As seen on TV
The other day after we saw Changeling, we came home and watched an episode of "Mad Men" (Season 1). In this case, the TV show was better than the movie. Partly this was due to the exceptional writing, acting and direction of "Mad Men." But I wondered how much it had to do with the eight or nine hours of buildup that preceded the "Mad Men" episode we watched.
Are movie-quality dramas like "Mad Men" and "The Sopranos" raising our expectations for feature films? In one sense, features can't match the series: They just don't have the running time. A good series can develop like a novel. I first realized this back in the late Eighties when I would come home after working swing shift and watch "Hill Street Blues" reruns at 1 a.m. This wasn't so good for my dreams, but I got to see an entire season in just a few weeks because the show ran nightly, in sequence.
To build up a set of characters like some of these series have, but in just a couple of hours, is done by the best, but it's very difficult.
Are movie-quality dramas like "Mad Men" and "The Sopranos" raising our expectations for feature films? In one sense, features can't match the series: They just don't have the running time. A good series can develop like a novel. I first realized this back in the late Eighties when I would come home after working swing shift and watch "Hill Street Blues" reruns at 1 a.m. This wasn't so good for my dreams, but I got to see an entire season in just a few weeks because the show ran nightly, in sequence.
To build up a set of characters like some of these series have, but in just a couple of hours, is done by the best, but it's very difficult.
Labels: Mad Men
posted by Steve at
7:07 PM
2 Comments:
I must agree with you on that point. Some of the TV series over the past few years have been absolutely amazing and films would be hard pushed to match them for character development, plot, tension, suspense etc
You mention some great ones. Others I can think of are Twin Peaks, Firefly, Deadwood, first couple of series of ER, John from Cinncinnatti (sp?) and many others I can't remember
Battlestar sometimes keeps me up at night pondering what it means to be a Cylon. Carnivale evoked more than it actually delivered (a bit like Twin Peaks), but man, did it ever evoke!
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