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Is anyone else tired of Cable TV "prestige TV Dramas"?

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desura

Diamond Member
I'm talking about serious people shows like Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Girls, Boardwalk Empire, Treme, etc.

Started with the Sopranos and The Wire.

I can't quite explain why, but there are so many of these serious hour-long shows out there now that it feels like the novelty of the format and storytelling is worn thin. now it's actually kind of predictable that they'll have lots of violence, some nihilistic theme of hopelessness and corruption, various moral failings, all tailored basically for the NPR set who wants to feel edgy.
 
So we're supposed to object to cable networks putting their resources into making high quality television? Nope, I'm just fine with the number of good shows that are being made now.
 
Not at all. As far as I'm concerned this is by far the best TV has ever been.

It used to be that very few TV shows would create strong serialized narratives that run the course of several episodes, entire seasons, or even the entire show. Probably because the only way to watch the show was to tune in when it aired every week, and they knew that a lot of viewers wouldn't be able to watch every episode. With so many people viewing online now (even the traditional networks let you watch the shows online) this isn't a problem anymore, people can catch up at their own pace.

Another shift is that most TV used to be mostly or entirely ad-driven. With ads you want to get people to watch as much TV as possible, meaning you'll throw out a lot of stuff that's just good enough to get people to watch and stop there. When most of your revenue is instead driven by subscriptions and direct sales there's more incentive to focus on quality over quantity. Which is why the highest quality shows started with premium cable like HBO, and why Netflix is breaking so much ground.

BTW, I haven't seen much of what's on your list but "Girls" doesn't fit your description at all (mind you, I think the show is pretty cringeworthy and watch it more because my girlfriend likes it ;p)
 
Exophase said:
Not at all. As far as I'm concerned this is by far the best TV has ever been.

It used to be that very few TV shows would create strong serialized narratives that run the course of several episodes, entire seasons, or even the entire show. Probably because the only way to watch the show was to tune in when it aired every week, and they knew that a lot of viewers wouldn't be able to watch every episode. With so many people viewing online now (even the traditional networks let you watch the shows online) this isn't a problem anymore, people can catch up at their own pace.

Another shift is that most TV used to be mostly or entirely ad-driven. With ads you want to get people to watch as much TV as possible, meaning you'll throw out a lot of stuff that's just good enough to get people to watch and stop there. When most of your revenue is instead driven by subscriptions and direct sales there's more incentive to focus on quality over quantity. Which is why the highest quality shows started with premium cable like HBO, and why Netflix is breaking so much ground.

BTW, I haven't seen much of what's on your list but "Girls" doesn't fit your description at all (mind you, I think the show is pretty cringeworthy and watch it more because my girlfriend likes it ;p)
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Okay, Girls might not be the best to put on the list. It just came to mind, is all.

I think you're making a false choice between "commercialism" and "quality." As I said in the OP, these "quality" shows seem to all go to similar places, all becoming meditations on nihilism, violence, and corruption. It should also be noted that creativity is often spurred by constraint. Commercial breaks every 5-10 minutes were an artificial constraint which forced TV writers to work around them. I think they ended up being of higher quality that way.
 
desura said:
Okay, Girls shows seem to all go to similar places, all becoming meditations on nihilism, violence, and corruption .
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Most of the liberal arts world these days is indeed nihilistic, and the writers come from the same crowd. Their world view and philosophy does seem to be narrow. You have a point
 
Exophase said:
Not at all. As far as I'm concerned this is by far the best TV has ever been.
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Yep.

When I see some of the cable channels that just air reruns of the 90's sitcoms, I just shake my head at how bad they were. But they were the best thing available to watch.

What I am definitely getting tired of, though, are the shows where the main character continues to get screwed over by assholes who have nothing better to do in their lives than be gigantic assholes. This is a theme that is being so over-done, I'm tired of it.

Orphan Black, Chuck, Burn Notice, White Collar, Warehouse 13... and every season the asshole needs to get bigger and more asshole-ish than the previous season. Getting to be a big turnoff. I regret ever watching The Walking Dead. Then the Dexter finale was a giant f-you to every fan of the show. Game of Thrones, well, that's probably going to be the one that disgusts me enough from getting into other shows...
 
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cubby1223 said:
Yep.

