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A really thought provoking video. I’ve been having the same thoughts in mind for a couple of months and I’d equally say we kinda are past it. I’d consider the 90s 2000s and the 2010s as the peak of television in all History.
I mean while they’re a couple of good shows like severance, The boys,House of Dragon, Andor that have been produced in this new decade I do think that the quality of television shows has significantly dropped in the last couple of years. A lot the good shows produced in this decade don’t really hold to the league of shows like Breaking Bad, Sopranos, Bojack Horseman, Luther, Peak Game of Thrones etc… (Severance ,Better Call Saul, Succesion are a few exceptions). They are giants in comparison to the top tier shows currently on air. You could say that the pandemic has had its effect on the production and quality of live action shows. But overall there’s also been an obvious shift towards prioritizing spectacle over substance. What do you guys think?
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I think TV is as strong as it has ever been, to be frank. It also doesn’t really matter how “big” or massive a show gets to its quality necessarily. Some of these are from the 10s, many into the 20s to now:
[Babylon Berlin](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWnCxbdpqK4&ab_channel=ARD), [Warrior](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79rtcCnaeyo), [The Last of Us](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVyDWbsucRA), [Atlanta](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CetGXHU5aOA), [Silo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZYhuvIv1pA&ab_channel=AppleTV), [Heartstopper](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrK4xPy4ahg), [Dark](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrwycJ08PSA), [The Expanse](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQuTAPWJxNo&t=19s), [Squid Game](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqxAJKy0ii4), [Severance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEQP4VVuyrY&t=74s), [Better Call Saul](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN4oydykJFc), [Mr. Robot](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIBiJ_SzJTA), [The Queen’s Gambit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZn3qSgmLqI&t=1s), [1883](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbyxdYKhC7U&t=55s), [Yellowjackets](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OtaWnq6G5s), [One Piece](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ades3pQbeh8&ab_channel=Netflix), [This is Going to Hurt](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4h8xbc0cPg&pp=ygUedGhpcyBpcyBnb2luZyB0byBodXJ0IHRyYXNpbGVy), [Station Eleven](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybaY2A7YmxM), [The Bear](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-cqqAJIXhs), [Pachinko](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1r5XXJOYNA), [For All Mankind](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZS9M52Bd_w&t=47s), [Succession](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzYxJV_rmE8&t=21s), [Euphoria](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cajLoaFl2Zo), [The Handmaids Tale](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVLiDETfx1c&t=8s), [Ozark](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hAXVqrljbs), [Sex Education](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd2ldTR-WpI), [My Name](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOl7iOrD31Q&t=21s), [I May Destroy You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTjlurdbNnw), [Paranormal](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFtRkDC7aHc), [Arcane](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXmAurh012s&t=35s), [Money Heist](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_InqQJRqGW4&t=6s), [Black Sails](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT2Y5jjBNpQ), [House of the Dragon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DotnJ7tTA34), [Extraordinary Attorney Woo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxeXECe2t-c), [Man in the High Castle](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUWHskLEses), [Wednesday](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJzm8RFQ8bA), [Chernobyl](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9APLXM9Ei8&t=29s), [When They See Us](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHbOt2M8md0), [The Mandalorian](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOC8E8z_ifw), [Balkan Shadows](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjvemFdrbRk), [Stranger Things](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnd7sFt5c3A), [All of us are Dead](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IN5TD4VRcSM&t=49s), [The Last Kingdom](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxPApTGWwas), [Ted Lasso](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3u7EIiohs6U), [The Gilded Age](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKj1cMz3yfI), [The Peripheral](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRdkRQzcrrc&t=1s), [Andor](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKOegEuCcfw), [Cobra Kai](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCwwxNbtK6Y), [Altered Carbon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Yt89b5AcwY&t=80s), [The Sandman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83ClbRPRDXU), [Moving](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVYw3biOgyE), [Dahmer: Monster](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVHHs-xllqo&t=3s), [Dexter: New Blood](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzUx1hyL-yk), [Maid](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgm0-iP0fUk), [Unorthodox](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nixgq1d5J7g), [What We Do in the Shadows](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfBbSwX6kEk), [The