What make's a good Television Series?
- Thread starter Ki-Ki
- Start date
Rick Meyer
Veteran
Well, I think it applies to comedy or drama but it should go without saying its the writing. However, you can't give the writers a place to go without a great premise.
Mark Harris
Pain in the ass
Writing is exactly it. TV series are more akin to novels than they are to movies, in my mind. They live and die pretty much exclusively by the writing, followed closely by the acting.
So a good premise, but even more importantly, I think, the ability to create great characters that grow and change over time, and who live with the consequences of their actions as the series progresses.
So a good premise, but even more importantly, I think, the ability to create great characters that grow and change over time, and who live with the consequences of their actions as the series progresses.
I'm curious. Do you think this looks like a good TV series?
http://flv.sugeridos.com/publishers/NATPEPROMOJAN9small.mov
http://flv.sugeridos.com/publishers/NATPEPROMOJAN9small.mov
Mark Harris
Pain in the ass
This premise is done to death at this point, but like I said, I think it depends a lot more on where the characters go, who they turn into, etc.
I think it's impossible to tell without a number of episodes. I mean, in my view, Buffy is the second best series ever created, but if you were to judge it only by its pilot, it's laughably bad. The pilot was lame as all hell.
The Wire is the number one best series ever created, but I didn't realize that until well into the first season in the episode where Griggs got shot. It was then that something clicked in my head and I got what the series was about and realized it was friggin' brilliant.
Gord.T
Still "Senior Member"
Documentaries, history and science. So The History Channel and The Discovery Channel (although I have to watch it on the web). And sorts like PBS and WXXI without the adverts.
As a rule I don't watch TV unless I have to. And for sure I 'never' watch a movie on TV because of the ads. If I'm stuck watching, the Simpsons maybe, The Actors Studio ofcourse. Sometimes the kids saturday morning cartoons to see what's happening (cough, pretty bad really) apart from a couple standouts.
I rarely watch TV anymore. DVD's or the net.
That's about it.
As a rule I don't watch TV unless I have to. And for sure I 'never' watch a movie on TV because of the ads. If I'm stuck watching, the Simpsons maybe, The Actors Studio ofcourse. Sometimes the kids saturday morning cartoons to see what's happening (cough, pretty bad really) apart from a couple standouts.
I rarely watch TV anymore. DVD's or the net.
That's about it.
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Tom Marshall
Actor!!!!!!
I agree with Mark. Rich characters are a must. Look at House. The show is pretty predictable, plot-wise, but the characters are just so well written and the acting is so good that it just draws you in.
Now if they could just get Pam Anderson on that show... best... show... ever...
Now if they could just get Pam Anderson on that show... best... show... ever...
Mark Harris
Pain in the ass
Ha ha, every episode of House goes like this:
1) It's not lupis!
2) House is a dick.
3) A realization based on House's dick behavior causes him to solve the previously unsolvable case.
4) Wilson: House, you're just afraid to let anyone in.
Roll credits.
Batutta
Major Contributor
Ha ha, every episode of House goes like this:
1) It's not lupis!
2) House is a dick.
3) A realization based on House's dick behavior causes him to solve the previously unsolvable case.
4) Wilson: House, you're just afraid to let anyone in.
Roll credits.
You forgot the prologue--
Person has a seizure and bleeds profusely from an orifice.
Nektonic
Veteran
1. hot babes (running along the beach in slow motion)
2. bikinis
3. beach
4. david hasselhoff (running along the beach in slow motion)
They say that TV is a writer / producer's medium while film is a director's medium. I think that is pretty much the truth. Of course, director's are important for television as well.
1. A TV premise is needed. That is something that can be sustained over a longer period of time. As mentioned above, more like a novel than a film. Example: The Sixth Sense. Makes a great movie, but as a TV series the film would merely be the pilot. Battlestar Galactica. This works well with TV because it can be sustained over a long period of time. Doing a feature length film of the same concept would seem rushed or would need a trilogy to tell the story properly.
2. Consistently great writing by a team of returning writers. They can't keep throwing the original writers out and replacing them. The show risks the chance that it will lose its tone, both narratively and in terms of its characters.
3. Great producers. Ideally the show will have the same executive and main producers throughout its entire run. If you wikipedia any show that is considered to be good and that has lasted more than 3 years, chances are that the producing team stuck with the show from the beginning to the end.
4. Great actors and characters. Pretty self-explanatory.
5. A network that gives the show a chance. The sad thing is that a lot of shows are cancelled before they ever get a chance to shine, especially on Fox (Firefly). Another problem with some series is that if you don't see it in order or if you miss the earlier seasons the later stuff is too hard to get into. This happened to the X-Files, although not until seasons five or six once they started doing a lot more continuing story lines.
6. The courage to deviate from formula. This is something that is a newer trend due to bolder and more original shows like Lost, Heroes, Firefly, Battestar Galactica, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Wire, Deadwood, etc. What I mean is compared to Law & Order and CSI, the shows I mentioned don't follow a strict formula like a lot of older shows did. Sure there will always be a place for procedurals about cops, lawyers, and doctors. I enjoy those types of shows as well. The thing is there is a lot of room for TV to shed it's formulaic past and deliver a more novel-like experience, even if at the expense of those viewers that come to the show at a later date.
Yes. An online series probably needs to be as original as possible, especially if there are no name actors involved. Of course you could also go with the Baywatch formula listed above as well.
I remember when Farscape was in its 2nd or 3rd season on the Sci-Fi channel. I gave it a shot but I never could get into it. It looked too juvenile and silly. I tried watching an episode here or there, but the whole thing just seemed like a mess and made no sense. A few years later I caught a few season one episodes in syndication late one night. Totally different experience. I couldn't believe that this was the same show. It turns out that I needed to see the earlier episodes to get into it. Once that happened a lot of the bizarre stuff in the later seasons made sense. It is now one of my all time favorite TV series.
