Fifteen years ago the chances I would write anything singing the praises of television were remote. I was a movie guy first, last, always. The ’90s was a banner decade for film. I won’t bore you with a list of great movies. If you follow the big screen at all, you know the titles. With the exception of Seinfeld and NYPD Blue, I pretty much ignored television during the ’90s. I’m sure there were other good shows, but I wouldn’t know.
Since the 21st century kicked off, I’ve changed my tune considerably. Television, for the most part, has usurped cinema as my go-to entertainment medium. Movies have lost their edge. They rely too much on overrated stars and overblown special effects to pull in audiences. This strategy may work at the box office, but the number of quality films has been in severe decline since 2000. Meanwhile, the TV product has dramatically improved.
Here are ten reasons why TV beats the movies:
10) It’s serialized – At least the shows I watch are. If I’m really into a narrative, I want more of it. I have thoroughly enjoyed the exploits of the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 and the crew of 62 Truck over the last five years.
9) Multiple characters – Ensemble casts in movies work, but normally there are two to three central characters who get the majority of face time. Series like Lost and The Wire are able to ping pong between many disparate personae, which prevents matters from getting stale.
8) One bad apple doesn’t spoil the bunch – A shitty movie is a shitty movie. There’s no going back once you fork out your ten bucks. If your favorite series drops a couple clunkers, no biggie. Just wait until next week and everything will be hunky-dory.
7) Cliffhangers – Unless you’re in the middle of a trilogy, like The Empire Strikes Back, big screen cliffhangers are usually taboo. Being ambiguous is fine, but leaving the audience hanging in a stand alone flick would be career suicide for all those involved. Television can conclude an episode or a season with a whodunit with zero complaint.
6) Loyal fan bases – Lots of movies have avid followings, but I dare you to pick a fight with a Lost, Battlestar Galactica or Seinfeld loyalist. They will defend their show to the death should you utter a disparaging remark. I like that kinda attitude.
5) Cast turnover – How many actors appeared on ER during its forty-year run? I stopped watching after Clooney exited, but I was in the minority. No matter how many new faces showed up each new season, the series kept chugging along.
4) Killing a major character is cool – Imagine if Han Solo got whacked during the first ten minutes of Return of the Jedi. George Lucas would be more hated than he already is by the Star Wars faithful. Dispose of Detective Bobby Simone and the show goes on.
3) It’s recyclable – This applies to reality series like The Real World, Survivor and American Idol. A new season means a new set of characters, but if you’re a fan of these shows you’ll keep coming back for more. It’s the premise, not the cast that makes these types of series appealing.
2) Awful shows get canceled – If only horrendous cinema could get canceled, maybe we wouldn’t have been subjected to numerous mind-numbing Friday the 13th and Scary Movie installments.
1) Cable – Whether it’s HBO or FX, cable television has leveled the playing field with movies. Unfettered by the same restrictions as Network TV, cable has been able to produce excellent adult entertainment such as The Sopranos, The Wire, Nip Tuck (first two seasons), Rescue Me and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Movies have taken some shots in recent years, but they’re not completely dead and buried. I’ll be back next week with some reasons why the big screen trumps its little brother.
Clacked by Scott Tunstall 
on Jul 14, 2009 @ 11:01 EST5EDT
This ties in a little with “It’s serialized”…It used to be that characters in a movie started in one place, had an experience, and were changed by the end. On TV, by contrast, the characters had to stay essentially the same, and nothing too important could ever happen in an episode. Keeping the status quo kept the show on the air.
Now, character development is pretty much nonexistent in movies. Special effects happen to characters. When the movie’s over, very little has changed. On TV, characters GROW and CHANGE, going through story arcs and character development. In a lot of shows, the season ends in a totally different place and circumstances than it began. TV is no longer telling individual stories, but telling a long story of characters’ lives.