What have we learned from TV?

[Captain Tagon]

Less 'thought-oriented' entertainment (i.e., shows that spell it out for the viewer) seem to draw in a larger number of viewers than 'provocative' entertainment (i.e., shows that prompt the viewing audience to draw their own conclusions). There are exceptions, of course (Lost and... erm... well, only Lost, really), but by and large I think that this holds true of entertainment television.

Formulaic (i.e., episodic) television seems to draw in a larger number of viewers than truly dynamic television does (witness the success of shows like CSI, Law & Order, E.R., Days of Our Lives, etc). Again, there are exceptions (Lost, Surface, at al.), but the public has spoken and most of the folks with the Nielsen boxes dig on familiar, episodic, television moreso than dynamic stories that gradually unfold over a few seasons.

Too many big words.



On Topic:

Our sessions always have the DM recapping what happened last week, ala old school serial style. Gotta love it.

 

[Herobizkit]

For a d20 Fantasy/Modern/Future campaign I ran, I followed the advice of a Dungeon article and played out each gaming session like a TV episode.

My group could only get together once a week, and usually for only 4 hours a night. So, I designed and hand-picked short adventures, and the most game session I ever had to hold one over was three... and that's only because it was HUGE. It worked very well for my group.

Also, I got into the habit of re-capping the former week's events, and always started the monologue with "When last we left our intrepid heroes..." It got lots of smiles, and the players found it very helpful for jumping right back into the game.

 

[Aaron L]

We do the intrepid heroes recap thing fairly often. When the group has to split up we'll use a "meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice..." thing to go back and forth. Other than that I cant think of much weve ever taken from TV, although some of these ideas are pretty darn cool. That whole scenario from Pcat is just genius.





I also learned to tie my shoes from TV.