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from the diamonds-in-the-coal-pile dept.
John Koblin writes in the NYT that there's a malaise in TV these days that's felt among executives, viewers and critics, and it's the result of one thing: There is simply too much on television. John Landgraf, chief executive of FX Networks, reported at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour that the total number of original scripted series on TV in 2014 was 371 and will surpass 400 in 2015. The glut, according to Landgraf, has presented "a huge challenge in finding compelling original stories and the level of talent needed to sustain those stories." Michael Lombardo, president of programming at HBO. says it is harder than ever to build an audience for a show when viewers are confronted with so many choices and might click away at any moment. "I hear it all the time," says Lombardo. "People going, 'I can't commit to another show, and I don't have the time to emotionally commit to another show.' I hear that, and I'm aware of it, and I get it." Another complication is that shows not only compete against one another, but also against old series that live on in the archives of Amazon, Hulu or Netflix. So a new season of "Scandal," for example, is also competing against old series like "The Wire." "The amount of competition is just literally insane," says Landgraf.
Others point out that the explosion in programming has created more opportunity for shows with diverse casts and topics, such as "Jane the Virgin," "Transparent" and "Orange Is the New Black." Marti Noxon, the showrunner for Lifetime's "UnREAL" and Bravo's "Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce," says there has been a "sea change" in the last five years. "I couldn't have gotten those two shows on TV five years ago," says Noxon. "There was not enough opportunity for voices that speak to a smaller audience. Now many of these places are looking to reach some people — not all the people. That's opened up a tremendous opportunity for women and other people that have been left out of the conversation."
(Score: 5, Insightful) by jmorris on Wednesday September 02 2015, @01:25AM
Really? We might have 400 series in the near future? On cable systems with almost that many channels. Am I the only one who was laughing while reading that load? Guess Amazon and B&N and every other bookseller was a bunch of friggin idiots with their publishing hundreds of new books a month model, hwo on Earth can you get that many authors to churn out that many books, edit them, promote them and expect the reading public to figure it out.
Ok, you can't have hundreds of big budget productions, I get that. I do. But somebody show me the stone tablets where it was graven by G_d that every movie must have a fifty million dollar budget and TV show has to have a couple million plus per episode as the baseline? Obviously it doesn't exist and once we broke the three networks and then the three networks and a couple of cable channels model and anybody with a suddenly inexpensive HD camcorder and a copy of Adobe Premiere could produce a TV show... well they did. That is the new reality you guys in Hollywierd so suck it up and get used to it.
There are thousands of people who can write screenplays worth seeing, thousands and thousands of aspiring actors who will work for reasonable rates. Just how many students graduate with degrees in these arts fields? Yup, they are usually 'that and a good attitude towards customer service will get ya hired at Starbucks' degrees but just maybe they will be employable now. Working in TV won't get you rich in a world where there are a thousand or more programs in production at any one time but if it pays the rent a lot of people will call it a win. And since the model doesn't work if viewers don't watch they win too. And if the revolution ends the Kardashians it is a win for humanity.
(Score: 2) by quacking duck on Wednesday September 02 2015, @02:35PM
The problem with comparing TV and books is that books are the creative efforts of usually 1 author and an editor or three, and no matter how bad the writing may be, the reader constructs the world visually and aurally in their own minds.
With TV, you're looking at not just a writer and editor, but cast and crew, so costs are exponentially higher. And that's *per episode*. Worse, they do all the visual and audio for you, leaving little to imagination. This means that the best writing in the world can be handicapped by lousy presentation, and the bar for presentation has been set pretty high, even without fancy special effects.