|
Post by Jeremy on Feb 3, 2019 6:19:31 GMT -8
Indeed it is, MikeJer comment from five years ago! Indeed it is.
(February question: Does The CW actually care about ratings? I used to think they do, but lately I'm not so sure.)
|
|
Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
|
Post by Quiara on Feb 3, 2019 7:18:14 GMT -8
Indeed it is, MikeJer comment from five years ago! Indeed it is. (February question: Does The CW actually care about ratings? I used to think they do, but lately I'm not so sure.) The CW headquarters is just a series of puppetized zombie employees, all piloted "Smile Time"-style by the hands of Greg Berlanti, who is actually the latter day incarnation of some many-armed Hindu god or, at the very least, a very smart cnidarian with mind control powers. But hey, as long as we get Crazy Ex-Girlfriend out of it I am onboard.
|
|
|
Post by Jeremy on Feb 3, 2019 7:43:44 GMT -8
If you had told me back in the fall of 2015 that Crazy Ex-Girlfriend would survive for four seasons, I would have laughed. But through some crazy set of circumstances, they pulled it off.
Truth be told, I'm not loving this final season - Rebecca's arc seems to be verging on redundancy by this point, the songs are a mixed bag, and I miss Old Greg. But props to the network for sticking with this little show for so long.
|
|
|
Post by otherscott on Feb 3, 2019 14:28:42 GMT -8
I think the last time I watched a CW show with any regularity it was Jane the Virgin and that was a couple of years ago.
The CW’s prime market is 80% not watching network TV, so you gotta think that ratings either don’t matter or their business model is inherently flawed. Presumably most of their money now is made from selling shows to streaming networks.
|
|
|
Post by Jeremy on Feb 3, 2019 15:23:42 GMT -8
A good chunk of their money comes from ad revenue on their own streaming network, CW Seed. Between that and releasing shows to Netflix a week after they conclude their seasons, they've perfectly captured the online market. In effect, though, it's a two-way street - The CW skews younger than most networks, and younger people are more likely to get their TV online. So they've developed alongside their Internet-savvy audience.
So Nielsen ratings make up a very small part of the equation, if any at all. Netflix may not release viewership numbers, but judging by social media, Arrow and Supernatural are still incredibly popular with young audiences, so the network is probably making money from them on some platform.
|
|
Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
|
Post by Quiara on Feb 3, 2019 15:52:19 GMT -8
If you had told me back in the fall of 2015 that Crazy Ex-Girlfriend would survive for four seasons, I would have laughed. But through some crazy set of circumstances, they pulled it off. Truth be told, I'm not loving this final season - Rebecca's arc seems to be verging on redundancy by this point, the songs are a mixed bag, and I miss Old Greg. But props to the network for sticking with this little show for so long. Yeah, I think it's hard to make a satisfying conclusion to a show about dealing with bipolar disorder without trivializing said bipolar disorder (which doesn't really have an endpoint). But really, what good ending is there to the show at this point? Stuff like Rebecca having a biological daughter has been basically ignored, any real romantic subplot has to be an anticlimax or it misses the point of the show... Heather and Valencia are basically over... I mean, they can totally pull it off, I'm sure, they've just written themselves into the corner where they can't have a bombastic finale.
|
|
|
Post by Jeremy on Feb 3, 2019 16:52:51 GMT -8
I think they could have fine-tuned the Season Three finale into an ending for the show, albeit a dark one. (Rebecca pays for her crime, but convinces herself that "nothing is ever anyone's fault.") Which would make sense narratively, since each of the first three seasons gets darker and more serious than the last. Would be a real twist if the show ended by completing the transition from hourlong comedy to antihero drama.
But with Season Four trying to lighten the series up and (presumably) end on a happier note, I'm not sure how the show leaves an impactful ending, compared to what came before. (Expanding the season to 18 episodes isn't helping much, either - there's just not enough story to fill that much time.)
|
|
|
Post by Jeremy on Feb 4, 2019 17:29:10 GMT -8
Russian Doll might be the best Netflix series to debut since American Vandal. Natasha Lyonne gives a spectacular performance as a woman caught in a Groundhog Day-style loop, with the series allowing her a comedic/dramatic range far beyond what she was given on Orange is the New Black. And the show gets better and more intriguing as it goes, with some surprising and twisted developments in its later episodes.
