The Extratextuals

With all of the standard noise and fanfare this week around the network upfront announcements, I almost didn’t notice this passing comment from Steve McPherson, President of the ABC Entertainment Group, about the forthcoming “re-imagination” of V:

“[It has a] normal order right now, 13 episodes. We really, from the beginning, want to craft a whole series, and we’d like to be able to announce what that is at the time that it airs. At this point we believe it’s going to be in four parts, and those will be anything from 13 to 22 episodes in each part. But it will have a beginning, middle and end,” he added.”

While the creative and business benefits of this approach will make intuitive sense to audiences of telenovelas (which are structured as long-form but limited-duration narratives) and non-American networks such as the BBC (where even mainstream hits such as “The Office” and “Life on Mars” end after only 1-2 seasons), it strikes me as proof of an important evolution among American television networks, where high-performing shows are extended indefinitely as “sure bets.”

The problem, of course, is that indefinite renewal works far better for some types of narrative (e.g, sitcoms, procedurals, episodic dramas) than others (i.e. long-form, evolving and complex narratives). I’ve addressed this topic in more depth in the chapter that I contributed to Reading Lost
, which considered some of the motives that compelled ABC to approve a firm end-date for Lost several years in advance.

In the closing paragraph of that chapter, I proposed that ABC’s unconventional (and intelligent) decision to let Lost’s showrunners work toward an established ending could have significant implications for the future of American network television:

After LOST’s first season, critics and writers suggested that the show’s most important contribution was that it cleared the path for a new wave of television programmes with rich details and complex, rewarding narratives. If Fox is right, and LOST’s final three seasons demonstrate the importance of an established end date in developing a coherent and compelling serial narrative, the show may accomplish something even more important. It may provide the precedent for a new era of television narratives that have the freedom to end.

I believed it when I wrote it, and I believe it even more now. At the same event, McPherson — who authorized Lost’s finite run — conceded that:

I think that was obviously a tough decision a few years ago to give it an ending, but I think it really paid off. This season was stronger than it’s ever been because there wasn’t an infinite middle to the show. So I think, giving them an end date, you’re going to see probably some of the strongest writing you’ve ever seen on the show, because they’ve been able to really retrofit from exactly where they want to end up.

To me, it looks like V is being granted the golden opportunity that Lost never got: the chance to plan a beginning, middle and end from the beginning. Here’s hoping V makes good use of it.

new shows ABC, Lost, serial television, upfronts

I just finished reading Michael Kackman’s piece at Flow on quality television, melodrama, and complex narratives. One of his underlying points is that in the stampede to discuss quality television, we need to be very careful to consider what else is complex and high quality, not just The Wire, Lost, and friends.

Now, I love those two shows. But my sense is that I couldn’t enjoy them this semester. Meanwhile, though I intended to watch my way through Battlestar Galactica or Deadwood this summer, I ultimately didn’t. And while I realize that this isn’t quite what Michael was talking about, that’s because I’ve become totally obsessed with television’s grandest melodrama and complex narrative going: the election.

Talk about transmedia, this interest has overflowed into almost every spare moment on my computer, as I’ve trekked from FiveThirtyEight.com to various other blogs, to news sites, to poll trackers, and onwards. I’ve rarely engaged in creative fan exploits in my adult life (childhood and Star Wars is a whole other issue), but my computer desktop is filled with Excel spreadsheets related to the various polls and poll composites out there, some of which I update often.

Meanwhile, I haven’t been able to concentrate on television serial narratives. I’ve found myself watching procedurals, or shows in which each episode is self-contained. And more comedies. I’ve heard the many criticisms of Heroes this season, and have myself struggled with it, but that has less to do with its quality (which, due to my newfound affliction, I can’t really comment upon) than with the fact that it’s asking too much of me.

I’ve come to realize, in other words, why some soap fans can only watch one soap. And why I’ve usually allowed myself only one or two fandoms at a time. The election, and its endless attack ads, multiple plots, new characters, and transmedia presence has been exhausting. If David Simon offered a sixth season of The Wire, I probably couldn’t have managed it this semester, even if it was about academia. I’m thankful that Lost is off till January, since that too would likely prove too much for me.

My point? In part, I’m just venting that I want this to be over. Can Obama win already, and let me watch Lost or BSG or something like that? This whole ordeal has reminded me of why I don’t tend to consume much transmedia, even though I’m intrigued by it, since the overflow of melodrama is too raw, rich, and requiring. But I’d also like to reiterate Kackman’s point that melodrama and complex narratives are all around us. Here’s hoping that this one has a happy ending.

Now stop reading this, and go out and do what I as a Canadian can’t: line up and vote.

Uncategorized Lost, serial television, The Wire