Comments on: Is the Trek method of story telling dead?

By: Charlie

Charlie — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:32:16 +0000

Personally, I think shows ‘back in the day’ would rely on more consistent viewers because there were simply less things for people to watch. Right now I have 500 channels on my TV, it takes a lot more to hook me in as a weekly viewer than it did even 5 years ago, simply because there’s so many other shows I could be watching. Hell, I can even watch TV by buying whole series at an inexpensive price, not to mention any show that’s on the internet.

By: vedicardi

vedicardi — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 07:01:02 +0000

A lot of comedy shows are self contained for the most part. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia is for sure. It is hard for other shows to succeed without something to keep people watching and wanting the next episode. Most shows rely on the plot for that now, where in the “old days” you could rely on characters alone for that.

By: Rico

Rico — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:39:57 +0000

For – it simply has to be good story telling. I think I prefer a mix of single episode stuff and some kind of arc going on. Sometimes I think when you go too far into an ongoing arc it becomes a bit hard to maintain (example – LOST). But, one series I love is “24.” They have a single season story arc each year. That works for me. You know it will be pretty much resolved at the end of the season and a whole new story the next season. Anyway, while I love classic “Star Trek” (you guys know that), I think series today need to be a bit more complex than single stories each week.

By: Freakish Lemon

Freakish Lemon — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:38:12 +0000

I have been thinking the same thing recently, especially because I’ve been going back and watching Xena lately. All the shows I can think of are moving on from what I call “monster of the week” (I think that phrase was originally used for Scooby Doo XD) and I miss it. The only show that I watch that still resembles that older format is Eureka, and even that is starting to drift a little bit.

By: Bevlan

Bevlan — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:25:08 +0000

I like a good mix. Some stories you can only tell over a long time. (B5) Others sometimes get too drawn out for one hour.(Most of Trek) This time around around with SGU I think the mistake was having the first five episodes be a three-parter followed by a two parter. From what I have read for the rest of the season SGU goes back to a more episodic pace.
The show that worked best for me was the first few seasons of Buffy. In those there were a handful of episodes that were about an overall plot but the majority were one-shots.