#tv asks

[ofjonsafame]

You guys!!!! Is anyone on here a fan of x-files?? The slow burn is going to kill me and I’m on season 1. I don’t want to look up if they ever get together and somehow I’ve never been around people who watch the show, but I need to know if this will ever happen. I literally can’t take it.

Someone please let me know and around how long it takes, because I don’t want to spoil it all.

Also, what the fuck is going on in this show???

I love it

[pynkhues]

Hiii why do you think you there is no longer any filler eps in media??? I miss a 25 ep series so much!!!! ATP I’ll even take 12 eps!!! Like yes I do actually want to see the characters do random things and it not necessarily have to mean anything for the plot. It seems like we lost the art of shows being character driven vs story driven.. what do u think?

Hi! Oh, I can actually tell you the specific reasons for this, anon, because there are specific reasons. It's the rise of streaming and the cinema-ification of television.

Television used to be considered a second-tier form of entertainment that sat beneath cinema, and the result of that was, across the board, cheaper. You had lower production values, cheaper writers, cheaper actors (there's a reason there used to be a firm deviation between movie stars and tv stars), and on top of that, it was ad-supported, which helped to pay for everything. Add to that that the traditional television model ran on a year-long schedule that had to be filled as opposed to a stop-drop-and-binge model, and the fact that longer seasons were also cheaper (everyone gets a pay bump each season, so having one 22-episode season instead of two 12-episode seeasons again were a way of keeping costs down) meant that they just made sense.

The two things that broke TV was the rise in this concept of television not as a medium in an of itself, but as an "eight-hour movie" i.e. bingeable content that Netflix started in order to compete and move viewers away from traditional television and towards streamers. The effect of treating TV as a film meant that production values soared. TV needed to look and feel better so it meant hiring A-list talent, from directors like David Fincher, to casts like Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon, to crews, which meant that schedules changed (A-list talent won't be available to shoot a 22-episode season of anything) and costs went up because suddenly you have movie stars who work for movie fees.

Shortening seasons as a result became a matter of scheduling talent and being in any way shape or form affordable. This was contributed to by the fact that streamers relying on subscriptions instead of advertising has meant they've been beholden to grow subscriber bases by offering bigger, more bombastic shows as a means to entice new subscribers. It's also what made shows disposable, because whatever wasn't luring in viewers was not a 'viable product'. This model has just kept become entrenched as audiences have demanded that across the board, and network television / traditional TV has struggled to compete.

So yeah. We've been in a bit of a snake-eat-tail situation, but on a positive note, we are starting to see some swingback there. Obviously streamers are having to become ad supported because the theory of infinite subscriber growth was never going to last, which may actually revert the way streamers function, but network TV is also starting to feel its way back to the traditional model, with both sitcoms like Abbott Elementary on ABC and procedurals like Found on NBC both getting 22-episode season orders.

It's an interesting time, but yeah. If you're looking for someone to blame for losing filler episodes, it's streaming.

[liveontelevision]

your suffer series reminds me of the song “if we ever meet again” by timbaland

Hell yeah! The chorus really captures all that angst going on lol

[manny-jacinto]

SEVERANCE + TRIVIA from the Severance podcast & interviews

[kitschky]

if i got a single office music dance experience my suffering at work would all be worth it !! (everyone go watch severance now, for me, your comrade)

[watchyourbuck]

No im not “grieving” Buddie, do you know how amazing it is to have queer/bisexual men representation in today’s media? Do you know how important it is for all of the community and the younger people watching this? This is a huge milestone and Buck’s sexuality is valid outside of any type of ship. Today we celebrate.

[sasaleletrebol]

OOoOoooOo you wanna draw tenna.... OoooooOoo this is not who you tjink it is....................... Mr. "Ant" Tennnaaaaa............ Tv time......

Thanks anon, geeee I really hope u aren't some weird cat shaped ink.....that would be unfortunate.

Drawing request #2

[bli-o]

hey autistic people who get overwhelmed by large groups or noise or conversation or etc etc etc you’re not evil for wanting to leave a family gathering. just so you know.

[sageshouldknowbetter]

[dasiesanddarkness]

whenever people say that they dont think the crows act like teenagers i have to laugh because. like. as a teenager. they do. they're relatively mature because they're all severely traumatized and had to grow up fast (also because considering the time period it's based on it's completely reasonable for younger kids to be expected to do more) but they still act like teenagers. i've seen a bunch of people mention the "my ghost wont associate with your ghost" convo and "pay someone to pay someone to burn your kruge" but also, Jesper makes multiple sex jokes. Inej purposefully takes the harder route Kaz can't handle so he'll let her go alone. Wylan complains about pretty much everything. Nina spends most of the first book needling and pissing off her ex because she enjoys it. Kaz spends half his energy trying to be mysterious and cool. Matthias calls Kaz a demon for most of the books because he doesn't like him. Kuwei uses the fact that he looks like his crush's crush to kiss his crush. he also pretends he doesn't know Kerch because he didnt want to talk to people.

and, hands down the most teenager scene in the entire duology, Kaz and Jesper get in an argument and start a fucking fist fight. they are literally rolling on the ground punching each other. and everyone just fucking stands there. watching. Wylan wants someone to stop them but no one does. because they're not actively trying to kill each other. so whatever its fine. and then afterwards they're besties again. that is how 99% of the fights at my school go my dude, they are SUCH teenagers.

