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What TV Show Are You Watching?


Adrenaline_Flux

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3 hours ago, thrILL! said:

More than the 5 zillion procedural shows like CSI, NCIS, Chicago PD/FD/Med, Law & Order, FBI, The Rookie, Blue Bloods, Will Trent, Tracker, Hawaii 5-0, Magnum P.I. and all their spinoffs?

There’s way too much of that iyam. 

I think it's a massive oversimplification to suggest that Episodic = Procedural shows.  Especially in the case of a lot of those listed, which are insanely formulaic template shows.  Good episodic shows have elements of that, in the fundamental "compartmentalization" of episodes.  But there's a ton of room for nuance within that framework.  It doesn't have to be a procedural like CSI or Law & Order or whatever that follows an absolutely strict template of events.

 

The Rookie is actually a darn good show, and illustrates exactly that.  There isn't the same sort of plodding, predictable procedural formula that applies to every single episode.  They actually change things up quite a bit in how episodes are structured and how the plot moves along.  That's what good episodic television can be.  Just entertaining, light watching distraction.  Rather than repetitive tedium.  Or drawn out serialized tension that lazily strings a story across endless episodes without resolution, stretching it as thin as possible before finally wrapping it up.  Which gives you...one satisfying payoff, instead of like half a dozen or more in the same span.  It's just about stringing people along for their fix, like an addiction.

 

Good episodic shows also manage to build strong characters and longer arcs that develop in the background through context and interactions along the way.  Doing that sort of character-driven show is a mostly lost art these days.  Serialized shows are easier for "character development" because you can string it out and make it into an ongoing central plot point.  Just dedicating a bunch of an episode to tedious exposition dumps and flashbacks or any of the other lazy devices that permeate that format.  Rather than having to find clever ways to address it tangentially by relating it directly to the "case of the week".

 

 

Also, a bunch of those shows you listed are cancelled, or running out the last of their episodes. lol.

Edited by Tugboat
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6 minutes ago, thrILL! said:

McDonald’s is McDonald’s 

And sometimes you just want some reliable, "you know what you're getting" fast food.

 

Sometimes i just don't have the energy or emotional bandwidth to sit down and attentively watch an hour of weighty, dark, draining ultra serialized television with absolutely no resolution to anything within the episode.  A self contained little bit of amusing and familiar fluff while i'm halfway distracted by something else is the perfect elixir.

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1 hour ago, Tugboat said:

And sometimes you just want some reliable, "you know what you're getting" fast food.

 

Sometimes i just don't have the energy or emotional bandwidth to sit down and attentively watch an hour of weighty, dark, draining ultra serialized television with absolutely no resolution to anything within the episode.  A self contained little bit of amusing and familiar fluff while i'm halfway distracted by something else is the perfect elixir.

I love the first 10 seasons of Law & Order but after that it started chasing headlines which eventually felt gimmicky.  I never messed with SVU tho bcuz if I’m going to invest time in a show that delves into the disturbing, it’s gotta be elite content for me like s1 of True Detective.  

I know ppl that have watched every season of SVU.  20+ seasons of rape, sexual assault, predators every single week is too much time to spend in that headspace.  But a show like Will Trent is a good vibe where you can kinda check out and just enjoy it.  There are plenty of those shows too. I totally get where you’re coming from.

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8 hours ago, thrILL! said:

I love the first 10 seasons of Law & Order but after that it started chasing headlines which eventually felt gimmicky.  I never messed with SVU tho bcuz if I’m going to invest time in a show that delves into the disturbing, it’s gotta be elite content for me like s1 of True Detective.  

I know ppl that have watched every season of SVU.  20+ seasons of rape, sexual assault, predators every single week is too much time to spend in that headspace.  But a show like Will Trent is a good vibe where you can kinda check out and just enjoy it.  There are plenty of those shows too. I totally get where you’re coming from.

Yeah I got to like season 18 lol then just couldn’t do it anymore. The show also changed so much it stopped being good a long time ago. Just couldn’t top the original cast.

Edited by Fresh Prince
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15 hours ago, THE DUKE said:

The first season of Ozark was pretty good. A few complete lapses in common sense in some of the story telling, but overall a pretty good narrative nonetheless.

Ozark is definitely one of those shows that’s really good, but boring at the same time.

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