The Dramatic Arc
![[ Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Perfecting the storyline 'arc' ]](http://hooverdust.com/version2/wp-content/images//buffy.jpg)
Television hasn’t featured prominently on Hooverdust.com since well, I don’t watch that much television. I despise pretty much all of the reality shows since they’re just banal piss-poor excuses for the television executives to save money. The cost of making a reality show compared to buying the rights or making your own drama or comedy is significant. It makes sense to the fat cats (i.e. cheap show + high ratings = abundance of cash) but we the audience suffer badly, especially on free-to-air TV.
But good television is out there and if you can stay up late enough or search your TV guides, you’re likely to be just as rewarded with what you get as going to see a widely-praised film. Drama and/or Fantasy TV, in particular has definitely grown in quality over the years and some recent examples have drawn me in big time. I still love the classic sitcoms The Simpsons (though it has declined slightly over the past few seasons) and Seinfeld (when it’s on), but I’m starting to convert more to the dramas.
Arguably, the best TV shows depend on the talent behind-the-scenes. If you have creators who stay with the show from beginning to end, you can safely assume the show will remain consistently good. Sure, you’re gonna get the occasional misfires but on the whole, if they’re around and inputting regularly then you have excellent television.
My favourite TV often involves continuous storyline ‘arcs’. As opposed to single episodes, dealing with a one-hour stand-alone plot, the ‘arc’ TV shows advance stories over several episodes or even an entire season. This has the advantage of creating a complex, multi-layered narrative which rewards the viewer who keeps with it until the end of the season (or even further seasons). The disadvantage is that casual viewers are often left in the dark and this can cause severe ratings troubles for the networks, which often result in a show being cancelled.
Take Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel for example. These shows, both from the creative mind of one individual Joss Whedon, used the story ‘arc’ technique throughout their respective seasons and it worked beautifully. Occasionally Joss would take the directorial reigns and create electric one-off television such as The Body in Season 5 of Buffy, but the real power of these shows lie in character development and that’s something Joss and his team do extremely well.
The Sopranos is currently one of the finest dramas on first-run TV that uses the story ‘arc’ model to great effect. Again the original creator David Chase has stayed with the show since its beginning and the quality continues to stay above the ’standard’ dramas. For a show about the New Jersey mafia, it focuses an awful lot on family and relationships. So if you’ve avoided this show because you think it’s just about gangsters, then you need to think again.
A few years back, one show I followed from week-to-week was the ‘other’ Chris Carter (The X-Files) creation Millennium. In particular, the second season which was overlooked by Glen Morgan and James Wong (who both went on to produce Final Destination and Willard) displayed some of the best story ‘arcs’ on television yet. This show was also a perfect case of what is referred to as ‘Jumping The Shark’. This is the point in which a show goes downhill, for whatever reason. The third season was proof of that and to prove my point about creative control, this was when Morgan and Wong left the series.
Here’s one out of left field, bound to get major talkback criticism but one show of guilty pleasure was the teen-focused show Dawson’s Creek a few years back. I mention ‘was’ because I only ever found the first two seasons to be of any worth. The reason why was because at the time, Kevin Williamson who just scored huge with the original Scream film, was the executive producer/overlooker of the show and his knack for witty dialogue drew me in. Sure the show wasn\rquote t realistic in any shape or form but with Williamson rewriting scripts and developments, and directing a couple of episodes over the first two seasons, it did create some magic here and there. Pacey sleeping with his teacher was something you wouldn’t have seen or handled with the same amount of respect in any other teen drama. A harmless show essentially but I found myself strangely drawn to it. Definitely ‘Jumped the Shark’ when Williamson left.
Finally, I have to mention Twin Peaks, a drama show that could in fact be the finest example ever of a storyline ‘arc’ on a television series. Although the show only lasted two seasons, the first season is nothing short of brilliant. When I attended the Lounge Critic session at the ACMI on David Lynch, there was some pretty heavy discussion on Twin Peaks. When the writers revealed who killed Laura Palmer, the show ‘jumped the shark’ big time. But luckily Lynch came back (after an absense) and fixed the show towards the end of season 2, with an immensely satisfying conclusion.
Of course there are notable dramas such as The West Wing and Six Feet Under which I haven’t followed but with the growing availability and sales of TV shows on DVD, it might be the best way to check out new programs. No ads, no interruptions and no network rescheduling. Now is someone going to give me $100 to buy these boxsets?
Editors Note:
Awesome! Does Megan Spencer read this site? Apparently someone claiming to be Ms Spencer herself posted a comment on my Movie Show: Version 2.0 post. I’ll let you guys decide if you think it’s her.
