Last week I commented on Facebook that I think Marvel does better movies, but DC does better live action TV. I backed my assertion by saying, I love the DC shows; Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, IZombie, and Gotham; but the last 2 Superman movies blew chunks. On the flipside, Marvel's Avengers & X-Men movies are great, but I struggle through Agents Of Shield.
A friend of mine, Kyle, responded by pointing out that Netflix’s DareDevil is one of the best comic book dramatizations being produced today. While I had no trouble agreeing with his statement, I hadn’t thought of web based productions as being “TV” shows before. In my mind, TV shows were shows people watch on a TV set. Apparently, I had been a victim of old fashioned thinking.
Certainly there are reasons to think of online content as belonging to the realm of TV. When the sitcom Community was cancelled by NBC, Sony struck a deal with Yahoo to stream a sixth season online. Additionally, Netflix’s House of Cards and Orange Is The New Black have each beat broadcast shows to win several Emmy Awards.
While the definition of a TV show has evolved to refer to episodic material which can be viewed on a number of devices, in my mind there is fundamental difference between online fare and traditional broadcasts.
The day after a traditional broadcast, viewers can gather around the proverbial water cooler and say, “Did you see that last night? Man, Kunta Kinte stuck to his guns.” However, web content is released a season at a time. This allows people to view material at their own pace, but it eliminates that next day chat and sense of community.
Everything changes and evolves, thus is the nature of the universe. I just hope that as the nature of TV progresses, we don’t sacrifice the aspects which bring people together.
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