tearknee February 27 Author Share February 27 5 hours ago, Shannon L. said: But they managed so well. I don't watch as many sitcoms as I used to, so I don't know when they stopped doing fun theme songs, but I checked The Big Bang Theory, which is the most recent one I can think of, and it was only 20 seconds long. The Golden Girls and Friends were 40 and M*A*S*H was 45. I kind of miss them, but it's not a big deal for me that they don't have them anymore. I don't see how they ate up too much time, though. time an old theme song to the amount of plot time a modern comparable show has. 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8592314
tearknee February 27 Author Share February 27 Adult Ally Barone -- well she could have been a vamp on Buffy ;) 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8592793
Raja March 4 Share March 4 From 70s TV the only "interracial" meaning Black and White, couple that I could remember were the Jeffersons' in-laws. But now I am seeing them sprinkled in as one-off storylines on cop shows like Kojak and Police Story recently. And on that Police Story episode a Juvenile Division detective, in those days before women were on patrol duties was going in to take down a teen armed robber carrying her purse. And the theme I do remember of folks fearing that males with female partners would eventually have an affair. 1 3 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8597653
Raja March 5 Share March 5 A line of dialog from a 1976 episode of Emergency! As with all later Jack Webb programs you get the anti drug message but it caught me on how the messaging of a sober or an addict in recovery has changed. A heroin addict who was clean for a year refuses pain medication for multiple broken bones and his friend questions how one could needed shot hurt even an addict. To which Paramedic De Soto immediately corrects "ex drug addict" 6 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8598073
tennisgurl March 6 Share March 6 I'm sick of shows with such short seasons, I miss the days of long seasons full of random filler or comedy episodes. I feel like everyone got really hung up on how "filler" is bad and how they just want to get to the point, but I think we went too far the other way and now every show ends so quickly it feels like the season just started and we didn't have time for character development, comedy, everything feels like a mad rush to get to the end. Some shows do benefit from a shorter season, but I miss the days of wacky side quests and episodes where it was the 1930s for no reason or when every character could get a flashback explaining their backstory, there is just no time for that kind of fun anymore when every show is just trying to get to the next shocking season finale. 15 6 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8599840
Zella March 7 Share March 7 10 hours ago, tennisgurl said: episodes where it was the 1930s for no reason I've been watching a lot of the original Magnum PI lately, and I love when they do this. LOL You're right--I can't imagine a show with a 10-13 episode season doing that. Actually just in general, I've been enjoying Magnum PI way more than I expected to. I say this as someone born after it went off the air so only now encountering it for the first time in my thirties. 8 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8600307
Annber03 March 7 Share March 7 Yeah, I much prefer the old school style of TV, too. I like shows that are a mix of episodic and serialized storytelling - there's just enough overarching storylines or continuing threads that help keep everything connected and give things a nice continuity, but you'll also get more time to spend getting to know the characters individually. Plus, even with older series that did have season/series long arcs, the old school method still allowed those stories time to actually breathe and develop, there wasn't a rush-rush-rush to move the story along. They could expand on stuff more, they could get more detailed with the plot points, and when there were shocking twists, they were earned instead of just thrown in and piled on top of each other to the point where things got all convoluted. But yeah, mainly I just really like the older style because I"m a character-focused person when it comes to getting into a TV show, and it's much easier for me to get invested in characters when I have more time to actually spend with them and get to properly know them. 11 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8600357
Irlandesa March 7 Share March 7 I've said it here before, I think, but I hate when people criticize longer seasons for having "filler" episodes as if shorter seasons don't have filler. They do. In fact, I find the filler in those shorter season shows more annoying because it's even more obvious that a show is spinning its wheels to avoid getting to the end too soon. In longer seasons, the filler is more likely to be something experimental, fun or character-building. 14 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8600361
tearknee March 7 Author Share March 7 OTOH if you look at old shows, the discontinuities from ep to ep stick out like a sore thumb. Elyse Keaton: "Mom! I'm your only daugh- Hi, Michelle!" 2 8 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8600377
Anduin March 7 Share March 7 15 hours ago, tennisgurl said: I'm sick of shows with such short seasons, I miss the days of long seasons full of random filler or comedy episodes. Absolutely! Also, the pace of modern shows, like they have too much plot for the running time. Slow down and let the story breathe a little! Especially Rings of Power. Tolkien wasn't big on brevity. For all the Tolkien trappings, it just doesn't feel like the story he would write. 6 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8600449
