Saturday, November 30, 2013

Dr. Who and Bilbo and Long Form Television.

For class we were assigned to watch some long form television. And to think about literature and media and the trans narrative that can be found within long form television. Personally, I don’t watch a lot of long form television, be it online, broadcast, streaming or cable. In fact, it isn’t how I absorb story for the most part –I usually stick to the tried and true. Which for me are novels and videogames. 
            I chose to watch Dr. Who, and boy was it the correct choice for me. I had a blast watching the whole first season. (The 2005 rendition of Dr. Who.) I chose Dr. Who because of my natural gravitation towards anything SciFi related. But I was surprised to find out Dr Who was rather well written. At least what I’ve seen so far. Long form television, especially if the series drags on, can be plighted with bad writing. Dr. Who is worth the watch and I’ll be trying to find the time to visit the other seasons during December break.
            In class we talked about how with long form television each episode needs to have a story arch of its own. With a longer, more drawn out story arch throughout the show and that got me thinking.
            The Hobbit would make a great 1 season, 19 episode series. The Hobbit is probably my most read book; it is the book that, like so many others before me, opened my mind to the world of reading. It would make a great television show because The Hobbit is a very episodic book, meaning that each chapter has a tale of its own and a message to be taken away. In fact, I believe that a 1-season series would have been a better translation into film than a 3-part movie. I base this argument on the fact that you’re turning something that is episodic in nature into a trilogy and you’re bound to lose something along the way. I hope that someone someday realizes this. I would watch it.
Look how well Game of Thrones is doing.


(I’m not bashing the films. Personally, I love The Hobbit film. It’s a 3-hour escape into Middle Earth, what’s not to love about that?) 

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