Fizzzzle Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 "always" is a strong word, which I'll get to One thing I've noticed with most big streaming shows is that the second season of everything kind of sucks, or at the very least isn't nearly as good as the first. I just recently started watching Stranger Things for the first time. The first season is fucking incredible. The second season? .... it's fine. The first season fo Altered Carbon is one of the best things I've ever seen on TV. The second season? ... it's fine. An exception to that formula is The Witcher. The first season was just okay, but the second season was one of the only shows that was so good that I immediately watched the whole thing all over again as soon as I finished. My theory is this: in the new streaming model, we don't really have pilots anymore. Studios will greenlight an entire season of a show with no idea of how it's going to perform. So, the showrunners and most of the actors are under contract to work on a second season if there is one, but everyone else who worked on the show for season 1 has moved onto other things. The people who really handled the nuts and bolts of the show are all gone because they can't afford to wait 14 months to see if the show will last. That's why these shows can be so variable in quality from season to season. There is such a massive change from the crew to the writers to the effects studios that it's hard to guarantee quality from one season to the next. The model necessitates high turnover in those departments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser_Soze Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 Dark Season 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaysWho? Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 6 hours ago, Fizzzzle said: "always" is a strong word, which I'll get to One thing I've noticed with most big streaming shows is that the second season of everything kind of sucks, or at the very least isn't nearly as good as the first. I just recently started watching Stranger Things for the first time. The first season is fucking incredible. The second season? .... it's fine. lol I immediately thought of Stranger Things. Really dug Season 1, thought the second season was OK and I hated the boyfriend character to Winona Ryder's character. When original shows were starting, maybe this theory wasn't the case since Season 2 of Bojack Horseman is great and floored people with what it tackled. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ort Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 Season 2 of Stranger Things fit in perfectly with the 80s vibe. A sequel to the beloved original that turned out to be messy retread of everything that happened in the first one, sloppily shoehorning in all the story beats from season 1 but making everything way bigger and more over the top, yet feeling rushed and soulless and missing all the subtle magic of the first... it was the PERFECT 80s sequel. A soulless cash grab. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stepee Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 Second season of Outer Banks was good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 10 hours ago, Fizzzzle said: My theory is this: in the new streaming model, we don't really have pilots anymore. Studios will greenlight an entire season of a show with no idea of how it's going to perform. So, the showrunners and most of the actors are under contract to work on a second season if there is one, but everyone else who worked on the show for season 1 has moved onto other things. The people who really handled the nuts and bolts of the show are all gone because they can't afford to wait 14 months to see if the show will last. That's why these shows can be so variable in quality from season to season. There is such a massive change from the crew to the writers to the effects studios that it's hard to guarantee quality from one season to the next. The model necessitates high turnover in those departments. This does sound quite plausible to me. @skillzdadirecta - do you have any industry insight into this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLeon Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 Also, you give season 1 everything you’ve got, because there’s a good chance it’ll get unceremoniously dumped and cancelled two days laters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bacon Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 I haven't watched enough shows to experience the second season always sucking. The closest thing is when The Last Kingdom became produced solely by Netflix. Big downgrade. What's funny about that to me is that I never read the books. I JUST found out that after season 2, there are, "significant plot changes from the novels compared to the previous two seasons". It's funny how that explains the drop in quality partly. I've tried rewatching the series so I can watch Season 5 and the movie, but I can't make it past Season 3. I know I'm in the minority in that, but man. Season 3 reeks of Netflix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skillzdadirecta Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 2 hours ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said: This does sound quite plausible to me. @skillzdadirecta - do you have any industry insight into this? @Fizzzzle's observations is kinda close. There's also the prevalence of "mini-rooms" that has become common with the current streaming model that is one of the issues the current strike is trying to resolve. Less writers on a show means more stressed writers and rushed work, especially with these big budgeted shows. Another factor is once a show becomes a hit, you get more interference from "The Studio" or the execs where in the first season, they kinda let you do your thing and are a lot more hands off. One of my old teachers used to say that if you see something on the screen that sucks, the LAST person to blame is The writer. You can make a good script into a bad movie or show, but you can't make a bad script into a good movie or show... or so they say. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kal-El814 Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 2 hours ago, TheLeon said: Also, you give season 1 everything you’ve got, because there’s a good chance it’ll get unceremoniously dumped and cancelled two days laters. This phenomenon used to be pretty obvious with TV pilots too. I always remember the pilot for something like Smallville being really big in scope, then the second episode / first REAL episode airs and everything looks worse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 Not having a full time writing staff, including having them on set during production, is a big issue. Often the first season of a show is the only one nowadays where it was written in a more traditional way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skillzdadirecta Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 7 minutes ago, Kal-El814 said: This phenomenon used to be pretty obvious with TV pilots too. I always remember the pilot for something like Smallville being really big in scope, then the second episode / first REAL episode airs and everything looks worse Pilots are basically mini-movies so their budgets are going to be higher than the budgets of week to week episodes especially on Network TV, ESPECIALLY on a non-big three channel like the CW. That's why subsequent episodes of a show like Smallville would look worse than the pilot. Also less time to produce as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remarkableriots Posted June 2, 2023 Share Posted June 2, 2023 Star Trek: Discovery season 2 was good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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