I think the preference for more 'cinematic' or 'novelistic' shows comes from seeing TV as an inferior medium, less artistically cohesive than literature, film, theater, etc. That varied structure of conventional TV makes it very postmodern, disruptive of standard ideas of clarity and uniformity. The shows you've covered at length, many of which I have not seen sufficiently except for Veronica Mars, My So-Called Life & Friday Night Lights so I won't comment on in specifics, do have those serial elements but veer closer to the open form of soap operas while the 'prestige' shows can be described closer to extended miniseries if looking for other TV comparisons. In my opinion, there are a very small handful of TV shows that truly succeed in that more focused, HBO-esque model on those terms. The extended cinematic or literary mode I think is hard to pull off, which is why so many shows buckle under the weight of expectations. Thus, the more comforting, grab-bag, yet fragmented form is often the better approach to ensuring more solid TV on the whole, with those few exceptions.
I think these are all great points, wonderfully put. I've always thought that "prestige t.v." and "elevated horror" were meaningless terms mostly used by people who saw those things as inferior to begin with. I even criticized Friday Night Lights in one of my videos for desperately trying to be "prestige" by sacrificing/redressing its more soapy elements. The way you described the varied structure of conventional TV wowed me. Thank you for that.
Couldn't agree more! I like the idea of time constraints. If you can't tell a story in x amount of time, is the story worth telling? Usually not for me anyway!
The irony of these HBO shows is that they can't achieve the best expressions of what is cinematic and are too cinematic to be TV. The worst of both worlds. I hate the Sopranos movie.
I think the preference for more 'cinematic' or 'novelistic' shows comes from seeing TV as an inferior medium, less artistically cohesive than literature, film, theater, etc. That varied structure of conventional TV makes it very postmodern, disruptive of standard ideas of clarity and uniformity. The shows you've covered at length, many of which I have not seen sufficiently except for Veronica Mars, My So-Called Life & Friday Night Lights so I won't comment on in specifics, do have those serial elements but veer closer to the open form of soap operas while the 'prestige' shows can be described closer to extended miniseries if looking for other TV comparisons.
In my opinion, there are a very small handful of TV shows that truly succeed in that more focused, HBO-esque model on those terms. The extended cinematic or literary mode I think is hard to pull off, which is why so many shows buckle under the weight of expectations. Thus, the more comforting, grab-bag, yet fragmented form is often the better approach to ensuring more solid TV on the whole, with those few exceptions.
I think these are all great points, wonderfully put. I've always thought that "prestige t.v." and "elevated horror" were meaningless terms mostly used by people who saw those things as inferior to begin with. I even criticized Friday Night Lights in one of my videos for desperately trying to be "prestige" by sacrificing/redressing its more soapy elements. The way you described the varied structure of conventional TV wowed me. Thank you for that.
Couldn't agree more! I like the idea of time constraints. If you can't tell a story in x amount of time, is the story worth telling? Usually not for me anyway!
The irony of these HBO shows is that they can't achieve the best expressions of what is cinematic and are too cinematic to be TV. The worst of both worlds. I hate the Sopranos movie.
YES