Tulsa King](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaQSScwZPbA), [The Boys](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1bhOaLV4FU), [The White Lotus](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGLq7_MonZ4), [Mare of Easttown](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm7RmpzCeyk), [Killing Eve](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk0PyD-XNZA), [Only Murders in the Building](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTtaNEy3PDw), [Unbelievable](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTIkUzkbzQk), [Barry](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKaL8jiAGuI), [Narcos: Mexico](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoDrQ8JktVg), [His Dark Materials](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APduGe1eLVI), [Black Bird](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH1FOkJys3Y), [Watchmen](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RhBjI9dPe4), [Dead to Me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwYBw1raC2o), [Shadow & Bone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dOmcdz-PN0&t=41s), [Beef](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFPIMHBzGDs), [Poker Face](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x2NzusLAqk), [Extraordinary](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdtyxmTRABs), [Slow Horses](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9ZJChzPn0U), [The Offer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iowLzO9-aew), [Devs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8klax373ds), [The Haunting of Hill House](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eqxXqJDmcY), [Mayor of Kingstown](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhmIVF2dTbI&pp=ygUabWF5b3Igb2Yga2luZ3N0b3duIHRyYWlsZXI%3D), [Revenant](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuEiPKmv6qs&ab_channel=DisneyPlusSingapore), [Reacher](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSycMV-_Csw), [Peacemaker](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHXq62VCaCM&pp=ygUScGVhY2VtYWtlciB0cmFpbGVy), [The Morning Show](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPYUpfIoM9w), [Normal People](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1JQuWxt3cE&ab_channel=Hulu), [Star Trek: Strange New Worlds](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL4iCAB6MFo&pp=ygUac3RyYW5nZSBuZXcgd29ybGRzIHRyYWlsZXI%3D), [Gangs of London](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoJ_yZqhmAg&ab_channel=SkyTV), [Fall of the House of Usher](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvuAWVzP6wI&t=1s&pp=ygUaZmFsbCBvZiB0aGUgaG91c2Ugb2YgdXNoZXI%3D), [The Glory](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqVVrTvrI8U&pp=ygURdGhlIGdsb3J5IHRyYWlsZXI%3D)
All of these are well received, to highly acclaimed. There’s also the prominence of international media content now. In the noughties it was just American content, with a smattering of UK content. That was it. Now a lot of money is being poured into international content, especially Korea – which has hugely diversified modern media. It’s also much easier to find and watch newer content legally or illegally, the genres are more varied (there’s much more speculative fiction being made in the 2010s than there was in the 80s, 90s and 00s)
Whilst one might argue, subjectively, that the peaks of the 00s and early 10s were “better” than the peaks of the late 10s and early 20s, keep in mind that most TV of the 90s, 00s were 22 episode long police/legal/medical procedurals that leaned heavily on the “case of the week” formula. A tired old format.
So maybe there were more A* TV shows in the late 00s and early 10s, but there are plenty more B+ TV shows now.
The quality gap between Sopranos, The Wire and Breaking Bad (which are of limited appeal if you don’t like crime shows, like me) and mostly everything else was pretty big.
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it’s simply because it’s not about making good content anymore. Some of netflix best content never gets a second season even with a large fan base because it’s based of an algorithm based off of how many views it gets in a certain amount of time. Nothing else matters besides seeing how quickly they can shove something down your throat, make a quick buck, and on to the next one. It’s consumption gone wild on a mass scale.
It has been over for a LONG time!
Yes, I want to go back to 1980 when it was sucky family sitcoms and Bonanza.
Every tv era has gems. Unfortunately most of them remains undiscovered by the general audience.
To be precise, the golden age of Live Action Television is over. Anime and animation installements are holding up strong.
Maybe the peak is over, but television as a medium to tell rich, complex stories is still in a better place now than it has been for the vast majority of its existence, and that doesn’t appear to be changing.
No, I don’t think the golden age of tv is over. I think the issue comes down to the amount of streaming services, cutting the cord of cable, and the cost of all of the streaming services. The industry itself is causing these issues. I’ve been waiting for someone to reinvent the concept of cable, but for streaming, where you have one place to go, but can pick which tier of streaming services you want. There are so many shows that have great buzz, but people don’t see them because it’s on yet another streaming service.
I think the other issue is that the streaming model, for the most part, has been to dump each season all at once, so there is no time to build that water cooler chat that made some of the shows you cite so popular. I remember going to work on Mondays and talking about GoT, True Blood, etc. The actors themselves would go on Twitter and live chat during an episode. Some shows, like LOST, also used the commercials and off season to build ARGs, which kept interest going.
