‘[in relation to 'serialized stuff'] theres less repeat potential as you can’t repeat stuff out of sequence, whereas you can air procedurals in any order you want’

So I think that argues one of my main points as someone who will know this stuff said this and actually the word ‘highly serialized’ is also used by the writer Chad Gervich (and this is a guy who knows what he’s talking about= from all the reveiwes and stuff). So that word has relation to what I’m talking about. Thank You

CW/NBC can’t really compete with them!

So is How I Met Your Mother a serial because every season is about finding the mother?

@ Nick C (to my reply):

Chuck is better than Heroes. The Mentalist is better than Heroes. 24 is better than Heroes. Their all good shows. Heroes…I watch it weekly still, but it’s not good. It’s decent. And yet people still watch 24-a great show, more than the bad show of…oh I don’t know….Crusoe.

The idea that bad shows always getting more viewers is a hoax. Shows that you regularly watch maybe…but not shows with quality. I know Law & Order is a good show. I don’t watch it though…but after 19 seasons it’s still on the air.

Yes good shows will get cancelled. But many will also get renewed. Yes bad shows get renewed. But many will be cancelled.

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/03/17/kings-reign-to-be-short/14764

yeah i know but i am hoping some people come here but don’t leave comments… i need to hope

All you need is broadband and you can get most of the shows on the main networks and cable.

I download four shows (TSCC, Fringe, Leverage and Dollhouse) every week they’re on. Most shows are about 350MB depending on quality – you can get HD downloads, too, for some of them, if you’ve got really fast broadband like cable.

I won’t cite specific sites here, do a Google.

“HEROES btw will not be airing next Fall according to Angela at NBC. It’s being replaced by DAY ONE.”

PROOF?

Either Angela Broomstead is talking out of both sides of her ass or you are. I’m going with the later.

Chuck is far lighter on the main ridge story then Heroes and Lost and dare I say Lost is lighter then Heroes., its perfectly valid to draw these lines.

On another note I love the ‘Chuck had less distance to fall to get really horrible numbers’ positive spin going on.

Forgive me, I have watched Chuck all of twice. I didn’t realize how serialized it was until I started reading all the stuff on this page. I can tune into to Chuck without knowing a darn thing about “The Intersect” or Fulcrum or whatever, and still enjoy the episode. Whether it’s because the show is well done or because the show is not quite as serialized as Heroes or LOST, I don’t know. I just know it’s watchable on an almost-procedural level.

In terms of quality of writing and approach to relating narrative, they can absolutely be compared (the latter is what my comparison was between procedurals and serials). The terms of expectations in attracting readers vs. attracting viewers is where they can’t really be compared (unless you‘re talking about a novel vs. a DVD set of an entire season/show).

Admittedly, because many people have little choice in terms of when to view an episode, procedurals or less serialized shows are better adapted for scenarios in which viewers for whatever reason can’t view a particular episode of the series or haven’t had the opportunity to see previous episodes (essentially by making it not matter if you see the episode or not). That’s not a sign of stronger writing (nor is it a sign of weak writing). As I said, it’s just a difference in approach to storytelling.

In terms of practicality for attracting viewers, it means a heavily serialized program may be more of a risk as a long term project. Past the earliest episodes, the quality of writing may be depended on for keeping viewers rather than attracting more of them.

For quality sake, which approach is more enjoyable or satisfactory depends on the individual desires and expectations of a particular viewer.

Needless to say that is better than last week.

House was up a tenth to 4.9, Mother up a tenth to 3.9, and Medium (R) up a tenth to 1.4.

The reason HEROES doesn’t repeat well is the same reason it’s bleeding viewers.

How can you compare a comedy with a show you have to watch every episode or you don’t know what’s going on?

It’s common sense Chuck would beat Heroes in reruns. Chuck is a more rerunnable show since most episodes could be watched without much knowledge of the previous episodes (yes there is a series plot, but you don’t get screwed if you miss an episode or two-completely unlike Heroes and it is completely possible to jump in half season and have a much general knowledge of what’s going on). If NBC keeps Chuck it’s to get to the 100th episode mark (5th season) to sell it. Of course, Chuck will have to bring in good ratings original wise. So anyone who is surprised that Chuck beat Heroes isn’t using their brain very well.

Episodic shows do better rerun rise.

Nick C I agree. Those numbers are terrible!

Julia, HOUSE promoted the fact that last season they were adding “serial elements,” to the show. They’ve made the show more and more like HOUSE’s favorite TV show. Many said ditching the procedural aspect for a more serial aspect was jumping the shark. Last night they even had HOUSE “jumping the shark,” in an amusing opening scene (where he literally had a model set up for a toy car to jump a toy shark).

It’s still a procedural. Even the minion story arc didn’t last an entire season just a large portion of the beginning of the season.

This is TV. TV is a place where many people can tune in because they heard from a friend of a friend that LOST was good. So they tune into LOST. They’re confused. That’s BAD. There is no way to avoid that assessment. It’s ok for LOST because they’ve done a good job of making the faithful happy. They’re not losing them, and ABC is happy with the numbers.

HEROES on the other hand is doing the same thing, except the faithful aren’t happy they’re jumping ship.

The CW still looks awful:

1999 to 2009 viewership loss (demo):

1. THE CW with a 53% loss in viewers.
2. NBC with a 45% loss in viewers.
3. ABC with a 39% loss in viewers.
4. FOX with a 31% loss in viewers.
5. CBS with a 19% loss in viewers.

So yes, there has been a gradual decline in viewership in the last decade. However the CW is still hit the worst. It’s no surprise (to me) that the worst numbers belong to the Networks most consider to be poorly run today.

FOX is likely to rebound some when Final numbers for the season are available. NBC may get worse. ABC may well improve.

I don’t agree that that necessarily means the story is being told wrong.

However, what you’re saying is supposedly the reasoning behind why procedurals have been seeing more success of late than serialized programming. Procedurals require less of the viewer in terms of having to keep up with episodes or remembering previous developments.

I’ve also heard some say that’s why some of these serialized shows work much better when being watched on DVD in episode groupings rather than as a weekly series.