As the end of 2024 approaches and 2005 threatens to turn twenty years ago, It’s interesting to look back at the bad, the good, and the confusing evolution of how television shows are watched, produced, and remembered. Twenty years ago, The Sopranos is still on the air, and heavyweight, long-running series like Gray’s Anatomy And Supernatural were about to premiere. Although there are notable projects like the best Prime Video shows of 2024 and the other offerings of streamers and networks alike, they are unrecognizable from the way television was created just a few years ago.
Of course, there’s always been just as much terrible TV as there has been boundary-pushing content, but the way that TV exists today feels more and more like it’s not art anymore; It’s just profit. The best TV shows of the last 20 years became popular enough to sustain themselves against almost all odds. None of this is to say that there aren’t great shows or that some of the changes that have come to the television landscape aren’t positive. however, There is a disconnect between what audiences are asking for and what is being funded by production companies.
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More gaps between TV seasons
The wait for the next installment of a favorite show has increased
When you look at many of the most popular but time-consuming projects of the past few years, most have seen larger gaps between seasons than ever before. Much of this issue can be attributed to the model of the streaming service, which has fundamentally changed television. The traditional cable model used the year-long television cycle. This meant that there were usually only a few months between seasons, with a year-long hiatus being an unexpected development. However, the recent gap between seasons of The favorite Apple TV+ show severance Exemplifies the modern problems of the gaps lengthening.
While the quality of content can sometimes improve when creators spend more time with the project, this is not always the case.
Most audiences will need a severance Season 1 recap to remember all the story details that will be relevant in the long-awaited second season. There are some extenuating circumstances, as the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes played a role in recent breaks between seasons. However, this has been a growing complaint for audiences for some time now. While the quality of content can sometimes improve when creators spend more time with the project, this is not always the case. instead, Viewers are more likely to forget about the series, and streamers are more likely to drop them.
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Most TV shows have shorter seasons than 20 years ago
Big shows are cut down from the traditional 22-episode season to sometimes less than 10
There are still holdouts on network TV that get a full order of episodes each year, but almost no streaming or premium cable TV show gets the same treatment. This eliminated filler episodes that older TV shows were famous for, as the writers had to streamline the season-long arc and get straight to the point. However, this device Audiences don’t spend that much time with the series, And both story and character development are weak because of this. The creators are hurt by having their jobs cut short, and audiences miss out on the content they pay for.
English teacherA great example of how contemporary sensibility can be translated into the sitcom format, has a great response from critics and audiences. however, The series only had eight episodes for the entire first season. When an hour-long drama has around ten episodes, this is a little more understandable, but now even thirty-minute comedies are cut. Much of this is a risk from the network, because more episodes are a bigger investment, but it is quickly forgotten how much audiences appreciate having more episodes to get to know the characters.
8
Subscribing to multiple streaming services gets expensive
The appeal of streaming services is starting to fade
Although the streaming format’s success and profitability have ebbed and flowed since it exploded onto the television scene, the past few years have seen streaming come closer to mimicking cable. Every service has at least one hard-hitting original series that maintains its user base, and many use a large backlog of older content to appeal to viewers. however, The cost of subscribing to multiple services at once is climbing, With streamers raising their prices and cracking down on password sharing.
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Additionally, one of the biggest draws of streaming has been the lack of ads and immediacy of content, as the development of streamers helped create and cement the concept of binging. however, Services have started reintroducing ads and including higher paywalls for certain content or limited ad breaks. This is a clear signal that the profitability of streaming is not what many companies could have predicted ten years ago. At this point, subscribing to any streaming service is almost indistinguishable from the original cable format.
7
TV shows are canceled more quickly
Too many strong shows are canceled after just one season
A series needs more than one season to prove itself, but with modern content, If a show isn’t explosively popular after a few episodes, it’s gone forever. The many classic TV shows that were almost canceled after one season prove that series need time to find their footing and learn from their mistakes before producers give up on them. Even shows that have big Rotten Tomatoes scores and captured audience attention are still at risk. For example, canceling My Lady Jane was a mistake for Amazon and demonstrates how disposable original content is to streaming services.
My Lady Jane is far from the only casualty of the issue, vi Netflix is ​​one of the biggest streamers guilty of canceling a show after just one season. Chaos, I’m not okay with that, The get downAnd many more are all series that Netflix has axed, though subscribers have been vocal about their enjoyment and support. It is doubly disappointing to see companies providing huge budgets for television shows that are more poorly received by critics and audiences, but have more powerful presences on the Internet.
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Streaming services and networks prioritize franchises
This mirrors a similar issue affecting filmmaking
Franchises are not a new invention of the last twenty years, but movie universes and larger franchise works have spread into the television sphere with a vengeance. Disney has amassed a huge collection of franchises in its streaming content, with Marvel, Star Warsand its own original content all available on Disney+. This led to an explosion of TV shows in these universes, many of which were highly anticipated, only to be quickly forgotten when a new series aired. They’re beloved universes for a reason, but newer content typically isn’t afforded the same opportunities.
