this post was submitted on 04 Jun 2024
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I used to call it netflix syndrome but I think its just bad writing industry-wide
Everyone is obsessed with plot development at the expense of entertainment. The great writers know how to do both. Like for example in The Boys. That show has something spectacular happen in every single episode, while also developing the plot and the characters.
I think part of the problem is that everything is trying to be some cinematic masterpiece vs back then a lot of shows were made purely for the fun premise. The Boys definitely found a balance between the two. What I would do for another show like Chuck.
Oh man I always appreciate when someone brings up Chuck. That show (particularly the first 3 seasons) had a masterful balance of individual episode stories and overarching story. I would submit Archer did a decent job of this as well, although I think the formula was weakened during the "coma seasons"/Archer Vice. They are still great seasons, they still feel like Archer, just that they don't build on the story that they had already invested in.
You take that back! Archer vice was one of the best seasons!
"If we don't spend it this year, we can't get an increase next year."
It was great in a vacuum, it just felt like a diversion from the investment the writers had been making in the first 4 seasons.
Same with the Coma seasons. I particularly like Danger Island, but they are all fantastic as individual spinoff shows. But they do nothing to advance the plot that had been so invested in up to that point.
Stuff like Archer and Lana's relationship, Archer's father, Barry, could all have been more developed in that time if they had just stuck to the story they were telling rather than spending 5 seasons faffing around on other stories. Worse yet, we may have gotten more substantial character development out of Malory while Jessica Walter was still alive if they hadn't taken those diversions.
I agree with you so much about Archer. Those middle season were ehh. The last few season when he got out the coma and he developed more as a human/dad and all that was great.
I got teary eyed when I watched the last episode with Jessica. It was a good tribute (I feel) with her even if the last episode was reused voice acting for her.
I recently rewatched Chuck and fully agree the first three seasons are very strong. I did see a few plot holes upon watching it straight through that I never caught when I watched it live.
There were a lot of shows like this around the same time.
Burn Notice had the overall arc of Michael resolving the Burn Notice but individual "criminal of the week" episodes.
Agents of Shield started as a "084 of the week" but I think around season 3 moved more toward a fully serialized show.
I think Burn Notice specifically, not necessarily started, but saw how people were starting to change how they watched shows. I believe USA Network even posted the shows the day after on their website for people to watch.
I'm okay with serialization so long as it's a good story.
Upvote for Chuck. They lost it with the later seasons and all that "zooming" but it gave use the best dynamic duo of all time.
Ugh now I'm gonna binge the first few seasons.
You're right. Happy Days was certainly not trying to be a masterpiece, but it was pretty fun.
As a kid it was one of my favorite shows even though in my mind in the 90s it was 50yrs old haha
I'd look to a show like The Good Place for a perfect balance.
It absolutely matters if you haven't seen previous episodes, but each episode is still, on it's own, great.
love that show so much
The boys are getting pretty repetitive though. If i have to listen to the French man talk about Marseille one more time i will break.
The next season is the final one. Good thing they know when to call it.
It's a side effect of streaming. Heavenly seralzed used to have two big drawbacks. If people didn't catch the first few episodes that didn't have a way to get into the story. The story also had to hold peoples interest for a week before the next episode dropped. So only the best seltzer shows lasted.
Now you start the show when you want at the beginning. So instead of making an episode that's entertaining and when next week come around you think it was good last week I'll watch that again you get a show that encourages setting stuff up and the implying it's about be resolved right before the episode end.
It's great for getting you to binge and then getting renewed on a stemmer. Stemming is the best way to watch shows produced for the old weekly broadcast system but not the best environment for developing new shows.
My brother in Christ, please proof read if you're gonna post paragraphs.
I usually do. It's pretty rough to read it. II had intended to finish this post later but apparently posted it instead of saving the draft.
"What did Autocorrect fumble?" is the new Cockney rhyming slang.