paulvdb March 7 Share March 7 15 hours ago, tennisgurl said: I'm sick of shows with such short seasons, I miss the days of long seasons full of random filler or comedy episodes. I feel like everyone got really hung up on how "filler" is bad and how they just want to get to the point, but I think we went too far the other way and now every show ends so quickly it feels like the season just started and we didn't have time for character development, comedy, everything feels like a mad rush to get to the end. Some shows do benefit from a shorter season, but I miss the days of wacky side quests and episodes where it was the 1930s for no reason or when every character could get a flashback explaining their backstory, there is just no time for that kind of fun anymore when every show is just trying to get to the next shocking season finale. I think I have mentioned it before, but I do miss the longer seasons with weekly episodes and occasional breaks. I used to hate the long wait between episodes, but stretching out the season meant that at least I'd remember what happened in the previous season's finale when the new season started. There used to be a few months between the end of one season and the beginning of the next, but now you're lucky if you only have to wait a year between seasons with many shows having two years or more between seasons. 8 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8600459
Haleth March 7 Share March 7 The only thing I appreciate about short seasons is that with so much content available I can watch a lot of different shows. There aren’t enough hours in the day to watch everything if shows had 20+ episodes each season as in ye good olde days. 7 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8600500
tearknee March 7 Author Share March 7 Yeah. It would feel like reaching the end of King's the Strand. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8600503
Annber03 March 7 Share March 7 4 hours ago, Anduin said: Absolutely! Also, the pace of modern shows, like they have too much plot for the running time. Slow down and let the story breathe a little! Especially Rings of Power. Tolkien wasn't big on brevity. For all the Tolkien trappings, it just doesn't feel like the story he would write. Yeah, that's the funny thing, streaming shows especially will expand the running time of their episodes, to where there's no real consistency from episode to episdoe in terms of how long each one is.... ...and yet it still often feels more bloated than not. A lot of TV shows are trying to be like mini movies nowadays, and...if I wanted to watch a movie, I'd, y'know, watch a movie. I'm watching a TV show because I want to watch a TV show. Let it actually look and feel and play out like a TV show. 6 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8600521
Ohiopirate02 March 7 Share March 7 8 hours ago, Irlandesa said: I've said it here before, I think, but I hate when people criticize longer seasons for having "filler" episodes as if shorter seasons don't have filler. They do. In fact, I find the filler in those shorter season shows more annoying because it's even more obvious that a show is spinning its wheels to avoid getting to the end too soon. In longer seasons, the filler is more likely to be something experimental, fun or character-building. I find that those who tend to complain about filler are people who are plot-first viewers. Character building is further down on their list of priorities, so when a show slows down to plot to explore the characters they complain. In the book world, these are the people who prefer thrillers and the works of James Patterson or Lee Child. I am a character-first type of viewer who will turn off the TV if I cannot stand the characters. I love it when a show slows it down and we get to peel back the layers on the different characters. 6 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8600546
Dimity March 7 Share March 7 1 hour ago, Ohiopirate02 said: I am a character-first type of viewer who will turn off the TV if I cannot stand the characters. I love it when a show slows it down and we get to peel back the layers on the different characters. This works well for dramas, not so much in sitcoms. I agree with you if I can't stand the characters, or at least one of them anyway, I won't watch the show. So good-bye Seinfeld and King of Queens!. But anyway the filler episodes on sitcoms are so blatant now, not because older series didn't do it, but because with so few episodes we viewers really look forward to a new episode in a way I don't think we did before. And then when the new episode is just...blah...it gets noticed. Are we unrealistically expecting them to knock it out of the ballpark every time? Maybe. But given the shorter season, and the often months long gap before a new episode drops maybe not. 4 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8600631
DearEvette March 7 Share March 7 (edited) 2 hours ago, Dimity said: But anyway the filler episodes on sitcoms are so blatant now, not because older series didn't do it, but because with so few episodes we viewers really look forward to a new episode in a way I don't think we did before. I have truly never thought about sitcoms having filler episodes. I have always looked at sitcoms as truly episodic in nature where that episode's plot started at the beginning and got resolved by the end. They are presented with a situation which they comedically worked through until resolved all in 21 minutes. I do know some sitcoms carry plots over multiple episodes, but each episode has always felt self contained for the most part. I am curious what you'd consider a filler for sitcoms? The Very Special Episodes maybe? Edited March 7 by DearEvette 12 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8600648
