It’s ironic, given the subject of this article, that as I sat at my computer, trying to unjumble my thoughts, I was distracted by something I heard on the radio.
A DJ, referring to a song that was in the chart several decades ago, attempted to say ‘ . . . and she sang it so effortlessly’ – but stumbled over the word ‘effortlessly’, making so many mangled efforts at pronouncing effortlessly correctly that I laughed out loud.
One definition of ‘distracted’ is ‘unable to concentrate or give one’s attention to something’.
Being distracted while in the middle of doing other things has, up until now, not a trait to be encouraged.
And yet . . .
Have you noticed how so many TV series on the streaming services are dragged out way beyond their necessary length, to perhaps eight or even 10 episodes, but could have been satisfactorily wrapped up in less?
Well, I’m about to tell you why they do this.
An article about streaming services in a heavyweight newspaper confirmed that the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime etc. deliberately make their dramas and documentary series for people who only half-watch them . . . now get this . . . while doing other things!
Mainly scrolling through their phones, texting or WhatsApping!
To ensure these easily distracted viewers don’t miss out on key moments in their shows, storylines that could have easily been condensed into four episodes are deliberately diluted over six or more!
So, basically, they’re making TV for people who aren’t that interested in TV but happily pay a monthly subscription for the privilege!
You may say this is ‘dumbing down’ of culture. I could not possibly agree.
As confirmation of this bizarre trend, a writer friend was asked to provide a treatment/synopsis for a potential TV series based on a stage musical he’d written, aimed at one of the streaming services.
As a jobbing writer he was delighted – until he was told to write outlines for 10 sixty-minute episodes!
So, if it happens, he’d have to write 10 hours of television, based on a two-hour musical.
He’s currently wondering how to fill the remaining eight hours!