Thanks to Mo Ryan, we have some comments from J.J. Abrams at Comic-Con about the issue I discussed previously:
“I’m just less personally interested, naturally interested in non-serialized shows,” Abrams said. “I enjoy the investment and the anticipation and the characters and what’s going to happen… To me that’s the thing that always grabs you. I think they [the networks] want [serialized stories] too — they just don’t know it. When they talk about stories, stories imply time” and progress.
TV Week quoted more of Abrams from the session:
I think typically [the TV networks] are not [interested in serialized stories]. They want shows that can repeat, the studios want shows they can syndicate… When they talk about stories, stories imply time. Stories imply inevitability and some kind of progress… It’s very weird, because ultimately the serial is ALWAYS going to be what people are going to remember. What do they remember about ‘Cheers’? Sam and Diane, not a great joke.
I’m not necessarily arguing against self-contained episodes. i just find that never acknowledging what happened before is artificial.