When I see some of the cable channels that just air reruns of the 90's sitcoms, I just shake my head at how bad they were. But they were the best thing available to watch.

What I am definitely getting tired of, though, are the shows where the main character continues to get screwed over by assholes who have nothing better to do in their lives than be gigantic assholes. This is a theme that is being so over-done, I'm tired of it.

Orphan Black, Chuck, Burn Notice, White Collar, Warehouse 13... and every season the asshole needs to get bigger and more asshole-ish than the previous season. Getting to be a big turnoff. I regret ever watching The Walking Dead. Then the Dexter finale was a giant f-you to every fan of the show. Game of Thrones, well, that's probably going to be the one that disgusts me enough from getting into other shows...
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See, I like 90's sitcoms. Stuff like Full House, Home Improvement, Family Matters they're goofy but fun, and the commercial breaks meant that they...had to be more economical in the writing, which kind of made them poetic.

In these long "serious dramas" there is actually a ton of just wasted space. Mad Men is an especially bad example of this going on, where there are lots of simply stupid empty scenes of well-dressed people sitting around in offices with the window shades drawn because the damn thing is filmed in Los Angeles where it's sunny all the time.
 
desura said:
In these long "serious dramas" there is actually a ton of just wasted space. Mad Men is an especially bad example of this going on, where there are lots of simply stupid empty scenes of well-dressed people sitting around in offices with the window shades drawn because the damn thing is filmed in Los Angeles where it's sunny all the time.
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I haven't seen Mad Men but I would be surprised if it reached the level of Game of Thrones. The entire thing is a filler, with lots of sex thrown in for the sexually deprived masses
 
No, I like them. Why would I want crap tv? This shouldnt be an issue for you though, most tv is pure trash and you dont have to watch the quality tv shows
 
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To be entertaining you have to have drama, to have drama you have to have conflict.
I wonder if the show creators were bullied. I guess having the main character be a victim makes the audience want to root for them more. The old writing formula is to get your main character up a tree and then start throwing rocks at him or her.
 
Yes, I agree, we need fewer good stories and less entertainment choices overall.
 
I think one of the reason is that TV shows are targeting a more broader audience now. It is a lot harder for comedy and "fun" shows to appeal to people around the world because of the differences in culture which has a major impact on how you perceive what is happening in the show while serious topics (wars, violence, corruption, etc.) are pretty much the same everywhere (e.g. killing the innocent is considered bad everywhere)
 
zebrax2 said:
I think one of the reason is that TV shows are targeting a more broader audience now. It is a lot harder for comedy and "fun" shows to appeal to people around the world because of the differences in culture which has a major impact on how you perceive what is happening in the show while serious topics (wars, violence, corruption, etc.) are pretty much the same everywhere (e.g. killing the innocent is considered bad everywhere)
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naw. Mad Men is pretty much targeted at Americans. A non-English speaker watching it would just see lots of dour well-dressed people sitting around an office.
 
zebrax2 said:
I think one of the reason is that TV shows are targeting a more broader audience now. It is a lot harder for comedy and "fun" shows to appeal to people around the world because of the differences in culture which has a major impact on how you perceive what is happening in the show while serious topics (wars, violence, corruption, etc.) are pretty much the same everywhere (e.g. killing the innocent is considered bad everywhere)
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I think it's actually the opposite. The big 4 broadcast networks have tried to appeal to everyone for so long that they can only produce watered down garbage anymore. Smaller cable networks have found niches, some of which have turned out to have more appeal than they thought. I think people in general want more "adult content" in their shows as well, which isn't going to happen on the big 4 yet.
 
desura said:
In these long "serious dramas" there is actually a ton of just wasted space. Mad Men is an especially bad example of this going on, where there are lots of simply stupid empty scenes of well-dressed people sitting around in offices with the window shades drawn because the damn thing is filmed in Los Angeles where it's sunny all the time.
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Yeah, but the thing is that you look up reviews of the Mad Men episode you just watched online and then you learn all those "empty scenes" were actually a poignant commentary on attitudes about literating at the time, and you would have caught onto it if you would have noticed whose outfits matched and whose didn't.

Mad Men, and many of these shows, are like the Great Gatsby (book not movie)- if you think its dull or empty there is a layer of symbolism you are missing.

Of course, many don't want this- they just want cerebral thrill rides. That is what the movie industry is for.
 
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