There’s nothing wrong with a franchise, as many of the best TV shows of recent years are part of a larger whole.
There’s nothing wrong with a franchise, as many of the best TV shows of recent years are part of a larger whole. However, this starts to be a problem when fewer resources and opportunities are afforded to original content because there is no built-in audience base to ensure success. moreover, Building a franchise around successful IPs can quickly exhaust the story And make the audience tired of the universe. Too much of a strong show can be just as bad as not enough.
5
Reboots, remakes and spinoffs do not meet the expectations of the audience
They struggle to live up to the success of the original show
It’s unlikely that the popularity of reboots and remakes will end anytime soon, and that’s not necessarily a negative. There are some really great spinoffs, sequels, and more continuations of original works that go even further than the first iteration of the story. However, when a series rests on its laurels and expects the popularity of the original show to drive its success, it sparks significant disappointment. There should be strong justification to bring back a series And adds to him in the world of history. Unfortunately, since television is a business, money is typically the primary motivator.
There’s no question that reboots can be fun and that the continuation of a television universe will likely appeal to a large array of audiences. however, The biggest pitfall of spinoffs and remakes is that they will always fail to please everyone. Fans have high expectations for reboots of beloved stories. They should, considering how strong an original series must be to justify remade, but it is impossible to please everyone. Lore will be changed, characters will be altered, and the magic of the original show is too often a shadow of itself when translated into a remake.
4
Popular TV shows are forced to go on well past their expiration date
Just because a series makes money, doesn’t mean it should last forever
There are a surprisingly high number of television shows still on the air today that were almost twenty years ago. Gray’s Anatomy is in the middle of his twenty-first period, and the Law & Order Shows have been going strong since the late 1990s. In some ways, this is an impressive feat, Typically only achieved by TV shows that are more episodic in nature. However, just because a show has a formula that works for a long run and a seemingly unlimited number of storylines doesn’t mean that the quality of the content will remain consistent for several decades.
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While it can be fun and comforting to return to series that have been airing for many years, it is also disappointing to look back at their peak and see how much the plot and characters have declined. one of The most impressive thing a TV show can do is end before it gets old. Achieving a tight streak is the mark of a great TV show. Additionally, after a certain point, it’s time for a series to recognize that it’s trending and create a new show to establish itself as a modern classic.
3
Animated television is suffering more than ever before
Children’s animated content is disproportionately affected
The current era of adult animation is very exciting, with standout projects like Invincible And The Legend of Vox Machina Sweeping high-quality visuals and storytelling. however, Not every animated series is lucky enough to be a smash, And animation is often one of television’s most vulnerable niches when it comes to cutting costs. Animation is expensive and time-consuming, and it was shocking to see how many shows were not only canceled but completely removed from streaming services, impossible to find and watch today.
Recently, Many Cartoon Network shows were removed from Max (via movieweb). While it’s normal for shows to move to different streaming services, some have become increasingly difficult to find. In addition, memorable recent animated TV series also failed because they were not prioritized by their production companies. The boundary-pushing show, The Owl Housecan still be viewed but was canceled too soon, ending with only a few special episodes in season 3. Even as animation expands beyond content aimed at younger audiences, this should not mean the end of great children’s programming.
2
The writing and acting industries are struggling
It is a driving force behind inconsistent writing and performances on television
In the past twenty years, the WGA has gone on strike twice, With SAG-AFTRA joining them in the past year, attention has been drawn to how creative industries in general are suffering. Many of the overarching problems with television in the 21st century have compounded to make writing, creating, and acting for television more difficult than ever before. Factors like shorter seasons, bigger gaps between seasons, and the scarcity of resources make it harder for new voices to emerge and even more challenging for them to stick around and have a chance to grow.
When TV writers and performers are supported and able to exercise their creative visions, it promotes better content, which helps everyone.
In many cases, things have not improved for the industry since the strike concluded, As fewer projects are made, leaving more creatives out of work, driving them to leave the field (via Variety). When film and television production is made cyclical, and the same people are tapped as the creative voices behind work, it makes the whole of television suffer. When TV writers and performers are supported and able to exercise their creative visions, it promotes better content, which helps everyone. Audiences are more satisfied and interested in what they are watching, and everyone wins.
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The era of prestige television is over
This can be looked at both positively and negatively
There is some argument about what constitutes prestige television and whether the era of top television that saw the production of so many series that earned the title is really over. Prestige TV rose to prominence when premium cable channels like HBO, ShowtimeAnd more became more popular and could use more graphic depictions of sex, violence, and explicit language than their basic cable counterparts. Prestige TV was far from perfect, but it made producers more eager to green-light projects more risky and subversive than before. For the past 20 years, television has been taken more seriously than ever.
Few television series are as synonymous with prestige television as The Sopranos, A show that the most popular dramas of the contemporary era model itself off. However, this makes it more difficult for new series to stand out if they attempt to be a poor copy of something that has already been done. It’s sad to say goodbye to a beloved era of television, but it should be treated as an opportunity, not a reason to mourn. The next twenty years of television do not have to be another steady decline if companies take a chance on something original.