Is it audience fatigue, or companies applying questionable metrics to measure a show’s value? Ted Gioia looks at reactions to the MCU and streaming shows canceled before they could resolve their plots to ask if people are avoiding getting attached to something new. Paul Tassi specifically addresses the difference between the broadcast model of throwing canceled shows down the memory hole vs. the streaming model of leaving unfinished narratives in the library.
We could make diagrams out of straws all day about the different metrics used to justify whether shows are allowed to stay on the air long enough to tie up their loose ends and lore planting, but let’s take a step back and consider the role of serialized narratives and shared universes.
How hard is the line between serialized narratives and episodic storytelling? Keely Hill creates a pair of axes to show that episodic vs. serialized storytelling isn’t a binary, but a spectrum. Alvaro Zinos-Amaro praises Star Trek: The Next Generation’s mostly episodic structure. It may have been a product of its time, but also allowed stories to focus on moral questions and the themes of exploration. Joe Hennes breaks down how The Muppets initially worked hard to prevent a sense of continuity between their shows and movies, but now exist in a shared universe.
John Wick just saw the fourth chapter of his story released to the world, but it wasn’t intended as a series. Matt Patches highlights the way that the first film gave a peek into a larger world, but only in ways that serviced the contained story being told. Eric Kohn talks with John Wick producer Basil Iwayk about thinking small and letting audiences drive the desire for expanding the world with more stories.
All our write sprint threads are episodic
Hit the reset button if you missed last week! Join us in our weekly Write Sprint thread to meet your Substack neighbors and encourage each other to keep going!
FYI: You no longer need to use the Substack app to participate in chat! The Write Sprint thread will now open in any browser and allow subscribers to join in.
What’s a Write Sprint?
John wrote up an explanation, but here’s the short version: Set a timer for 60 minutes, close down all distractions, and do nothing but write until that timer goes off.
Shout out to last week’s Sprinters Dallas Gow, Barthos, Elyse Moretti Forbes, Heather Kennedy, John Harvey, and Aimee Link!
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Previously on Inneresting…
In case you missed it, in last issue’s most clicked link Dana Isaacson’s offers suggestions for how to layer clues into your story (including an explanation of the origin of the term Red Herring).
Other Inneresting Things…
Oliver Haug looks at the work involved in bringing LGBTQ+ representation to children’s television, and the importance of finding ways for more kids to see themselves on screen during a time where politicians work to enact anti-LGBTQ+ book bans.
Yucef Merhi explores the world of retrocycling old tech into new experiments and artistic projects.
BBC Earth shares footage of South American birds. You don’t have to learn anything. You can just enjoy watching birds and nature.
Reading the room
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And that’s what’s inneresting this week!
Inneresting is edited by Chris Csont, with contributions from readers like you and the entire Quote-Unquote team.
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