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OT: Movies/TV Shows

CH1 said:
It’s gotta be done the right way!
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I’ve been thinking about the completionist conversations that have been had about TV series, and I’ve come to the conclusion virtually no dramatic tv show needs or is created with the intention of more than two seasons.

As much as we can still enjoy them when they’re fattened up and bloated out to 4-5+ seasons, I think nearly all the greats could have been told over two seasons of near perfection.

There’s outliers, and some that benefit from longer runs…or shows like The Wire that were ostensibly anthology shows at their heart.

But for 80-95% of dramas, a two season arc would have served them best…
 
Montana said:
I’ve been thinking about the completionist conversations that have been had about TV series, and I’ve come to the conclusion virtually no dramatic tv show needs or is created with the intention of more than two seasons.

As much as we can still enjoy them when they’re fattened up and bloated out to 4-5+ seasons, I think nearly all the greats could have been told over two seasons of near perfection.

There’s outliers, and some that benefit from longer runs…or shows like The Wire that were ostensibly anthology shows at their heart.

But for 80-95% of dramas, a two season arc would have served them best…
Click to expand...
Because of the Leftovers being IMO the perfect series, i would say 3 seasons
 
Montana said:
I’ve been thinking about the completionist conversations that have been had about TV series, and I’ve come to the conclusion virtually no dramatic tv show needs or is created with the intention of more than two seasons.

As much as we can still enjoy them when they’re fattened up and bloated out to 4-5+ seasons, I think nearly all the greats could have been told over two seasons of near perfection.

There’s outliers, and some that benefit from longer runs…or shows like The Wire that were ostensibly anthology shows at their heart.

But for 80-95% of dramas, a two season arc would have served them best…
Click to expand...

Absolutely. Outliers for me would be Breaking Bad. I would give it 4 seasons (instead of the 5 they took).

I think some folks watch not just for the narrative arc...but also to "hang out" with their favourite characters. So they want as many episodes as possible. That usually works best for comedies. For example, I could keep watching Schwartzman, Zach and Danson in Bored to Death. And so I did....by re-watching the 3 year series when they stopped making them. And I will probably watch it again in the not so distant future.
 
I know that hangout concept 100% pertains to me, for any show I stick with longer than a season or two….and as you say, for rewatches.

Schwartzman is an underrated gem, and yeah Bored to Death was great….Rushmore, Darjeeling, Astroid City, and I ❤️ Huckabees all flicks I Iove in part because of him.
 
Montana said:
I know that hangout concept 100% pertains to me, for any show I stick with longer than a season or two….and as you say, for rewatches.

Schwartzman is an underrated gem, and yeah Bored to Death was great….Rushmore, Darjeeling, Astroid City, and I ❤️ Huckabees all flicks I Iove in part because of him.
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I could not get into Asteroid City but I was tired when I tried
 
Montana said:
I’ve been thinking about the completionist conversations that have been had about TV series, and I’ve come to the conclusion virtually no dramatic tv show needs or is created with the intention of more than two seasons.

As much as we can still enjoy them when they’re fattened up and bloated out to 4-5+ seasons, I think nearly all the greats could have been told over two seasons of near perfection.

There’s outliers, and some that benefit from longer runs…or shows like The Wire that were ostensibly anthology shows at their heart.

But for 80-95% of dramas, a two season arc would have served them best…
Click to expand...
I think there must be quite a few outliers because 2 seasons seems awfully short to me, but I am kind of hard-pressed to think of examples. Lost was a great show, but could it have been tightened up and shortened to make it even better? Definitely. Game of Thrones had enough source material to justify extra seasons, even if they bungled the last one.

Obviously old shows like Mash and Cheers went on for many years, but the appeal was definitely in part to "hang out" with these characters. And television was produced much differently back then. Many older shows ran 24ish episodes per season and required a lot of filler, this isn't the case today where most are 8-10 episodes. Which should justify more than two seasons in many cases.

Californication is an interesting case as Season 1 is almost perfect, it has a beginning and an end because they didn't know if they would get to make any more. But when they were renewed, Season 2 is just as good, and Season 3 is right there too. Started to lose its quality after that but could definitely justify 3-4 seasons and then wrapping it up.
 

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cs9M1m-dpgM

(interestingly, the show was still in the top ten in ratings the season after that happened)

John Lennon was a pretty big fan of the show & brought his son Julian to visit the studio:

11359591896_7ee7dfef3b_b.jpg
 
axlsalinger said:
I think there must be quite a few outliers because 2 seasons seems awfully short to me, but I am kind of hard-pressed to think of examples. Lost was a great show, but could it have been tightened up and shortened to make it even better? Definitely. Game of Thrones had enough source material to justify extra seasons, even if they bungled the last one.

Obviously old shows like Mash and Cheers went on for many years, but the appeal was definitely in part to "hang out" with these characters. And television was produced much differently back then. Many older shows ran 24ish episodes per season and required a lot of filler, this isn't the case today where most are 8-10 episodes. Which should justify more than two seasons in many cases.

Californication is an interesting case as Season 1 is almost perfect, it has a beginning and an end because they didn't know if they would get to make any more. But when they were renewed, Season 2 is just as good, and Season 3 is right there too. Started to lose its quality after that but could definitely justify 3-4 seasons and then wrapping it up.
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I think by season 3, they had exhausted the two step narrative arc of Duchovny

a) fucking every hottie he meets
b) punching every guy that gives him a dirty look

Thank god for Charlie Runkle
 
David Duchovny was in a series called Aquarius. A cop show fictionalization with some factuality thrown in about the Charles Manson years. It only ran two seasons before it was cancelled without ending.

I enjoyed it and was disappointed that it was never finished.
 
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