HBOMax Explained and Streaming Service 2022 Year End Review!

[payn]

Honestly, I am at that point. I waited until this week to binge on White Lotus. And I will usually wait until a given Disney MCU/Star Wars show is almost over until I start it.

I prefer to watch shows in chunks. Probably because I have the retention and attention span of a small, easily distracted rodent. Look, cheese!

I have a friend who likes to "water cooler" shows that dont have that level of interest. They listen to podcasts, tweet, and such between episodes. He convinced me to do this finally with them. What happened? We were treated to 4 weeks of a series of "should I, or shouldn't I" questions being asked by the same characters. I mean, nothing happened for weeks on end, and it was so obvious that "I should" was the answer. So, now the finale had to contain the entirety of act 3 for the season and set up the next season with about 15% of the runtime. So, now you have so much happening at once that if you blink you miss it. Lazy writing to wrap up conflict to move forward finally. Queue pitch meeting guy, "...barely an inconvenience"

I felt bad because my friend was like, "you are right, I probably shouldn't get into this weekly release stuff anymore..." Which I promptly told them never apologize for being a fan. Instead, tell Amazon to get their damn act together!

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I have a friend who likes to "water cooler" shows that dont have that level of interest. They listen to podcasts, tweet, and such between episodes. He convinced me to do this finally with them. What happened? We were treated to 4 weeks of a series of "should I, or shouldn't I" questions being asked by the same characters. I mean, nothing happened for weeks on end, and it was so obvious that "I should" was the answer. So, now the finale had to contain the entirety of act 3 for the season and set up the next season with about 15% of the runtime. So, now you have so much happening at once that if you blink you miss it. Lazy writing to wrap up conflict to move forward finally. Queue pitch meeting guy, "...barely an inconvenience"

I felt bad because my friend was like, "you are right, I probably shouldn't get into this weekly release stuff anymore..." Which I promptly told them never apologize for being a fan. Instead, tell Amazon to get their damn act together!

Ouch! I'm trying to think of the shows I've watched on Prime. It really is, in terms of a streaming service, a big void for me. Let's see ....

Patriot. Two Seasons. Truly great and quirky show. No one else I know ever watched it.
Wheel of Time. It was fine, I guess? Felt like a really slow build up (which is okay) and then a season of plot in the finale, which I was not expecting.
Homecoming. First season was good, but not good enough to make me watch the second?
Electric Dreams. Not perfect, but I liked it. Which, of course, meant that it was one-and-done.
Comrade Detective. Just the type of weirdness I can enjoy. So ... one and done.

Then there's the biggies (The Boys, Ring of Power, Mrs. Maisel) but ... it's like a network shows go to die ... or actors go to get paid (good on Titus Welliver for getting his Bosch paydays, I guess).

 

[payn]

Ouch! I'm trying to think of the shows I've watched on Prime. It really is, in terms of a streaming service, a big void for me. Let's see ....

Patriot. Two Seasons. Truly great and quirky show. No one else I know ever watched it.
Wheel of Time. It was fine, I guess? Felt like a really slow build up (which is okay) and then a season of plot in the finale, which I was not expecting.
Homecoming. First season was good, but not good enough to make me watch the second?
Electric Dreams. Not perfect, but I liked it. Which, of course, meant that it was one-and-done.
Comrade Detective. Just the type of weirdness I can enjoy. So ... one and done.

Then there's the biggies (The Boys, Ring of Power, Mrs. Maisel) but ... it's like a network shows go to die ... or actors go to get paid (good on Titus Welliver for getting his Bosch paydays, I guess).

I guess I didnt have to be so coy with my story, it was The Expanse. Both of which I am thankful for Amazon saving but annoyed for screwing also.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I guess I didnt have to be so coy with my story, it was The Expanse. Both of which I am thankful for Amazon saving but annoyed for screwing also.

Well, that brings up a more interesting question .... a lot times people talk about how a show needs to be saved after it's been cancelled on one platform or another. But how many times has a resurrected show been good?

