Series Commitment Challenged

Posted by Cynical Sarah on March 5, 2010

I’m about to commit blasphemy in the eyes of many TV watchers that I know. I didn’t enjoy watching Heroes; in fact I didn’t even make it through the first season. Similarly, I really only make it though full seasons of 24 because Helper Troy enjoys the show (and because of Keifer Sutherland).

It’s not about the genre of the show. Goodness knows I love me a good drama – I can’t get enough of shows like Criminal Minds, the various CSIs and Bones.

The difference has to do with my patience with the story telling. I like my TV shows to be in bite-size packages. Give me a story that wraps up in an hour. I’ll forgive you for one that’s continued one more episode, or even for a background storyline that flows through several episodes, but make sure there’s some sort of main story that gets closure each time.

Take for instance CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. There was the season with the miniature killer. We were introduced to the killer in an episode, and it wasn’t completely resolved, but instead of dragging out the story over the rest of the season, we got to see other cases come up and get solved. Meanwhile there are hints back to the miniature killer until we finally get to see the case resolved at the end of the season.

Compare that to 24. Nothing ever really gets resolved until the very last episode of the season.

There are no bite size pieces you can be satisfied with. Once you’re sucked into 24 or Heroes, you have to stick around and eat the whole thing. Even with the freedom of the DVR making sure we’re getting them all and giving us the freedom to watch them on our own time, I just don’t like being tied to a TV show like that.

Maybe I have TV commitment issues. I don’t want to be tied down for life to a show, I’m just looking for a booty call. An hour of entertainment when I’m bored, that’s it.

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Tags: 24, csi, tv, tv series, tv shows

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