Episode 105: Arc Shows - The Inevitable Filler Episode

...And then the main characters found themselves embarrassingly in medias res without a chance to properly adjust. Such has become the lot of the television protagonist, their stories creatively non-linear, their issues never resolved in a single episode, their tales always working in the most convoluted of twists.

This week the Kids from the 80s, for it is they, look at the phenomenon of prestige television in all its forms, from The Wire to Breaking Bad, from Abrams to Kring, all the big hitters are here. Asking the questions that must have occurred to all modern viewers of the telly box at some stage the kids pontificate about the problems of making things up as you go along and the limiting factors of studio interference and actor contracts.

Incidental Music by incompetech.com


Direct Link: https://archive.org/download/105ArcShowsTheInevitableFillerEpisode/105%20-%20Arc%20Shows%20-%20The%20Inevitable%20Filler%20Episode.mp3

Episode 97: Noughties Procedural Action Men - The TV show

Procedural drama. You know the stuff. You have your cast of regulars who act as problem solvers and each week they get to do their job, working their way through whatever crisis is going on in a neat format be that Murders, Undead Horrors or Aliens come to Earth to stir up trouble.

Of course we've got over an hour to kill talking on this topic on our episode so this necessitates a degree of formula. After our attention grabbing opening skit we sink our teeth into 'Angel' as this series more than any other seemed to umbrella over so much of what we wanted to discuss. This quickly leads into a more worldly chat about the frantic '24' and then onto the crime shows of 'CSI', 'Lie to Me', The Mentalist', 'Criminal Minds' and that UK attempt at '24' style show ... 'Spooks'. If we were a procedural show all this would fall before our first ad break so you can safely assume it will be a dead end as we move on to new lines of inquiry after a word from our sponsor.

We then head into the thrilling middle section as the problem only seems to deepen. Taking our conversation to the amazing but gritty 'The Shield', the undying 'Supernatural', the much beloved 'True Blood', the quirky 'Eureka' and charming 'Warehouse 13'. But all this is mere run around that only leaves us with an ever deepening mystery.

Finally, getting desperate, Leo lets Ian off his leash and lets him talk on the shaggy Doctor Who spin off 'Torchwood', and while he's waffling away to himself something he says makes a connection in Leo's mind and suddenly in a dramatic final scene all is explained and the topic put to bed in time for the closing titles.

And next week will be very much the same I expect. But I think people find such things reassuring.

Incidental Music by incompetech.com

Direct Link: https://archive.org/download/097ActionNoughtyTV/097%20-%20Action%20Noughty%20TV.mp3