Don't get me wrong- I do not begrudge fans anything, and sometimes even a lessened version of something you love is better than nothing ... but it seems that that history of saved shows is littered with cautionary tales.

The Expanse. It was ... fine.
Babylon 5. Season 5 was ... there.
Arrested Development. Netflix did, in fact, have more episodes.
Community. They got to have six seasons (and, apparently, a movie).

Sometimes it really does help (at least Sense8 was able to wrap up) but so often it feels that the reprieve results in lesser work, doesn't it?

 

[billd91]

I guess I didnt have to be so coy with my story, it was The Expanse. Both of which I am thankful for Amazon saving but annoyed for screwing also.

The Expanse is fantastic. But as far as being screwed... yeah, I'm reading the last book now and there's a major time shift between book 6 and 7, so I can kind of see the suits looking at the plans and deciding that maybe ending a bit quick isn't the worst thing. We're still enjoying the books and I think they could have been adapted to either compress the time gap or find some way to hand wave 20-30 odd years of development for the Laconians, but I can see how that could also have been complicated to show in a satisfying way on the TV screen.

 

[billd91]

Sometimes it really does help (at least Sense8 was able to wrap up) but so often it feels that the reprieve results in lesser work, doesn't it?

It can really vary. Longmire held up once Netflix picked it up after A&E decided its primary viewership was too old to advertise to.

 

[MGibster]

Well, that brings up a more interesting question .... a lot times people talk about how a show needs to be saved after it's been cancelled on one platform or another. But how many times has a resurrected show been good?

I mean the third season of Star Trek was fanta----okay. You've got a point.

 

[payn]

The Expanse is fantastic. But as far as being screwed... yeah, I'm reading the last book now and there's a major time shift between book 6 and 7, so I can kind of see the suits looking at the plans and deciding that maybe ending a bit quick isn't the worst thing. We're still enjoying the books and I think they could have been adapted to either compress the time gap or find some way to hand wave 20-30 odd years of development for the Laconians, but I can see how that could also have been complicated to show in a satisfying way on the TV screen.

By screwed, I mean they cut the final season from 10 to 8 to 6 episodes. They built a set to continue the series into books 7,8,9 and started shooting when the suits told them the show was cancelled. Totally pulled the rug from under them on it. I mean, I loved season 3 so im glad Amazon brought the show back. Season 4 was ok, season 5 fell off a lot. They fell into what I call the Amazon template. The authors were no longer rewriting the scripts to improve the story. Pacing was crappy, forced to fit 10 pound into a 1 pound episode finale... I could go on.

 

[MGibster]

I know a lot of people who have, by preference, become "binge only" watchers. They will not watch a show on a weekly basis. If a service drops episodes once a week, they will wait until the season is done and watch it all at once.

I don't binge myself, I find I enjoy it more if I watch maybe two episodes a day, but streaming has changed my viewing habits. I no longer want 20+ episodes a season. I'd much prefer smaller seasons with the plot moving along at a decent pace with little if any filler. I'm watching season 10 of The Walking Dead right now, let's ignore that the show got a little stale after the first few seasons, and after about twelve episodes I just keeping thinking, "Get on with it! Just wrap it up already."

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

By screwed, I mean they cut the final season from 10 to 8 to 6 episodes. They built a set to continue the series into books 7,8,9 and started shooting when the suits told them the show was cancelled. Totally pulled the rug from under them on it. I mean, I loved season 3 so im glad Amazon brought the show back. Season 4 was ok, season 5 fell off a lot. They fell into what I call the Amazon template. The authors were no longer rewriting the scripts to improve the story. Pacing was crappy, forced to fit 10 pound into a 1 pound episode finale... I could go on.

As someone who was not familiar with the books, but loved the series, I gotta say this-

Those opening sequences in season 5? The ones that I kept waiting to make sense?\

Nope. They did not make sense in terms of the TV series. People try to tell me, "But it's in the book," and I reply ... I DON'T WATCH TV FOR FANCY BOOK LEARNIN'. Seriously ... what the heck was that? (Not looking for an answer, just pointing out that it was crazy-stupid to have it)