Originally Posted by little-monster:
“IMO, Quantico would of been more ideal with less episodes. It has struggled to maintain telling stories over a long period of time. I think quite a few network shows these days struggle to tell stories over 20 something episodes. Apart from sitcoms or crime dramas.”
You're so right. I think back to shows like House of Cards, Daredevil, Banshee, Halt and Catch Fire, even The Girlfriend Experience which you recommended and I started watching yesterday, are just between 8 to 11 (max 13) episodes and they are so much better at keeping the audience's attention. They do have their moments (well, HoC actually), but these aren't usually down to boring fillers. Oftentimes it is do with the direction that whole season took story-wise.
Another problem with 20 something episodes is that writers run out of ideas that you can't see coming a mile off or isn't something you haven't seen happen in some other drama.
Originally Posted by cylon6:
“The shows that debuted last season or started strong this season are struggling while older shows are holding up. What a curious season.”
It has been such a curious season! It certainly makes what they have planned for next year interesting. I suspect that a lot of this year's pilot shows looked really good on paper but somehow they just do not translate that well on screen. Some shows were plain idiotic to do in the first place - Minority Report, and I think Rush Hour is going to the newest recruit in this category. Blood and Oil was a daytime soap opera that got lost and stumbled onto a Sunday night slot. They threw the kitchen sink at The Player - anything that was anything, however ridiculous it was, was included in that series. I'm sure I have two episodes left to watch, lol. Quantico, I swear the writers must be making this bomber story up week-by-week as they go along. Game of Silence is just a reboot of the film Sleepers and has the same tonal feel as Shade of Blue. It is a 10 episode drama atm, but gawd, don't watch it if you don't want your soul chucked into a tumble dryer and tossed around a few times with its unrelenting scenes of child abuse. The Catch hasn't yet hooked. The Family is f-ing dull so far because it relies on some characters making some truly unfathomable stupid decisions so that the drama more roll-eyed plot-driven than character-driven. Shade of Blue ended in such a way that I didn't even realised that that was it. Season finale. Until next time. I guess.
It's been such a weird season, and I feel sorry for those who worked hard at these shows only to find that they haven't seen much reward for it. I just don't know how those shows which have been given a second season are going pick up the slack/give them an edge that would compel viewers to give them a second look-in.
