Why do we have seasons?

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by detective392

Guess we are opposite than. I'd take these shows over the ones you listed any day.

Downton Abbey
Broadchurch
Endeavour
Midsomer Murders
Doctor Who
Torchwood
Robin Hood
Merlin

Don't leave out Utopia, Luther, In The Flesh amongst others.

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by detective392

The locations does have something to do with it for me. Midsomer Murders gives me my villages and country side.

I think another part is no technology. Like Midsomer Murders, Broadchurch, Endeavour, Wallander. They'll mostly use there brains to solve the case and clues with little technology help. US shows really rely on technology to solve a case like CSI. Not that I hate CSI as I love that show.

Aren't Dr Who and Touchwood about technology ?

I don't wach CSI. It's popular, but it's a show from the Network conveyor belt not considered a high quality show. Most of the acclaimed US shows I mentioned (Man Men, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, The Wire) have little or nothing to do with technology. Even the wire in The Wire is just a MacGuffin.

[detective392]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

Aren't Dr Who and Touchwood about technology ?

I don't wach CSI. It's popular, but it's a show from the Network conveyor belt not considered a high quality show. Most of the acclaimed US shows I mentioned (Man Men, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, The Wire) have little or nothing to do with technology. Even the wire in The Wire is just a MacGuffin.

I was just talking about some of the crime shows I like. Torchwood and Doctor Who are very technology as well as many other shows I like.

US cable has definitely stepped it up the past few years. Huge GoT fan. Seen the pilot for Mad Men and never seen the Wire though. I own all the Sopranos but still haven't watched them.

[Scarface32]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

So you are comparing an anime series with very limited animation to a live action ensemble drama like The Wire or a costly period drama like Mad Men ? Do you really think these shows would retain their quality and be as acclaimed as they are if they were cranking out 70s episodes in a row ?

What are these quality Japanese shows running for 70 episodes which do compare in quality to the shows mentioned or the likes of Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, etc. ?

No I'm not comparing anything. I was giving an example of a long show. (Plus I never said the word drama, they could be comedies or anything)

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by Scarface32

No I'm not comparing anything. I was giving an example of a long show. (Plus I never said the word drama, they could be comedies or anything)

So you are a "quantity over quality" man.

[movielib]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

I live in the UK and you only get the good stuff. There are a lot of bad shows here. I don't think even the best UK shows exceed the best of US cable dramas like The Wire, Breaking Bad, Mad Men or The Sopranos.

Originally Posted by detective392

Guess we are opposite than. I'd take these shows over the ones you listed any day.

Downton Abbey
Broadchurch
Endeavour
Midsomer Murders
Doctor Who
Torchwood
Robin Hood
Merlin

Many people in the US think the UK has better shows and many in the UK think the US has better shows. Because we usually see the best of the other countries' and never even know the dregs exist.

How about Scandinavia? If I just went by Forbrydelsen (which I think is much better than the US's The Killing), The Bridge (which I think is much better than the US show but the UK's/France's The Tunnel is just as good) and Borgen I'd think the Scandinavians must get nothing but great shows. (I know there are some other good ones like Wallander (and a British version) but I haven't seen them.) Of course I'm sure they've got crap, it just doesn't get exported.

I do like the shorter seasons for serial programs. They tend to stay on point a lot better without a lot of filler crap. For example, I think Torchwood was a very good series and the third season five episode Children of Earth was especially good. But I think Miracle Day, a Starz/BBC co-production was badly hurt by stretching what was really another five episode story over ten episodes.

[detective392]

Originally Posted by movielib

Many people in the US think the UK has better shows and many in the UK think the US has better shows. Because we usually see the best of the other countries' and never even know the dregs exist.

How about Scandinavia? If I just went by Forbrydelsen (which I think is much better than the US's The Killing), The Bridge (which I think is much better than the US show but the UK's/France's The Tunnel is just as good) and Borgen I'd think the Scandinavians must get nothing but great shows. (I know there are some other good ones like Wallander (and a British version) but I haven't seen them.) Of course I'm sure they've got crap, it just doesn't get exported.

I do like the shorter seasons for serial programs. They tend to stay on point a lot better without a lot of filler crap. For example, I think Torchwood was a very good series and the third season five episode Children of Earth was especially good. But I think Miracle Day, a Starz/BBC co-production was badly hurt by stretching what was really another five episode story over ten episodes.

I agree, Only the best get imported so we only really see the best. Our crappy shows will never make it to UK and vice versa.

IMO Torchwood: COE is one of the best things that TV has ever seen. Writing, acting, story, characters it has the best of everything and like you said is only 5 episodes. Miracle Day did seem stretched out to much.

[Samus Aran]

Originally Posted by Scarface32

Besides having short seasons, a lot of times a UK show ends wth no conclusion. An example of this is Mulberry. Two short seasons, and no conclusion. Does he take her, doesn't he? No one knows, the show just ends!

And their seasons air whenever they feel like it, so you could be waiting a while.

[Scarface32]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

So you are comparing an anime series with very limited animation to a live action ensemble drama like The Wire or a costly period drama like Mad Men ? Do you really think these shows would retain their quality and be as acclaimed as they are if they were cranking out 70s episodes in a row ?

What are these quality Japanese shows running for 70 episodes which do compare in quality to the shows mentioned or the likes of Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, etc. ?

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

So you are a "quantity over quality" man.

You're being annoying now.