10 Responses to “The Dramatic Arc”
I haven’t watched any TV in years. Not because I have any kind of hysterical objection to it, I just think it’s 99.9% brainless shit, so I don’t waste my time with it. Besides, I watched enough TV when I was a kid to last me several lifetimes. It occured to me many years later that by watching up to 5 hours a day of TV my entire childhood, I was pretty much raised in part by it. I realised with a shiver recently that some of my fondest childhood memories concern television programs. Curled up in front of the X-files in the dark as a 12yo, or spending hour upon hour watching warner brothers cartoons. These are extremely fond memories; at the time it made me incomparably happy. So that’s a little disconcerting.
As is the amount of TV advertising I must have absorbed; these days I simply cannot watch ads on TV, they just make me sick. Especially the ones during kids TV programming. They do their absolute best to brainwash these kids into wanting every single new toy, until a major part of a child’s life is spent pining over toys they can’t have.
(Hmm, perhaps I do have an underlying hysterical objection to certain elements of television.)
But, I agree, there are several TV shows out there that are simply brilliant. I’ve always said that there are a few tv shows out there that I love and appreciate. The latest one is a recent edition, and they are mostly comedies.
- The Simpsons: It’s just fucking comedy gold. One of the greatest uses of the medium ever, imho.
- Seinfeld: As above.
- Fawlty Towers: As above, with a vengeance.
- Monty Python: As above.
- The Sopranos: I wholeheartedly agree with you on this one. It’s a brilliantly made show, often leaving you with the perception that you are watching a very long, good movie. Which is *very* hard to find. The new series is a marked improvement on the last, too. The first season was utterly brilliant.
- Trailer Park Boys: This is a canadian mock-umentary that currently only screens there. I came across it while in Montreal recently. It’s incredibly hilarious.
-Iron Chef: Nothing needs to be said about this. It’s appeal is just.. infinite.
the thing about the above shows is that if I watch any of them, it’s on DVD or computer.
I forgot to mention South Park. The first few seasons really were fucking funny.
Mm’kay.
Sigh. How I miss “Buffy”…
Does Blackadder get a mention, in your opinion, alongside Fawlty Towers? Stephen Fry, Hugh Lawrie and Rowan Atkinson delivering Richard Curtis penned material is up there with John Cleese at his best.
Well I was pretty much discussing drama TV so hence the limited talk on the comedies.
But if I must:
Fawlty Towers is definately my favourite comedy series of all-time. I think if they made any more episodes, the impact and quality would have dropped. “Manuelllll!!!!! Come here!”
The Office is fucking funny as hell. I understand why some people find it too close to the bone but I think it’s gotta be the funniest show out of the UK in years.
Simpsons and Seinfeld already mentioned.
Blackadder the 3rd is my favourite series of this show.
Mr Bean. Forget the movie and the cartoon series, the original episodes were undeniable classics.
The Young Ones. Funny yet extremely abstract. “Vivian! You utter bastard!”
Wildside and Seachange are the best Australian dramas I’ve seen.
As for the US - Six Feet Under and The Sopranos, now and forever. Northern Exposure, early X-Files and seasons 1-3 of Buffy are also up there.
I found that “Family Guy” is grossly underrated.
Thanks for the nice words you left on my site, James. Just returning the kindness. Take care!
Most of the Australian dramas shit me since they’re either set in country or rural areas, stressing stereotypes or they try to immitate their US counterparts and do it badly.
The Secret Life of Us was generally good during the first couple of seasons but fell apart after Claudia Karvan left.
Lyn - I didn’t watch Seachange but I’m guessing David Wenham was a decisive factor for you to see it?
DUDE! This one’s from Germany right nyaah (to quote the brilliant Eric Cartman directly!
Erm, 6 feet under is good, I’m a sucker for the one of the CSI’s (dunno which one, I don’t watch it that often), and pretty much what James and Tor said.
Personally though, I’d rate the Young One’s over Faulty Towers, but then again I would.
Jimmy, I checked out the SBS thing man, if it’s her, just goes to show how the critic can give it, but never take it man. Maybe instead of being such a fucking crybaby she could use some of what was said and improve upon her technique. Or she could jump on the internet and alienate people from wanting to watch the show even more. Cunt.
Oops.
‘Little Britain’ is the best sketch show in the UK at the moment, with Matt Lucas & David Walliams. I miss ‘The Fast Show’ with Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, etc. - comedy gold. And if you’ve never seen ‘I’m Alan Partridge’, you’ve simply got to find it immediately!