Good Television Secrets

So I just spent 2 weeks on Cokeandpopcorn.ch watching 3 seasons worth of television shows. For free of course.

Which show you ask? Oh, about 40 of them. Dr. Who, Falling Skies, Izombie, Deadwood, Sons of Anarchy, Last Ship, Walking Dead, Ash, Supergirl, Smallville, Gotham, Preacher, and a host of others. Some conclusions can be drawn..

I define a good show as one that goes at least 3 seasons. Obviously if a network spends money to keep it going for 4, 5 or 6 or even more seasons, someone there agrees with me.

Now nothing can be done to save a show if the plot sucks or the ratings slip. When cable took over and televisions went cable or Internet streamable something important also happened. Suddenly the Nielson company and the buggy Nielson Ratings became as important as horse pulled carriages. Why? Because suddenly the Networks were totally capable of collecting their own data directly.

So television shows that should have died in the first month of broadcast now can. Likewise if half the planet turns on to watch every episode of something like Season 1 of Walking Dead or next season’s Game of Thrones the Networks notice.

We can also, thanks to sites like cokeandpopcorn.ch do some reverse engineering. By that I mean look at the shows that did go 6 or 7 seasons and figure out why they did and what set them apart from shows that only did two seasons. Are the findings absolute? No. There are always variables. However, trends do show themselves.

My first observation to ensure a show being popular is Diversity. Too many of the one or two season type shows follow the rule, all main heroes are both White and Beautiful. All plain or not good looking people are villans or soon discarded. There are no Hispanic, Asian or Black heroes or heroines (unless, of course they are following the old Hollywood rule that the heroic Black man dies at the end of the show. If you truly wish your television show to run not more than one or two seasons, follow that rule.

But, if as a producer you want your show to run at least 6 seasons, there is another approach. Allow leading men and ladies of color. Which color? It doesn’t matter. Asian, mid=Eastern, Hispanic, Black, whatever. Just don’t follow the 1960s rule that all heroes are White. It isn’t 1960 anymore. The Asian and African audiences buy advertised products too and thanks to the Internet, cable and WiFi they are now part of the viewing audience too. Their skin colors vary, but their money is still green. Smart producers recognize that. A mixed European television audience may be only 60% White. Your show will find the non-Whites moving away from your all White cast of pretty people show to a show where a Pakistani, an Asian or a Hispanic and women of only average or aging appearance also have leading roles. What made Walking Dead popular? Average looking people!

What made Dr. Who popular in the 21st century? Elderly people holding major roles, dark skinned people holding major roles, middle aged women of average appearance holding major roles. The list goes on.

Expand this rule. Look at some television shows still in their second season. Count the major roles held by Non-whites or middle aged persons. If those numbers are small, don’t put any money down on that show going 5 seasons. There is a similar rule regarding sexuality. As stated this is not 1960. Homosexuality is out of the closet as a topic. No your hero doesn’t have to be gay or lesbian, but the success of a show that acknowldges alternate life style exist (Buffy is a very good example) is quite measurable. Look for the shows that show cast diversity of both age and skin color. Those (presuming a rational plot line of course) are the shows which will make it to season 5.

It is just my own observation of course and your opinion may vary, if so please feel free to comment below. Thanks.