Movies vs Television

I don't answer too many of those new questions that Facebook poses as a status option because they're not easily answered and too personal, but I decided to answer the question, "Which do you prefer, movies or television?" I answered movies which seemed strange to people...myself included.

I grew up in front of a T.V.  The opening credits of Dream On was almost literally my life growing up. I watched soap operas, game shows, and all of the family series... Family Ties, Who's The Boss, Growing Pains, etc, as well as reruns of series that were around before me like I Love Lucy, Star Trek (TOS), I Dream of Jeanie, Arcie Bunker etc. I watched some prime time shows as I got older... E.R., Chicago Hope, Magnum P.I, Cagney and Lacy, Murder She Wrote... There was a lot of variety. From Bonanza to Star Trek TNG. From He-Man to Dynasty. But I chose movies. One person disagreed citing that there's much more detailed story and character development in television and he's absolutely right. If follow this blog you know I value complex writing and character development above anything else in a fictional story. Long term story weaving,calculated plot twists, and characters adapting to different situations are hard to do and it takes a lot of talent to pull it off. But there's also this unfortunate tendency for television series to "burn out."

There's no magic number of how many seasons a series should have, but with all long running shows, there comes a time when they start to run out of ideas. Whether they're a simple show or a complex one. The phrase "jumping the shark" is coined from the Happy Day's episode where Fonzie water skis over a shark. It's poor quality and stretch of the reality of that particular world that was created was enough to let people know that the end was near. Sometimes one character takes over the show like Urkel in Family Matters rendering the other characters and even the concept of the show almost irrelevant. Many times the sexual tension of characters provides a much needed support system or go to for comedy and even lessons learned. Until they finally allow the characters to get together. It's always fun at first... a reward for the audience almost. But the relationships always fail and you never get the support system back from their attraction, flirtations, and playful tauntings. If it can't be replaced with something else, the show begins to decline either quickly or slowly. Sometimes new things are introduced to spice things up that simply make no sense, like Super Pursuit Mode. And even TNG wasn't immune to the writers beginning to grasp at straws towards the end. These things don't always kill the show entirely for most people, but it's a risk that is taken.

I chose movies for their timelessness. You can always go back to them and they're always there with a beginning and end that are perfectly measured out. There's not as much time for details about the world or characters, but they're like comfortable clothes that you know will fit in all the right places at the right time. Sometimes they spawn a franchise in which you end up with lots of detailed events and characters. But you also have your favorites as far as individual films go because of the comfortable familiarity that warms your heart. If you don't like the direction the sequels have gone, you can just go back to whichever one was the best for you and pretend the rest don't exist.

 

Of course, there are times when the sequels exceed the originals, especially if the movies are episodic rather than continuous. And even if they're the type of story that every generation gets a hand in, there's always one version or one in a variety of series that can capture and keep your heart even if you think the franchise has jumped the shark or that there have been too many remakes and reboots for it to be taken seriously anymore.

Then there's the truly timeless movies that have remained untouched, or un-retouched as it were. They've been parodied, reworked, and down right ripped off at times, but never duplicated. No sequels (or none of consequence); no reboots (Broadway doesn't count in this example.) True comfort food when nobody tries to fiddle with the recipe.

I still pick books over movies and television, but given the choice, I guess I have to go with movies for their nostalgic quality no matter how new or old they are.