Here are my biases about television programs.
I like TV shows about something. Anything.
Even Seinfeld – famously, a show about nothing – actually was about something: Modern alienation, the annoyances of those around us, the selfishness of humanity. Everybody Loves Raymond has things to say about dysfunctional family dynamics.
I have previously written about Veronica Mars, a show that was film noir set in high school, but also was a show that was absolutely about class warfare and other things. My feeling is that if a show isn’t about something, then it’s just a show where a bunch of stuff happens.
I prefer shows that progress over time.
I’ve mentioned this before (here and here), but it’s probably worth mentioning again. If you’re not running somewhere, then you’re just jogging in place.
If you watch the initial episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show from 1970 and then jump to the final episodes from 1977, you’ll notice character changes. Mary Richards became a stronger person. Lou Grant became more willing to show his softer side, at least to some.
If you watch I Love Lucy over time, you can tell the passage of time by things (Little Ricky’s age, the season they moved to Connecticut), but not by changes in character.
Look at The Brady Bunch. By and large, the stories didn’t change; the characters didn’t change. They added Cousin Oliver.
I think the defining characteristics of a truly terrible show is that it doesn’t know what it is about; its creators have nothing to say; things happen, but they never add up to anything.
Movement Is Progress
These two elements are tied together: Being About Something and Moving Forward. I can most easily demonstrate this by pointing to shows where this doesn’t happen.
On a drama, what you end up with is a lot of soap opera-style Sturm und Drang, leavened with the occasional touch of deus ex machina. There’s a lot of yelling and running around. Things happen and then they’re gone, leaving no trace behind.
On a sit-com, you end up with nothing but gags, strung along like popcorn on thread. The characters are straight men, stooges and quipsters. If a couple are in a loving relationship, you still go for the jugular on a joke, because it’s funny. Who cares about consistency? It’s all about the laugh. Those characters are Joke Delivery Vehicles.
So…
- Be about something.
- Acknowledge the events of the past, even if obliquely.
- Be willing to change, to move forward.
- The events should mean something to the characters, even if the issues are seemingly trivial. If they don’t care, why should we?
UPDATE: This interview with Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, the creators of How I Met Your Mother provides further illumination:
Carter Bays: [Season 6, starting in the fall of 2010, is] going to be a newsworthy season for us. We were happy with season five as we were doing it, but the headline is, season five of our show was very sitcommy. We feel that way. We set out to say, ‘What if we do a show where every episode you hit the reset button at the end of the episode? Do it like a box of chocolates; every one is a little morsel.’ And we had fun doing that, but that’s not the show we’ve wanted to do. Our headline for this year is that we’re kind of getting back into the saga of the show.