Why do I enjoy the technical differences in a TV series from season to season? When you notice that the scenes are wiping differently. When there’s was a noticeable budget shift based on the success that can be seen in actors, sets, and directing. Seeing increased importance on popular characters that boost ratings. What was difficult to see year over year on cable series during the last 30 years that aired week to week, is now far more easy to grasp when you can watch multiple seasons of an entire series in a few weeks.
It’s inspiring to watch a low budget pilot turn into a multi-m(b)illion dollar success. The arc of Michael Scott in the pilot Office episode with slicked back (not pushed back) hair turn into a series that starts bringing in cameos to save itself is worth investigating what went wrong. How a raw idea for a show that gains popularity (or else you hopefully wouldn’t watch it because it’s not very good) and morphs into a reflection of what society is for generations to come is the idea I’m referring to that’s undeniably cool. Sopranos was the early 2000’s. Meadow’s N’Sync poster. Stealing Pokemon cards. Carmella using the “internet” so AJ can’t.
Back in the early 2000’s, Sopranos was released week to week and the anticipation that built every Sunday was WAY different than a series being released all at once. I sometimes listen to old Eric the Midget clips and Howard Stern will dedicate an entire segment of the show to the Sopranos. This meant that a review wasn’t given about an entire series, but every episode was nitpicked. The added pressure on writers to produce, thus increasing money spent on quality, is an element that’s not as evident today. What I enjoy is that it doesn’t always work. When a series “jumps the shark”, an old reference to Fonzi literally jumping a shark on a Happy Days episode, happens because good shows run out of ideas and instead of cancelling, they cash grab based on past success. Maybe it’ll be good again!
And it’s that difference that I love watching. Can a show last over many seasons once deadlines get tighter and popularity grows? Game of Thrones is a perfect example. The stellar writing was already done before the series so that should have been a check except RR Martin decided to take 100 years to produce the next book and the HBO series ran past it. This turned the writing to shite. It had nothing to do with money. Egghead directors took an entire battle scene and made it so dark you couldn’t even see what was happening. Look at all the series that should have stopped before that inflection point that were heading downhill. Dexter. The Walking Dead. Simpsons. Weeds. Entourage. True Blood. Eastbound and Down!
The best shows are the ones that don’t let that happen. They know when it’s quits. Breaking Bad. Wire. Sopranos. Exit stage left before the allure fades. That’s the fun though. Analyzing these details that make a show worth watching or seeing it improve/decline. It’s as interesting as the show itself. As always, considering how the money influences these changes. Does the creator sell out? Do their improvements actually improve? It’s the magic of cinema. There is more than one way to the end goal.
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