Growing up as a kid in the 2000s, I was lucky enough to have some of the coolest TV shows on Disney Channel and Nickelodeon. It was episodic television like Kim Possible, Hannah Montana, and iCarly. And even better, these shows had so many episodes per season. Today, I enjoy the comfort of streaming from sources such as Netflix and Disney+, both of which make their own shows and series’. Though they have definitely killed the game with shows like Stranger Things, Bridgerton, and others, I feel like I have to wait 1-2 years to get the next season. To add, these shows on streaming sources only include between six to ten episodes per season!
When this occurs, I simply go to my comfort zone and watch the shows that one would consider ‘binge-worthy.’ For example, my favorite one is New Girl, including over 15 episodes in each season. New Girl is the prime example of a show that you can watch for hours, or just for thirty minutes. It has a story strung throughout its entirety, but at the same time, you can watch an episode having absolutely no prior context or understanding of what’s going on: a prime example of what needs to be reinstated.
Now, one might say something against filler episodes like: “That’s just silly, you don’t need to have that much content that breaks away from the main plot.” But what if your idea of the plot is different from another’s? People watch shows for different reasons – the plot, the actors, the director, the genre, etc. We’re all looking for a different piece of the whole. For me, that piece is the comedic relief in a drama, or the casual scenery shots that break away from the main story. Adding some simple side stories into a show in today’s times would set it apart from all the new content that’s being created. So, I ask the simple question: when can we bring this back?