Bonus #52 - Cinematic TV Shows Are Too Long! (Extra Dose)

I honestly think shows like the Queen's Gambit are just shitty in general. It felt totally flat with no real development. I think Buckley is right, and that they basically took the plot of a 100-page YA novel and unjustifiably stretched it into multiple hours, which is the sort of thing that makes me hesitant to commit to TV shows in general. For every Succession, Sopranos and White Lotus, I feel like there's about a dozen major, critically acclaimed shows that you'll get trapped after watching 6 hours of, only to realize it's got worse writing that ChatGPT

Username User

I have to be honest, I really could not get into the Queens Gambit because of how long each episode was and how it felt like the story dragged on for so long. It definitely could’ve been cut down for time. Another big problem with streaming service is that there are so many shows to watch and yet I know that I will probably get through 5 percent of the shows on my list.

Anthony White

Oh those are always brutal, like 40 minutes of a flashback! It's completely unnecessary!

Adam Buckley

For the Marvel shows, there is always the flashback episode. Right after the hero is defeated, they had a flashback episode, then the next one they figure out how to beat the big bad.

Balur

I have had this problem particularly with breaking bad. It has content for maybe 3 seasons stretched out into 6 or so? It's sooo horribly boring I can't for the life of me understand how so many people can celebrate it as this exceptional thing. It was just a bad experience for me and when I tried to rewatch it recently (specifically in order to give it the benefit of the doubt of maybe I didn't give it enough credit when I watched it first, years ago) I couldn't make it through the first season for fear of dying of boredom. Also Buckley, go watch Avatar with your girlfriend.

It's like they've tried to turn every TV show into a full anime arc... except you can't do that all the time! It's like watching Dragon Ball Z sometimes.

So many TV shows I never got into because they’re either too long or convoluted. The thing that bothers me about the MCU is now I also need to watch TV shows to understand the next lot of movies... it’s getting like the comics (you mentioned in nerd rants) where it’s becoming too hard for the casual fans to follow

Ash Archer

I thought it was just me succumbing to the brain dead “give it to me in 30 minutes or less because I no longer have an attention span” group. But I’ve been hooked on a South Korean Netflix series which is 18 episodes long and each episode goes for 1 to 1.25hrs. It’s been really entertaining but I’m sure it’s been padded out in a lot of parts.

Cogitated

Yeah I didn't even think about that but there are a lot of shows I probably never will re-watch because of how long they are/how many seasons they have. As much as I really like Breaking Bad, there's a good possibility I'll only ever re-watch it one more time in my lifetime. Something more episodic, like The Simpsons or It's Always Sunny, there are episodes I'll watch 50 more times before I die!

Adam Buckley

One Piece is an anime that's alright, but way too long. Many anime have that, it's a necessary result of how they're made. What happened is some superweebs made an abridged cut that you can watch online. The more blatant filler is removed and it's significantly shorter for it. What would be nice is if people putting series (and really, films too) on torrent sites would include an abridged version like this as well. Just cut down on all the filler and repetition, maybe even editorialize and cut the shit parts, and make that available for people to steal.

Pim

Honestly a lot of these complaints are what I've had for modern tv shows for quite a while. Particularly with anime. Look at something like Naruto. I could never get into it regardless of it's quality. (I've seen clips of the show, I'm sure anyone who's into anime will have at some point.) And there are some cool moments in it. But do I really need 500 fricken episodes to get a whole story? No and I don't want to watch a show that long. Whereas look at a show like Avatar the Last Airbender. (I know, not anime, but it shares a lot with anime.) 3 seasons, about 60 episodes and it gives you a great story that doesn't drag it's feet or waste time. I feel like making something as long as possible doesn't make it more memorable, in fact it just increases the chance of viewers losing interest. Make a show short and sweet, and it'll hit harder. Plus it makes it easier to come back and rewatch.

Jacen Dane

I do love that I've been alive to see TV come around. Personally I think it started with OZ and the Sopranos in HBO and blossomed out from there. Something myself and my co-horts always say is there's SOO much media to comsume (1st world problems am I right). But yeah there are def shows that could be trimmed down, the MCU Netflix shows are a good example. Disney I think has it right, doing episodes per week. Hulu is similar with new shows (season 4 of Fargo is a good example). Side note, Fargo is fantastic. Still, I'll keep watching great shows, even if I have to suffer through a few hours of garbage filler plot.

TheOriginalGamer79