Roundup Report: Character or Plot.

October 25, 2006

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It appears as though a blend of plot and character have won our informal poll of those of you as addicted to brilliant television as we are. This was a topic that garnered a smaller number, but greater depth of responses. We’re totally in love with that.

This topic also seemed to open up the debate on whether or not the business of entertainment television is really about either plot or character. There are, of course, a thousand different elements that make up successful television, but as Charles suggest, we may be approaching an age when “ratings” trump any other element:

“So long as programmers (or rather accountants calling themselves programmers) demand 'hit show' ratings from the first episode, character development will be secondary (*very* secondary.) "Lost", for instance, has so much 'boom' that we're still getting to know basic character stuff three years in. TV used to be about art, now its about accounting. (Jeez, I sound 80!”)

It was this quote from Mark that really seemed to sum the whole thing up for us:

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