Milking the TV Clock

After years of formulaic crime dramas (intentionally formulaic, as witnessed by the Law & Order and CSI franchises) it appears that TV dramas have found the next breakout genre: The Stretched-Out Suspense Movie. You could say that 24 started the trend by taking a run-of-the-mill movie plot (CIA agent has 24 hours to prevent an assasination attempt) and prolonging it into a full television season. The success of the show led to other thriller plots being turned into shows, like Lost (plane crash leaves 48 survivors on a spooky island) and Prison Break (self explanatory). Now comes word that two more additions to the genre will be arriving next fall with Heist and Kidnapped.

The genius of these shows is that they turn would be an ordinary Kurt Russell movie and churn out densely packed, fast-paced episodes that nearly always end in cliffhangers. However, the potentially fatal flaw of these shows is obvious: these concepts aren't built to last. We started to see this in the second and third seasons of 24, where producers had to resort to forced subplots and tangential characters to stretch the series out to the full year. Twice this season, Lost has used the slow-down tactic of the "simultaneous perspective" episode, in which literally prevents time from moving forward. Even the most cock-eyed optimist can't fathom how Prison Break can last beyond one season without having to radically change the show's concept (maybe the good brother will get arrested next season and the bad brother has to break him out!). Perhaps the solution is that networks should just reduce their expectations and start producing series designed to last 2-3 years, then keep re-loading with fresh concepts. After all, there are tons of Die Hard disciples that can be turned into television series. Under Siege becomes Mutiny, Speed becomes Bus Bomb... the possibilities are endless.