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Entertainment is getting better overall
Old shows: 20+ episodes per season, little continuity between episodes (see: episodic vs serialized) and lots of filler
New shows: ~10 episodes per season, often with a story arc that lasts the entire season or longer and little filler
Streaming makes it easy to watch shows in order, which makes a serialized structure more feasible. It also offers greater flexibility in length and number of episodes. Ads are not a new thing but are easier to avoid now. The only time I really have to deal with ads are when I watch live sports.
I feel like short seasons leads to insufficient time to know the characters, and causes writers to pack in so much plot and melodrama that it's exhausting to watch. Every second is packed too tightly , always trying to be EPIC. Miss 3 seconds in the episode? Sorry, that plot point was critical and either you go back and find it, or give up on the show. And heavy serialization also requires more of this obsessive watching and a requirement to not forget minor details between seasons. The higher production values result in 2-3 years between seasons, deepening all of the problems above: it MUST be considered epic, it MUST be tightly serialized to every minor detail, and when people don't live to watch the TV, well, they might as well cancel it.
Writers also seem like movie writers have come to TV - think up a premise, write a story arc, and then have no idea where it goes after that. The drop off after S1 is usually pretty stark, and then S2 is when it gets cancelled.
TV having 20+ episodes (almost half of the year with weekly releases) means the characters were around long enough that they can actually build meaningful on-screen relationships. Every episode didn't have to be a high stakes drama, plot, or writing. Lower budgets per episode means that writing quality, dialog, and character building takes precedence over flash, action, location, and epic camera shots.
Give me more Star Trek Deep Space 9 and less Marvel-like Star Trek Discovery.
It also deepens genre-ization. With only 10 episodes, a comedy is a COMEDY. A drama is a DRAMA. We don't have time to be experimental or weave something more complex.
Different strokes for different folks. While I prefer the shorter seasons and the streamlining that this leads to, I can appreciate your perspective on this. The general feel of the shorter vs longer seasons varies significantly.
I usually find longer seasons to feel like a slog, however I will note that Deep Space 9 is a notable exception and one of my favorite shows. They really knew how to make use of the time that they had.
Respectfully, THIS is the conversation I want to respond to - instead of what you actually said to me earlier. I have to bang on about it, the medium is the message and streaming is not the same medium as network television. You're not meant to watch it all in one go, of course it feels like a slog if you consume it that way.
The TV binge is a newer phenomenon (that only exists because of DVR and now streaming) and the point I'm really trying to make here is that this is a medium that structurally doesn't treat you the same way.
Netflix doesn't need you to like all their shows, they want you to obsess over a few of their shows, ideally one at a time, and they're going to cancel anything that doesn't get them the metrics they're looking for. The carrots and sticks all line up to have an effect on the creative side and on the viewer that I'm not at ease with.
That's a long rant you didn't ask for, sorry. It's just that I don't see these changes as healthy even though some new good shows are still getting made. Hollywood is dying and I feel sorry for anyone who dreamed of going into that business.
I disagree, though I mainly watch anime so that's probably skewing things a bit.
With the transition to shorter seasons (12/13 episodes vs 24/25), I'm seeing MORE filler added because the studio tries to fit an arc that only needs 10 episodes to fill out 12. With a longer season, there's more room to play with pacing of various story arcs
I miss the days where we had shows without continuity. Just have each episode be a story of its own and be done. Nowadays it's all just cliffhangers and intense story arcs to keep people on the TV. Just make a show for the sake of making a show and not for money.
I want both.
Depending on mood, I may want a show that is entirely linear.
Other times, a one off.
Shows like that exist. Elsbeth is the first one that immediately came to mind.
Get a load of this guy thinking serialisation is so great. The medium is still the message, and a serial is saying "we don't value your time".
Hey what's your new favourite show? Is it Disney's new "Trust Us It Gets Good In Two Hours"?
It's not just the serialization (which I do prefer), it's also that seasons are generally significantly shorter than what we've seen on standard TV. The shorter seasons are absolutely a key part of the equation.
It's evolving, but not exactly better. Just because it's different, doesn't mean it's better. Doesn't mean it's worse, but not necessarily better.
People are acting like the existence of shit TV shows means that good shows don't exist.