State of the Blog

I've been thinking a lot about the shows I'm going to follow on here in the winter and spring, as well as the format to use.  Episode by episode write-ups* may be a product of convenience rather than actually being the best way to view a show.  Cable dramas more closely resemble novels than they do anything else.  Novels are reviewed after reading the entire book, rather than parsed out in a series after each chapter.  For example, House of Cards even titles its episodes "Chapter 1" or "Chapter 2" etc.


* I've said before, episode recaps take a polo mallet to a fallen mount.  Without analysis or varying approaches to discussing shows, restating what happened in a just-viewed episode is a waste of everyone's time.  The only utility stems from being a contingency if you failed to DVR or your cable went out.

This is something I think about uniquely with serialized dramas.  Elementary with its episodic and procedural nature is well suited to episode by episode write ups.  Community varies formats week to week, tackling comedy with different vehicles like animation, stop motion, parodies, spins on classic formats, or other high concept episode structures, so write ups discussing those specific episodes may be helpful. 

But shows that play the long game, where supporting characters may go on a several week hiatus, where action is happening off screen, and where we spend two full episodes at the top introducing or re-introducing characters may be better off with a different format.

Maybe that means writing up the show in chunks (first, second, third act).  Or taking notes throughout and writing one or several long pieces after the finale.  Or separating it by character thread.  Or making an annotated chart tracking storylines with analysis notes expanding on things like characters' development.

I've tried things in the past like focusing largely on one scene or one character, but those still stem from whatever struck me in the weekly episode and lack the perspective of the whole novel...except for the cumulative affect in later seasons.  Maybe this experiment would be better suited on a show already out on DVD?

Winter is coming, which means Justified in January.  While I do not believe there is a "best" show on television, there is clearly a top tier (Mad Men, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Justified) and Justified is my favorite.  I need a separate post to wholly explain why, but I will say it is the funniest of all the serial dramas on television.

Also considering doing a comedy (Community returns January 2, Veep likely in the spring).  I'm managing my expectations on the re-Harmonized Community, as well Veep.  But only because these shows, at the best are funny enough to make you cry and miss half the jokes. 

Finally, look for some end of year "bests".

Hodor!