10 Ways TV Has Gotten Worse Since 2005 As the year 2024 draws to a close, it would be remiss not to consider how dramatically different the television spectrum is two decades on. In 2005, The Sopranos was still on air, while other iconic series like Grey’s Anatomy and Supernatural were just on their first few seasons. Come today, and there has been a total transformation in the consumption, production, and even the discussions surrounding the television.
There are also some obvious contraptions of this contrary, still, a large number of such alterations have in fact rendered the experience of watching television to be much worse than it had been two decades prior. Here are 10 crucial reasons that explain how television has declined when compared to the year 2005:
10 Ways TV Has Gotten Worse Since 2005
10. Waiting More Between TV Seasons
A more recent trend that has been observed on TV in recent days is the longer lag time between seasons of favorite series. This is attributed, in part, to the fact that almost exactly two decades ago, the great majority of televisions operated on more or less the same regular timetable. For example, a new season would be screened at least a year later and the audience was hardly ever made to wait for several successive seasons. Nevertheless, such periods have become several years between seasons.
This situation has also been worsened in the context of the streaming landscape, where the production of the next installment often takes creators a much longer period than usual. Often it is a case of “better”, as the increased amount of time focuses on the production of the next season; However, it can also cause seasons to drift apart. Usually, the viewers suffer because in most cases the lockdown necessitated two periods which left them hanging. The prolonged wait for the next season also allows the viewers ample room to forget about the series’ plot hence the story cut off before it attains any meaningful levels.
Such is the case with the Apple TV+ series Severance, which has fans frustrated over the absence of a second season after its successful first installment. Because of these worries, ardent audiences may be in trepidation at the prospect of whether the show will be as captivating after such prolonged absence.
9. Shorter Seasons Mean Less Time with Characters and Stories
One more transformation is that there are a tendency for most contemporary TV series to have relatively shorter seasons as compared to what was the case two decades ago. The conventional 22-note episode schedule season has mostly been done away with clouding streaming service providers. For instance, it is receptive to a season lasting just about six or eight episodes long.
At first glance, a shorter season may present some advantages because it reduces the likelihood of having ‘filler’ episodes even within a season that has its own drawbacks. The drawback, however, is that there is little room for character growth or even the gradual progression of story arcs. When the seasons are shorter, they seem to be hurried, leading to dissatisfaction among the audience and, at the same time, shrinking the purposes of the creators to the fore presented stories.
The famous show English Teacher, for instance, completed the first season of the series in only eight episodes. Despite the audience adoring the show, there was a general feeling that it was not possible to get fully into the world thanks to the characters since there was not enough time spent with them. More often than not, this is the sort of trade-off that fans end up experiencing but not in the best manner.
8. The Rising Costs of Streaming Channels and Bent Televisions
The first wave of streaming services caused a storm with the promise of providing a more affordable and better way of watching television without the long cables of cords connected to boxes. Unfortunately, the cost of streaming more than one platform has seen the initial optimism on streaming wear off. Today, as there is a rise in the number of streaming services available, willing to pay for steamings is expensive, and most services do encourage increase in their prices.
To add salt to the injury, some have come back with the annoying ads, which defeated the purpose of cutting the cable in the first place. Most of the platforms, have a number of price levels, at the very least offering the cheapest versions that either do not contain much content or else contain time-out breaks for commercials in the content being streamed. To a lot of people, it is beginning to feel very much like the old expensive cable programming that streaming was made to do away with when the thought of having to pay for more than one service in order to get all their shows began to emerge.
7. TV Shows Are More Likely to Get Axed
In the early 2000s, the audiences for a show were ‘discovered’. If a new series’s ratings were not that high, most of the networks would give one or two seasons in the hope that things may improve. However, this kind of waiting tolerance has nearly disappeared. If it takes too long for a show to skyrocket in its ratings, it gets cancelled after only one season most of the time.
When it comes to cancelling shows after only one season, Netflix takes the crown with shows like I Am Not Okay With This and The Get Down having invested fanbases but still getting the axe due to one season only. This does not give a longer developmental scope to great shows that would have been appreciated given more time but instead prevents them from so reaching the audience.
6. Franchise Fatigue And No New Ideas
Another factor that has deteriorated the quality of television is the excessive focus on franchises and shared worlds. Namely, franchises such as Star Wars and the MCU have without a doubt been responsible for great number of viewers, but they also suppressed many fresh concepts. Cable tv, especially Disney+, has a big appetite to add more interconnecting TV series to develop these franchises.
They tend to be entertaining but generally they are rather predictable and boring, these types of projects do not risk anything new nterms of creativity and rely solely on the loyalty of the existing audience. At the same time, new original series fail to capture any interest or are ignored for the sake of another piece related to a currently existing franchise.
5. Boring Reboots, Remakes, and Spinoffs
Apart from the lack of originality, reboots, remakes, and spinoffs show the deteriorating state of creativity in television. There are exceptions to the general rule, however; for example, Cobra Kai has successfully revitalized the Karate Kid series. Most of them however, do manage to capture the chemistry that made the original show a favorite among the fans. Even worse, many of them seem to be made to milk the audience’s nostalgia instead of enhancing the audiences’ experience with telling fresh stories.
This only results to a situation where there is too much use of the same content in the industry in which the same concepts are formed and given to the people instead of looking for new ideas and new narrations.
4. Shows Were Extended Long Time After They Should Have Ended
Many others, however, are instances where television programs which at a certain time deemed fitting to the society and culture have been extended. Currently, Grey’s Anatomy stands at season 21 and still going strong, and the series Law & Order seems to have no end even after such many years since its first episode.
Even though it is commendable for any show even one running for such over two decades continuous without ceasing, such long-hauled shows are more often than not poor quality. Dramatic conflicts and relationships that created much drama tend to repeat themselves, and the interesting original concept of the show tends to fade away. More often than not, a number of shows are extended for years even when the ratings have significantly dropped. It can also be noted that this has done more harm than good to the given television because it has preferred to focus more on the amount of the episodes rather than the actual content.
3. Challenges of Animation
In this modern era, Animation especially programming for children has encountered numerous difficulties. Adult-oriented animation has successfully developed along with terrific shows like Invincible, while all animated offerings for children have been reduced. Many animated programs have been canceled or removed from the platforms by the organizations in question due to a greater emphasis on the sucsses of live action franchises.
The soporific cancellation of The Owl House which is beloved by kids and adults alike speaks volumes about when does one’s work resonate too much so that it is taken for granted. To a lot of intolerant lovers of animetion, it appears that the said art form is not well taken care of anymore.
2. The Writing and Acting Fields Are in Jeopardy
Over the past few years, conditions for both actors and writers have worsened to the point where this led to the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. The situation has become tough, season deliveries have been reduced, opportunities have become few and resources have also become limited making it difficult for most creatives to earn a decent living.
This resulted into uneven writing and acting on television shows because most of the new shows are done by the same people with no new voices coming up. A television era evolution that is more akin to the presentable but less creative.
1. The Demise of Prestige Television
It appears that the high period of ‘treasured television’ which flourished in the noughties with The Sopranos, Mad Men, and other grand series, is finally over. True, we are still in the age of high quality series but they are becoming scarcer in number and tend to follow a vertical trend. Presently the on-screen programming extensively includes shallow, superficial and attention-seeking content as compared to the quality television which was deep, risky, and even ambitious.
This change however is not entirely good. It is so because it shows that there is an element of ‘television’ for every one and every ‘story’ does not have to appeal to the masses. Nevertheless, for all of us who like serious and contentious storytelling common in the period of prestige television, one cannot help but mourn the loss of some elements.