The recently ended Hollywood writer’s strike has caused me to consider the position of writers in Hollywood, and the difference between television writing and film writing.
When you think about it, it is a simple equation, no writer= no movie or television show. Writing is the first step. Before there is a director, an actor, camera crew, location scout, before there is anything there is the written word. Usually.
In film you have about two hours to tell your story. With sequels, maybe six. Now, it is a general fact that the third film in a series sucks. Look at Superman III, The Godfather III, Terminator III, Scream III, Spiderman III. Or rather, don’t look at them. They really are not that good. There are probably exceptions to this rule, but I can’t think of any right now. Generally speaking, though, by the third film, the magic is gone. After watching about six hours of material, the public is finished. Not many film series make it to IV, and those that do are usually even worse than III (Rocky IV and Superman IV come to mind).
Television, on the other hand, is based upon longevity. A series can run for several years, and produce literally hundreds of hours of material. A sitcom that runs for seven years will produce almost 60 hours of entertainment, or around 30 films. An hour-long drama will produce twice that much. The public will follow characters for a much longer time on the television than on the screen. I wonder why that is. Is it that the writing is so much better? The characters are that much more fascinating? Or is it expectations?
With television, the expectations are much less than with film. Special effects can be less special, action scenes less action-y, and even the acting can be weaker than in film. People will forgive television things they will not forgive in film. Movies are expected to be a spectacle, television, not so much.
With many film series, by the third film the audience knows what to expect. Spiderman swinging through New York was awesome to see the first time, and it was enough. By the third time, well, we have seen him swing for four hours already. We need something new. With television, we don’t necessarily need something new. Television is a more familiar medium. We want to be familiar with how the show works. Find the crime, solve the crime, imprison the criminal. Diagnose the disease, treat the disease, make the patient healthy. Have a wacky misunderstanding, solve the misunderstanding, family hugs. There is a formula for television, and if you can master it, you have a successful series. If you can’t, you fail.
These are not hard and fast rules, but a generally system that seems to apply. I can think of very few modern film series that have produced 20-30 films (James Bond comes to mind) but there are hundreds of television shows that have lasted years and years.
What is your take? Are there other reasons that people will follow television characters for such great lenghts of time?