No lol. Look at the number of high quality shows when The Sopranos was running vs now. The Sopranos and The Wire were the exceptions
The good days of tv shows are when everyone watched the same few big shows and there was a new episode once a week. Then there would be discussions about the show and it had the chance to be in the collective consciousness enough.
This is a sort of negative recency bias. There were a lot of bad TV shows on at the same time as The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, etc. Those good shows just stood the test of time. It’s not like that entire generation of TV was amazing.
What is killing it for me are the long delays between very short seasons. Upload just returned after 18 months and I couldn’t remember what happened during the last season. The Morning Show produces a new season every two years and they are only ten episodes long. Why should I get invested in a show only to have to wait one to two years for it to return.
I like Acapulco on Apple. It last aired in December 2022. While it has been renewed, there is no release date scheduled other than 2024. I don’t know if it has even begun production yet. This laisse faire attitude by studios and streaming services is just insulting to viewers.
yes.
I would also add the UK’s Detectorists, Peaky Blinders, The Fall, Happy Valley, France’s Spiral, Italy’s Inspector Montalbano and US Manhunter to that list and add that I believe the golden age is continuing, and the most significant thing it has done is eclipse Hollywood/Mainstream cinema as the main provider of creative content beyond music. This is a very good thing as Hollywood values were bullshit. I’ve always got a few TV series on the backburner for when I have time to see them, whilst I only choose to drag myself to the cinema about twice a year these days, despite seeing reviews and hearing podcasts about the films. I really can’t think of a new film in the past decade that really knocked me for six like some of the TV in your list and above has.
I think a lot of things in the world rn are at a point where they might not be perfect, it’s not the peak but there’s better and more accessible content out there than ever
Not sure it’s that much different now. The Game of Thrones era may be over in a sense, but maybe something like Stranger Things is roughly equivalent for a genre show that pulls in that huge audience.
Seems like it’s just a matter of time before lightning strikes again for HBO, anyway. They definitely tried with Westworld and Last of Us. Maybe Euphoria on the drama end.
There is quite a bit of fragmentation with the streaming market, but that will probably shift as well.
They called 90’s going into 00′ the golden age of tv with shows like the sopranos and the wire. Many good shows came after it. There is so much out there I’d say we are in it the same way we are in the aftermath of the industrial revolution.
You’re going to throw the Boys in there as an example of good shows comparable to the “golden era”?
I think excellent shows will always exist.
I tend to think the flaw is in perception.
The same examples are given over and over but those are examples that still spanned years or decades.
Sopranos is not in the same timeframe as Game of Thrones in my head and Last of Us or Succession are as good as anything that came before them.
Creators will keep doing that.
The main issue will be the patience of studios and audience who have far more mediocre or bad selection to choose from.
However, to be clear, tv has ALWAYS been majority medicocre to bad tv.
been over
The issue to me is that studios and now streaming services don’t really care about the quality of the shows.
They want continual success and lowest cost & shortest creation cycle possible to maximize profits.
yeah, it was for some time, certainly not a recent thing
Without debating the quality, we can measure the quantity.
Most shows had 24 episodes per season.
Now we get 10 episodes and some shows even started to only have 8 episodes per season
I hope so. There’s entirely too much tv out there to keep up
No, because every few years a new ‘golden age of tv’ dies out. It’s just because people want to experience it and want to make sure the new stuff is always seen as worse compared to the old things
Lol or you’re getting older and no longer the catered demographic.
Yes. Arya sneak attacked it.
I think it has to do with the producers and writers. Cast is key, but without good writers and producers who see the show down the road you won’t get much. Look at extremely successful shows by the length of its run. Cheers…Charles,Burrows, Charles. Frasier….charles, burrows, Charles. 3rd Rock….That 70s show….Bonnie and Terry Turner. Mind you this is not cable yet. Taylor Sheridan of recent with Yellowstone and its spin offs. Straddling between a cable and network format? Show runners kill great shows too. Even when we as Ana audience aren’t ready to see it go. This is driven by what I believe is applying math. They get data instantly while streaming. They know right away if a show is working or tanking. Along with cost and salaries it’s sometimes an unemotional decision or response.
It died when survivor premiered and spawned 100+ awful unwatchable reality shows. Mrc was already on the exit from music and television has t been as good since.