And since you're so hell-bent on being "nothing animated" the Sailor Moon live-action show ran 49 episodes consecutively as well. I can list a dozen shows with long runs that aren't animated. When did this go from being a question as to why we can't have it like that, to a debate about animated vs. non-animated.

Also, stop the personal attacks!

[detective392]

Originally Posted by Scarface32

Besides having short seasons, a lot of times a UK show ends wth no conclusion. An example of this is Mulberry. Two short seasons, and no conclusion. Does he take her, doesn't he? No one knows, the show just ends!

Mulberry was canceled which is why it doesn't have an ending. Just like many many US, JP, UK, etc shows. Episode length has nothing to do with a show getting canceled.

[Gamma_Winstead]

Originally Posted by Scarface32

You're being annoying now.

And since you're so hell-bent on being "nothing animated" the Sailor Moon live-action show ran 49 episodes consecutively as well. I can list a dozen shows with long runs that aren't animated. When did this go from being a question as to why we can't have it like that, to a debate about animated vs. non-animated.

Also, stop the personal attacks!

He didn't say anything about it being animated.

I find it hard to believe that you aren't processing his answer. Why don't we have shows that run consecutively?

1. We do. They're called soap operas.

2. The reason those shows aren't good, is because they really can't be. You're forced to constantly push forward. There's filler, bad episodes, bad acting, and more because you HAVE to meet deadlines.

Of course, no matter what you'll get those variables. But they're obviously more frequent in soap operas.

As for anime, they have a production cycle of 10-15 months before they start airing, then finish their episodes all at once. Shows like One Piece have an episode every week or so, but seriously. Look how much filler is in that show.

[Tony208]

A lot of TV shows in Asia have sequels in place of seasons and you know what they say about sequels.

[CouncilSpectre]

Anyone who enjoyed The Honourable Woman should check out Hugo Blick's previous mini-series, The Shadow Line. Absolutely top drawer

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by Scarface32

You're being annoying now.

And since you're so hell-bent on being "nothing animated" the Sailor Moon live-action show ran 49 episodes consecutively as well. I can list a dozen shows with long runs that aren't animated. When did this go from being a question as to why we can't have it like that, to a debate about animated vs. non-animated.

Also, stop the personal attacks!

Nobody is attacking you. If you make claims on a public forum, you may want to be able to back them up. I'm not seeing a list of great Japanese shows which are on par with US cable quality shows.

I've seen a bit of the Sailor Moon live action show and it's not quite up there with The Wire. If you are happy to just watch shows best suited for eight year old girls or on the level of daytime soaps, good for you.

[Asuras]

On top of that, a lot of anime today are adaptions of a manga (Naruto, One Piece, Attack on Titian, etc) or a light novel (Sword Art Online). Hell, the Sailor Moon Live Action is loosely based on the manga.

I prefer quality of quantity.

[detective392]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

Nobody is attacking you. If you make claims on a public forum, you may want to be able to back them up. I'm not seeing a list of great Japanese shows which are on par with US cable quality shows.

I've seen a bit of the Sailor Moon live action show and it's not quite up there with The Wire. If you are happy to just watch shows best suited for eight year old girls or on the level of daytime soaps, good for you.

Nicely said, I've seen some live action Japan shows that weren't supposed to be a comedy but man were they bad. Not even close to US network quality. Maybe I'm not watching the right Japan shows but they seem to make really good animations but poor live action series.

Another reason they don't take breaks with animation is that most of the source material is already there with manga. They just need to animate and do voice work. The story is already there pretty much.

[Scarface32]

Originally Posted by Gamma_Winstead

He didn't say anything about it being animated.

What do you think this means:

So you are comparing an anime series with very limited animation to a live action ensemble drama like The Wire or a costly period drama like Mad Men ?

He was complaining because I used an animated series as example. You people...
I'm done in this thread, seriously, you people...

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

Nobody is attacking you.

Saying "So you are a "quantity over quality" man." IS a personal attack.

[Samus Aran]

Originally Posted by Gamma_Winstead

1. We do. They're called soap operas.

2. The reason those shows aren't good, is because they really can't be. You're forced to constantly push forward. There's filler, bad episodes, bad acting, and more because you HAVE to meet deadlines.

Of course, no matter what you'll get those variables. But they're obviously more frequent in soap operas.

Soap operas shoot like a full episode a day. Sometimes they shoot additional parts of other episodes in that same day. Actors have no time to prepare for pretty mediocre and repetitive dialog and very few takes to do it in. Some actors you see on soaps and think are talentless hacks actually perform a lot better in primetime or movies; it's like night and day. Daniel Day-Lewis would look bad with soap opera scripts.

[Gamma_Winstead]

Originally Posted by Samus Aran

Soap operas shoot like a full episode a day. Sometimes they shoot additional parts of other episodes in that same day. Actors have no time to prepare for pretty mediocre and repetitive dialog and very few takes to do it in. Some actors you see on soaps and think are talentless hacks actually perform a lot better in primetime or movies; it's like night and day. Daniel Day-Lewis would look bad with soap opera scripts.

Precisely my point. It's why we don't have all our shows made like that. They'd be terrible.

And apparently Scarface didn't like my answer and decided to bail. Huh.

[hanshotfirst1138]

Originally Posted by Jett Rink

It would be cool if these networks would adopt the Netflix policy. Release a season/series all at once. I for one am sick of having to wait a week between shows and I abhor commercials.

That's the way it's been for the last half a century. The whole concept of Netflix is relatively new.