Raja March 7 Share March 7 43 minutes ago, DearEvette said: I am curious what you'd consider a filler for sitcoms? The Very Special Episodes maybe? Back door pilots would be my cut. 11 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8600685
tearknee March 7 Author Share March 7 Just now, Raja said: Back door pilots would be my cut. Kelly's Kids and that last episode of the Facts of Life ("Do you think I over-boobed?") etc. 5 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8600689
Dimity March 7 Share March 7 1 hour ago, DearEvette said: I am curious what you'd consider a filler for sitcoms? The Very Special Episodes maybe? No not really. Those aren't featured much anymore, at least not on the sitcoms I follow. I guess I mean ones where an important plot point has been set up in previous episodes and that gets ignored for something pointless, and for a sitcom most importantly, laughless. 6 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8600720
DearEvette March 7 Share March 7 1 hour ago, Raja said: Back door pilots would be my cut. Ugh. Yeah. That makes sense. 6 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8600762
chitowngirl March 7 Share March 7 5 hours ago, DearEvette said: I am curious what you'd consider a filler for sitcoms? The Very Special Episodes maybe? Clip shows. Friends seemed to have a lot of those 8 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8600952
tearknee March 7 Author Share March 7 53 minutes ago, chitowngirl said: Clip shows. Friends seemed to have a lot of those No, Family Ties is the trope maker (SNL when Justine B hosted) 3 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8600994
Ceindreadh March 7 Share March 7 I sort of half miss the clip show episodes that nearly every show used to have. It was usually the only chance I had to get a second look at many episodes, as my local channels rarely re-ran shows. Okay, so there were pretty much only two storylines used* (character has amnesia or is in a coma), but I still liked it for the most part. *The main exception being Xena Warrior Princess which had a heck of lot more variety in its clip shows. 6 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8601069
Annber03 March 7 Share March 7 And then of course there was "Community", which did its own very novel take on the "clip show" concept :D. 9 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said: I am a character-first type of viewer who will turn off the TV if I cannot stand the characters. I love it when a show slows it down and we get to peel back the layers on the different characters. Yep. I don't necessarily have to like all the characters on a TV show (although in my case, I usually do :p), but even the ones that I'm meant to hate 'cause they're the villain or whatever, I still have to be invested in them on some level. I sitll want to give a damn about why they're doing what they're doing. Better to have a strong emotion towards a character, be it positive or negative, than to just not care at all. 8 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8601104
Irlandesa March 8 Share March 8 11 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said: I find that those who tend to complain about filler are people who are plot-first viewers. Character building is further down on their list of priorities, so when a show slows down to plot to explore the characters they complain. Maybe but writers who have to create longer seasons also do better episode plots. 1 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8601297
Affogato March 8 Share March 8 The last episode of DS9, all of them moving on to other jobs, was moving in a way that a shorter show could never capture. Ont of the good things about television is that the characters were developed over time. They became whole people and you could have things happen to them that eere wholly earned. Not just Henry’s death in MASH, not just big things, but smaller things as well. 7 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8601583
tearknee March 8 Author Share March 8 1 minute ago, Affogato said: The last episode of DS9, all of them moving on to other jobs, was moving in a way that a shorter show could never capture. Ont of the good things about television is that the characters were developed over time. They became whole people and you could have things happen to them that eere wholly earned. Not just Henry’s death in MASH, not just big things, but smaller things as well. Indeed.. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8601587
EtheltoTillie March 10 Share March 10 On 3/7/2025 at 7:32 AM, tearknee said: Yeah. It would feel like reaching the end of King's the Strand. But isn't it The Stand? Or did he write another ridiculously long book LOL. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8603547
tearknee March 10 Author Share March 10 (edited) 55 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said: But isn't it The Stand? Or did he write another ridiculously long book LOL. Well, walking down the place in London... Edited March 10 by tearknee 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8603579