Truth be told, I don't want to say that much about it - like The Good Place or Forever, it's best to go into this show knowing as little as possible. But it's a remarkable series, and a brief commitment - eight episodes, all 25-30 minutes long - with a perfectly satisfying finale.
(Which Netflix will ruin if and when they pick it up for Season Two. Sigh.)
|
|
|
Post by ThirdMan on Feb 4, 2019 19:15:50 GMT -8
I've just watched the first two episodes, but will finish the season in a few days.
|
|
|
Post by otherscott on Feb 19, 2019 8:16:52 GMT -8
I liked Russian Doll quite a bit. I think in some ways it more than any other show deserves to be called a 3.5 hour movie with convenient breaks, because throughout the whole thing it's carrying you along and you know it's all going to hinge on how it finishes.
It sticks the landing awfully well, so it makes itself well worth the time watching. Being a TV person more than a movie person I'm not sure I could love it like I do shows that take their time to develop with many kind of episodes and stopping points along the way, but it was very creatively done and a good use of time. I wasn't as enthralled with Natasha Lyonne here. I think her performance is more or less identical to the one she gives on Orange is the New Black, which does make me question whether she has a large range or is just really skilled at being the glib, tortured person, but she does a very good job with that role.
This is a good show, I would be happy if a lot more with the same ambitions and level of execution showed up on my screen.
|
|
|
Post by Jeremy on Feb 19, 2019 12:22:53 GMT -8
I'd prefer a show that moves quickly and says all the things it needs to say over the bloated dramas that drag things out interminably. (Unfortunately, Netflix prefers the latter, since those shows apparently keep people subscribed for longer sustained periods.)
Had Russian Doll premiered in 2018, it would absolutely have made my Top 5 for the year. Which isn't meant as a knock against 2018 TV as much as a hope that 2019 will be better overall.
|
|
|
Post by Zarnium on Feb 19, 2019 15:14:55 GMT -8
I plan to watch it soon, though I've seen so many time-loop stories before I'm wondering how this one distinguishes itself.
|
|
|
Post by Jeremy on Feb 19, 2019 16:39:24 GMT -8
Just avoid spoilers as much as you can. The less you know going in, the better.
In other TV news, I think I may need to subscribe to DC Universe, at least for a while - this Doom Patrol series looks like it may be just the right kind of crazy. (Although it couldn't be as crazy as Grant Morrison's version - could it?)
|
|
|
Post by otherscott on Feb 20, 2019 13:31:59 GMT -8
I'd prefer a show that moves quickly and says all the things it needs to say over the bloated dramas that drag things out interminably. (Unfortunately, Netflix prefers the latter, since those shows apparently keep people subscribed for longer sustained periods.) Had Russian Doll premiered in 2018, it would absolutely have made my Top 5 for the year. Which isn't meant as a knock against 2018 TV as much as a hope that 2019 will be better overall. Oh for sure. If you've got the material for 3.5 hours you should absolutely make your show 3.5 hours, don't make it 13. I wasn't saying longer is of necessity better, but rather than if you can sustain something really good for 50 episodes than you've got yourself a really special and flexible idea. That's all I mean by being a TV person rather than a movie person. Also, one day I'll get "Gotta Get Up, Gotta Get Out" or whatever that song is out of my head. And worse it also gets "Nine in the Afternoon" stuck in my head because that inital beat that the song starts with is almost identical.
|
|
|
Post by Zarnium on Feb 23, 2019 23:04:07 GMT -8
The new Doctor Who season is pretty good so far, four episodes in! I think it's really benefiting from the increased race, gender, and even age diversity of the cast, plus Moffat leaving. (He's got some good episodes under his belt, but my god, some of the worst television I've ever seen comes from his time as showrunner.)
The episode about Rosa Parks got me thinking, though... not that there's anything wrong with that particular episode, but why is there so much fictional coverage of racial issues, but so little of LGBT issues? There's no Doctor Who episode about the Stonewall riots.
I mean, in the same time period as the Rosa Parks episode takes place, it was illegal for people with male genitalia to wear women's clothing, and anyone suspected of doing so could be arrested and charged with a crime. Police would actually raid places where transgender people, crossdressers, and drag queens were known to gather, strip off their pants to check the genitals, and then cart them off. Stuff like that should be highlighted in the media more.
Why isn't it? Well, probably because most people wouldn't consider a bunch of drag queens hanging out in a seedy bar to be age-appropriate television, frankly.
|
|