By As part of a feature piece celebrating the 25th anniversary of “The Sopranos,” the show’s creator David Chase tells UK newspaper The Times that television’s so-called ‘Golden Age’ is over.
He offers a sobering discussion about the changing state of the business and how those running TV today are far less interested in serious-minded fare as they were up to even a few years ago. He says:
“Yes, this is the 25th anniversary, so of course it’s a celebration, but perhaps we shouldn’t look at it like that. Maybe we should look at it like a funeral….We’re going back to where I was. They’re going to have commercials.”
The various streaming services have moved away from the ad-free, often serialised, binge release model that has dominated for years and has embraced ad-supported tiers, more episodic storytelling and weekly releases like networks of old.
The result is shows like “Breaking Bad,” “The Wire,” and “Mad Men” aren’t around much anymore. He adds that what we’ve seen is a “25-year blip” and he himself has “already been told to dumb it down” when it comes to pitching projects.
That ties back to his new show which he and Hannah Fidell have been working on that follows a sex worker forced into witness protection. Originally set at FX, Chase was told by executives “the unfortunate truth” is that it’s ‘too complex’ for today’s TV viewers.
“As the human race goes on we are more into multitasking. Your phone is just one symptom, but who can really focus? Your mother could be dying and you are by her hospital bed taking calls.
We seem to be confused and audiences can’t keep their minds on things, so we can’t make anything that makes too much sense, takes our attention and requires an audience to focus. And as for streaming executives? It is getting worse. We’re going back to where we were. So, it is a funeral. Something is dying.”
The full piece is over at The Times website.
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