Meta-TV in the MCU: She-Hulk and Wandavision

ahalpert

ahalpert

Major Contributor
Anyone seen She-Hulk and Wandavision? I thought She-Hulk was great. And I love that the protagonist is constantly breaking the 4th wall, and not just to talk to the viewer directly but to acknowledge the show that she's in and the broader cultural environs.

The finale - pure gold. Reminded me of Blazing Saddles.

Wandavision wasn't quite as fun for me - I fell asleep a few times and the whole thing concluded in typical Marvel fashion. But I was fascinated by how each episode is done in the style of a famous sitcom from a different decade (from The Dick Van Dyke Show up through to The Office). The cinematography style was well-matched, although it's a pity that they didn't use period camera and lighting technology. But the writing was just a perfect emulation of each target show.

All in all, an interesting string of narrative experiments, and totally unexpected from a series of movies and TV that has repeated the same formula so often.

PS I've been watching a lot of Marvel over the holidays -- the best installments in my opinion are Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor: Ragnarok.
 
thanks for reminder, I've been meaning to watch She-Hulk so I can see what my hilarious friend Patty Guggenheim does as the Madisynn character.
 
I liked both. Just wish She-Hulk had been a longer "season". But maybe it was just kind of a test-run/"super pilot". Then again, maybe we will see more of these 5 episode show seasons, as they try to offer a broader array of/more variety of content, while controlling spending. Like how several years ago, long running shows shifted from ~22 episode seasons to 10 episode seasons.
 
Run&Gun said:
I liked both. Just wish She-Hulk had been a longer "season". But maybe it was just kind of a test-run/"super pilot". Then again, maybe we will see more of these 5 episode show seasons, as they try to offer a broader array of/more variety of content, while controlling spending. Like how several years ago, long running shows shifted from ~22 episode seasons to 10 episode seasons.
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Yeah I wish it were a longer season, too. It was the only Marvel show I watched where I was really excited to see the next episode and sad when the season was over. (I also watched Wandavision, Loki, and the Falcon and the Winter Soldier.)

It seems that their hour-long episode shows each got 6 episodes per season, and the half-hour long episode shows got 9. I don't think it's like a pilot thing, more like serving up variety as you said. Wandavision and Falcon/Winter Soldier kind of finished up their stories, too. I doubt there will be a second season for either, whereas Loki and She-Hulk were pretty clearly setting up more plot development.

Loki should have done half-hour episodes. I don't know how you manage to take such exciting subject matter and make it so dull. I only stuck through it because I'm fascinated by the concept of the multiverse (in general, not just in Marvel.) By the time I got to the finale, I was periodically skipping ahead just to find out how it ended.
 
Run&Gun said:
I liked both. Just wish She-Hulk had been a longer "season". But maybe it was just kind of a test-run/"super pilot".
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I figured it out. Disney is 100% trying to pad their catalogue to make it look like they have more to offer on Disney+.

I took a comprehensive look through their offerings to see what I want to watch before I let my subscription lapse. (I churn.) They have so much filler content that should not have their own entries at the topmost level of the content hierarchy. Like random shorts or screensaver-esque nature films. Too many things to mention, but the cherry on top was a Star Wars "series" called "Vehicle Flythroughs". It has 2 episodes that are 5 minutes each. The first is the Millennium Falcon and the second is a star destoyer. I watched the Millennium Falcon one. It's basically just an artless collection of b-roll exteriors/interiors of the ship sitting on a landing pad. I think the whole thing is CGI. https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/series/star-wars-vehicle-flythroughs/6HW19724nXLU

So yeah - they made a handful of Marvel shows with a small number of episodes rather than half the shows and longer seasons because they want to look like they have more new material than they do. This is what happens when you try to build a streamer overnight that can compete with Netflix only using stuff from your own catalogue.

It's crazy because Disney has all 5 of the top grossing films of all time, and 32 of the 52 movies that have grossed over $1B. And those titles get the same space on their splash page as "Maggie Simpsons in The Force Awakens From its Nap" https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/mo...n-the-force-awakens-from-its-nap/2pjsLoN9XE9q
 
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