 hours long - if you don't like it stop watching after 2 hours.

I disagree.

I am not saying all TV-shows should be one season. I am saying, there are no justifiable reason whatsoever for a ten year show except possible for shows with stand-alone episodes and stories (such as Seinfield, Futurama, Star Trek etc).

Lost for example. If you want to create a show with a good beginning, good end, and good shows in-between (usually how you want a good movie to be), it cannot be too long. You cannot milk a concept like Lost forever. You cannot milk any show forever. There can only be a finite set of events in a series like Lost without the whole thing being completely silly.

This is where you notice the difference between a great TV-show and a TV-show that just tries to be profitable, by being "good enough". A creator of a great TV-show know when to stop. JJ Abrams doesn't (just look at Alias).

Keep in mind I'm talking about movie-like shows with stories here, not talkshows etc.

IMHO creators of TV-shows should learn from mini-series and movies. They should define a series of events from the beginning to the end of the show and only tamper with it if the show will become _better_. Not because they promised the marketing department they have a concept they can use for two more years thanks to marketing analysis.

Just because a show has the potential to be really long, doesn't mean it will be better if it is.

 

[mojo1701]

A creator of a great TV-show know when to stop. JJ Abrams doesn't (just look at Alias).

Actually, this is Alias' last season.

Too bad, my friend has shown me the first seven episodes from DVD so far.

 

[frog]

Television isn't about programming...it is about advertising. Programs are just there as a hook for the ads.

 

[James Heard]

Greed might be the problem, but it's also the solution. Seriously, without greed we wouldn't have television at all.

No, the problem is that there are a billion cable channels and the internet and everything else competing with a finite amount of time and money investment possible from consumers. Everyone more or less gets a thinner slice of pie, and it's only because pies keep getting less expensive that anyone makes any pie at all. In a few decades you won't have anyone else to blame: if there's no quality entertainment available to you anywhere then you'll obviously be one of those people never satisfied by anything, because either the costs will vanish and create more profit or the market will vanish and create larger pieces of pie.

So, obviously the answer is to mail me your RPGs, I-Pod, and PC if you want better TV. It's for the best.