This week’s readings on genre and concerning questions of quality reminded me of this article from a few months ago: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/12/business/media/most-streamed-shows-nielsen.html?smid=url-share. It’s not totally surprising, but it is good to remember that the most popular shows (according to this measure) on streaming services last year were still network dramas, comedies, and procedurals, even though it seemed like the only show I heard/read about for a few months was The Queen’s Gambit. It’s also hard not to wonder what effect the pandemic had on 2020 viewing—I personally found myself drawn to episodic, monster-of-the-week type network shows that were released on a weekly basis like Buffy but also Alias and, from more recent network history, Evil. It’s satisfying in this time of uncertain and unending chaos to watch manageable narratives where you know that each episode will raise and then resolve a problem related to that week's monster/mission/medical mystery/case/demon possession etc. While the ongoing seriality of soaps and the related narrative complexity of "quality" dramas have their appeal, lately I've been drawn to closure. I couldn't stick with The Queen's Gambit, or The Crown, or I Know This Much is True...but I did watch The Mandalorian and Wanda Vision in real time/each week. Then again, I did binge Bridgerton, so I don't have a perfectly clear take-away about my own pandemic-viewing psychology, but it was interesting to see this article and think about my own return to shows like Alias. Anyways, those are my my supplemental thoughts for this week :).
Supplemental Response #2 - Emma
ReplyDeleteKallan, this is so interesting! I feel like there is something to be said about the connection between quality/genre and the “limited series”. The recent rise in limited series formats, as in The Queen’s Gambit, has seemed to coincide with this idea that these shows are also part of “quality” drama format, almost automatically. The huge popularity of Tiger King (which is number 4 on “original series” in the article you referenced) at the beginning of the pandemic may not have happened if it were not a limited series that was dropped all at once, and I think this limited series format may have also contributed to people saying it was “so good”. Is this because limited series share the same sense of overarching closure that films do, leading us to believe that a serial format’s proximity to film means it is more “quality”?
I don’t know if I’m really saying anything here, but I also found this article really interesting. I’m a TA for CTCS 191 this semester, and every week I ask my students what they’re watching this week. Every week, someone is rewatching New Girl or iCarly—rarely are they watching a new limited series. I think there’s something to be said for these older formats, the 24-episode seasons as opposed to the 8-episode seasons, as well, which is interesting because rarely is television released in 24 episodes per season anymore. What does the number of episodes signify about genre and "quality"?