JustHereForFood March 16 Share March 16 On 3/6/2025 at 6:27 PM, tennisgurl said: I'm sick of shows with such short seasons, I miss the days of long seasons full of random filler or comedy episodes. I feel like everyone got really hung up on how "filler" is bad and how they just want to get to the point, but I think we went too far the other way and now every show ends so quickly it feels like the season just started and we didn't have time for character development, comedy, everything feels like a mad rush to get to the end. Some shows do benefit from a shorter season, but I miss the days of wacky side quests and episodes where it was the 1930s for no reason or when every character could get a flashback explaining their backstory, there is just no time for that kind of fun anymore when every show is just trying to get to the next shocking season finale. Same. I felt bad for the actors when I've read how long the filming hours were in the old 22-ish-episodes per season format, and I'm sure that the new format gives them better flexibility to work on various projects, but can't there be some middle ground? This new model when we get 6 or 8 episodes at once and then wait for 2 years for the next season doesn't seem to work well for viewing numbers, if the speed at which the shows get cancelled is any indicator. People forget, lose interest, or need to take longer to be able to watch the whole season. Or some of us just prefer not to binge-watch and take our time and who knows how well is that calculated into the numbers, I've heard various contradicting statements about how quickly one has to watch it to count. Back in the old format, a show like Supernatural or Big Bang Theory could last for over 10 seasons even if it was clear the writers no longer know what to do with the characters and now even if the creators have clear plans for 3 or 5 seasons, they are very lucky if they get that. 7 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8608663
Ohiopirate02 March 17 Share March 17 20 hours ago, JustHereForFood said: Same. I felt bad for the actors when I've read how long the filming hours were in the old 22-ish-episodes per season format, and I'm sure that the new format gives them better flexibility to work on various projects, but can't there be some middle ground? This new model when we get 6 or 8 episodes at once and then wait for 2 years for the next season doesn't seem to work well for viewing numbers, if the speed at which the shows get cancelled is any indicator. People forget, lose interest, or need to take longer to be able to watch the whole season. Or some of us just prefer not to binge-watch and take our time and who knows how well is that calculated into the numbers, I've heard various contradicting statements about how quickly one has to watch it to count. Back in the old format, a show like Supernatural or Big Bang Theory could last for over 10 seasons even if it was clear the writers no longer know what to do with the characters and now even if the creators have clear plans for 3 or 5 seasons, they are very lucky if they get that. From what I have read, this problem is due to how and when these projects get funded. Streamers wait for their show to be a hit before green-lighting another season which is why it takes 2 years for the next season to air. Production companies are not going to foot the bill to work on another season based on hope. They begin to work on other projects that do have the funding from the streamer or network, and the contracted employees like writers also move on to other projects. If the streamers really wanted to have a line up of scripted shows release on a regular basis, then they would provide the funds to do so. 1 8 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8609623
paulvdb March 18 Share March 18 This is a big difference between streaming and networks. Streamers produce a season and when all the work is finished they release the season. Even for shows that don't drop the whole season at once they'll have the whole season finished long before they premiere the first episode. Network shows (especially those with longer seasons) will start production in the summer and continue to produce new episodes throughout the season. This means that the show is still in productions while the episodes are airing. So when the network sees that the show is a hit and renews it the production companies can continue to work on the show without interruption. Even if a show is only renewed after the whole season has aired the production company can start working on the new season in the summer and everybody will still be under contract. People working on the shows would know the production schedules for network shows because they all worked on the same schedule so if a show was cancelled they could look for jobs on other shows that would all work the same schedule, starting in the summer and ending in spring. During the break between seasons they could work on movies and/or go on vacation. 3 3 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8610423
Fool to cry March 21 Share March 21 I didn't realize how many old dramatic shows from the 50s and 60s, like westerns or detective programs were only half an hour: Dragnet, The Rifleman, Have Gun Will Travel, early seasons of Gunsmoke, Peter Gunn, M Squad. You could tell a full story The Twilight Zone was half an hour and when they switched to an hour for season 4 most of the episodes felt padded and they returned to half an hour for the fifth and final season. 5 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/149316-the-good-old-days-the-things-we-miss-in-the-modern-tv-era-and-the-ones-we-dont/page/3/#findComment-8613252
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.