Continuity Shmontinuity

Well lookee-loo...we got our first user-generated topic...yesiree, this internets thing is awesome, even without the porn.

Below in the comments section of the post about Prison Break, we got into a bit of a discussion about arc-continuity type shows vs. stand-alone dramas. In response to that, KJC writes:

I've been experiencing some frustration lately with pitching my series to Canadian prodcos. They get really nervous when I tell them that the show will have (if I have anything to say about it) the same kind of balance between stand alones and serial/mini-arc eps as V Mars. They tell me that the international audience they'll be selling the show to will get confused and frustrated if I have continuing storylines. They want all (or at least 95%) stand alones, just like the slick and impersonal plots found on Law & Order. Personally, I think those kinds of fears don't apply in the day and age of VCRs, Tivos and DVD boxed sets. Charlie Jade did an excellent job of creating multi-layered storylines that stretched across an antire 20 ep season, and the Internet helped fill in the blanks for those who got a little lost. Today's audience is more sophisticated and tolerant of change. I just wish prodco and studio heads would wise up -- and catch up -- with the rest of us.

There's a few things going on here. The first, sadly, requires that I engage some HTML code that's liable to baffle any American readers. It'll be quick, I promise...
[Canadian reality] Let's assume that all things are equal, and your series is the bee's knees and like the CBC turning down Corner Gas or the Canadian Network Person I know who turned down... no kidding ... The Sopranos-- after he had seen the pilot, the problems you have selling it right now is destined to go down in history as shortsightedness of almost Biblical proportions. There's still a reason that Canadian networks don't like continuity that has nothing to do with audiences not being able to follow stuff.

When a Canadian Net buys a show from the U.S., whenever possible, they try to play it at the same time as the U.S. channel. This is because of a ruling by the CRTC (Canada's version of the FCC: but more concerned with Canadian Identity, and less with nipples and the f-bomb) that allows for "simultaneous substitution." If a Canadian Network shows a show at the same time as the U.S. Network, the Canadian channel gets to substitute its signal over the American one for the duration of the program. (In Canada, most of the U.S. Nets are available via basic cable.) Now this makes Canadian networks a ton of extra dosh, but also puts them at a pretty basic disadvantage, in that they don't really control their schedules. If American Idol wants to do a special episode, then CTV cuts whatever they were going to show and substitutes it, the better to suck up the ad dollars with, my dear... Inevitably, lesser shows get bounced around. And those "lesser shows" are usually the Canadian shows. So it's no wonder they don't want continuity. That show's going to work its way through seven timeslots and be pre-empted six times over its thirteen episode life. [/Canadian Reality]

I also remember hearing from someone-in-a-position-to-know the figure that even people who consider themselves "regular viewers" of a show only see half of the episodes. Half. That's a "regular viewer." That's brutal.

So you can imagine the Networks and Proddies getting skittish.

Thing is: so what? The way they've been doing it, for this we've seen so many hits? I say, "nay."

The fact is that, though people in my end of the biz are loathe to admit it, there have been some things learned from the Reality TV boom. If the narrative is compelling, it will become appointment viewing. And if it doesn't, you do a recap episode. Desperate Housewives and Lost learned that lesson. And Charlie Jade did too -- it's why we produced a recap episode eight months after we wrapped principal photography.

Law & Order was once one of my favorite shows. But I'm done. I can't possibly watch that formula again without retching. It gives me nothing new.

The funny thing is, between internet recaps, grey Bit Torrent files, and DVD sales, continuity driven shows are no longer the bogeyman they once were, or at least they shouldn't be. If you look at the U.S. schedule this fall, you'll see plenty of serial dramas. Yes, you risk not hooking the audience. But if you do hook them, the reward is greater. You might make them loyal viewers.

Like everything else, Canada will discover this. Probably a year or two from now. It just requires a few good network people with icewater in their veins and passion in their hearts. I know they're out there, rustling in the hills.

But then again, I worked for [Canadian Name Drop] Moses Znaimer [/Canadian Name Drop] so I've seen up close what vision can do.

Even the craaaayyyzeee-vision.