[pynkhues]

do you feel like acquiring newsreader indicates an investment or confidence in Sam/IWTV? I'm excited to finally be able to (legally lol) watch it.

Mm, yes and no? I think there are a few things at play, but I do think it indicates some interesting strategic moves and them strengthening their relationship with the ABC, which is our Australian equivalent of the BBC in the UK as a taxpayer funded, government-owned national broadcaster. The ABC makes The Newsreader, but also already airs a lot of AMC shows here (IWTV, Killing Eve and Kevin Can Fuck Himself being the main ones, I think), so they already seem to have some sort of distribution deal between them.

The Australian government has been in the process of introducing quotas for international streamers. This has been a long, drawn out, politically fraught process in the industry, so I won't get into the weeds of all of it, but the basic facts of it are that some time in the next year or so, the Australian government will be telling Netflix, Disney, Prime, etc. that they have to invest a certain amount in Australian content, either by making it or acquiring it, if they want to continue operating in the country.

The streamers - particularly Netflix - have been aggressively fighting the government on this, hence this process has been drawn out and the unions have all been doing a lot of work to keep it high on the agenda (like, we were supposed to know what the quotas were going to be in mid-2023 and probably won't until mid-2025 at this rate. Netflix is the one who was pushing it back specifically until after the election, because they think a Trump administration might be able to crush the quotas going through at all - it's been....pretty ugly and very frustrating and very much a reminder that Australia has very little weight on the world stage).

AMC (and Prime, actually, of which AMC+ is a channel on here) though has kind of I'd say been leaning into it a little? They've been really ramping up their presence at conferences and markets here and seem to be genuinelly trying to work with local producers in getting ahead of it. AMC hasn't made many Australian shows yet (although they've made a First Nations vampire show, Firebite, which is unfortunately not very good), but I know they've been out here quite a lot in-person, and I know my producer has met with them a few times and likes the team and thinks they're genuine in wanting to work with Australian creative teams.

The ABC makes quite a lot of Australian shows (again, they're owned by the Australian government, so they kind of have to, haha) and a lot of it is pretty good? The Newsreader's just one part of their drama slate, but they do a lot of comedy (including two of our best sitcoms, Utopia and Fisk) too. Developing a stronger relationship with the ABC and potentially having a reciprocal distribution deal could be a very good way for AMC+ to get on top of the streaming quotas early, become a preferred partner for Australian producers by being an early adopter, and just overall develop relationships with Australian talent, which they're doing not just with Sam through IWTV, but Emma as a director who also directs both for IWTV and literally every episode of The Newsreader.

That's not even getting into the fact that Australia has one of the best tax offsets for productions and post-production in the world, which is definitely of interest to them, I'd say, given one of the only country's that beats our offset is Prague which is notably where they shoot IWTV, haha. It's why so many blockbusters are shot here though, from Fall Guy to Aquaman, and why so many films do their post-production here.

So yeah, I would say it's probably a little bit indicative of an investment in Sam (and Emma), but I think it's also probably more about shoring up their relationship with the ABC ahead of the quotas being introduced (if they even are anymore). That said, I do think AMC is invested in IWTV - they're putting a lot into building out that storyworld and spinning off franchises and IWTV is the anchor of all of that. :-)

[brodorokihousuke]

howling at the fact that this is officially produced content

[ummmmandy]

[glowcowboy]

the more time i spend w my friends and their kids the more i realize i am not a toddler but i believe in their beliefs

[desktopmermaid]

Consider the following: Your balloon dog oc (sorry i couldn’t find her name :[) wearing a shirt that says I got that dog in me and it’s just a smaller picture of her

No worries! Her name is DJ Job Application or DJ for short. I rly like this visual.. ty

[coulson-is-an-avenger]

i don't know if this was the show's express intent, but murderbot's sex repulsion in the show in tandem with how much its traits have been compared to those of a Sex/ComfortBot and how Leebeebee was constantly sexualizing it and talking about forcing it to have sexual organs for her to find attractive and then kissed it against its will — all of that feels so very reminiscent of my own experiences as an asexual person and it is making me sooooooooo

The idea that even well meaning people keep comparing you to 'more available' versions of yourself. The idea that your body is most relevant to others when pleasure can be sought from it. Not wanting to be looked at, if the only way people look at you is with lust, with misunderstanding.

Obviously murderbot isn't a show primarily about this, but I don't feel like I've ever seen sexual violence against asexuals represented in a media like this, if at all. It's a horrible fact about our demographic, but it is true that we face drastic levels of abuse, conversion therapy, corrective assault, and more. To see a window into the trauma of asexuality taken seriously and handled with even a little compassion truly means a LOT to me.