2 days ago
Short and Sweet: From ‘Adolescence' to ‘Sirens,' This Season's Best New Shows Are Barely Longer Than a Movie
On the surface, freshman series 'Sirens,' 'The Bondsman,' 'Adolescence' and 'The Four Seasons' don't have much in common. Yet they are all key examples of TV's new trend of going short. Whether it's an absurdly low episode count ('Adolescence' with four, 'Sirens' with five) or brief runtimes ('The Bondsman' episodes rarely exceed 30 minutes, while 'The Four Seasons' tops out at 35 minutes), it's a relief from a culture where recommendations are cushioned with warnings that, 'The show doesn't really pick up until the eighth episode,' which begs the question, 'How much time do you think I have to watch all of these shows?!?'
The good news is that the short lengths are sharpening the narrative punch, creating higher highs and having the decency to duck out before the good time ends.
More from Variety
Limited Series Writers on the Impact of Casting, Writing Emotional Journeys, and Finding a Tonal Balance
David E. Kelley on Shaping 'Presumed Innocent' With Ruth Negga's Barbara as the Killer - Then Changing the Ending After Filming Began
Comedy TV Writers on the Importance of Filming in Los Angeles, Sharing Soundstages and the Power of the Will They/Won't They Relationship
Perhaps the best example is Netflix's 'Sirens.' It's easy to see the concept — a woman has to save her sister from a potential cult run by a mega-wealthy family — stretched out over dozens of episodes, leaning into the series' frothier moments and completely breaking any semblance of reality in order to stretch out the mysteries. Yet the show plays like a weekend at a luxe New England resort: Live a little but sneak out before the magic wears off and you're turning into a townie. The twists hit quickly, and you're left satisfied, an amuse-bouche of life among maniacal rich people.
A similar mental vacation, though much more down to earth, is the midlife crisis dramedy 'The Four Seasons.' Each seasonal vacation is broken into two episodes, and the rigid structure is a compelling gift to the audience, as it allows for sensible time jumps in which things are shaken up between episodes. Lest any character in the Tina Fey-led ensemble seems too petty or pathetic, the dynamic has shifted by the next group trip. Because of this, the emotional weight never seems off-balance.
'The Bondsman' has the highest concept: A bounty hunter named Hub (Kevin Bacon) gets murdered and goes to hell but is allowed to return to Earth if he uses his skills to kill rogue demons. The short Prime Video episodes pair well with the 'monster of the week' setup, and the series doles out backstory on a need-to-know basis. Sure enough, as time goes on, we learn more about Hub's past, his family, his enemies and even the bureaucracy developed in hell.
As for 'Adolescence,' the series is gorgeously acted and gut-wrenchingly realistic, but living in the world of a potentially evil British child for an extended amount of time is too much — especially considering the roaming camera gives the impression of oner, putting the audience right in the face of a grisly murder. Even an episode more would move the narrative from bold and impactful to emotionally taxing and unpleasant.
The idea of a short drama is nothing new — one of the best series of all time, 'The Twilight Zone,' managed to tell a standalone story each week using a 30-minute network TV slot, complete with commercials.
What's made modern times feel different is the bloat allowed by the no-rules streamers. Sure, it's fair to say we're miles away from 22-episode seasons of network fare. But that incremental pacing has been flipped on its head by a binging model, which also operates under the butt-numbing miscalculation that more is more.
When it was announced that episodes in the back half of 'Stranger Things' Season 4 would match the runtimes of the '80s blockbusters the show remixed, it felt like any previous rules were completely off the table. After all, did the season finale of a show that once hovered around the 50-minute mark really need to arrive at two hours and 22 minutes?
There is inevitably a 'pressure makes diamonds' situation at play when shows aim to tell a story in a succinct amount of time. During a conversation with 'The Bondsman' showrunner, executive producer and writer Erik Oleson, he mentioned that the succinct episode length forced him to make tough choices.
'I very much am an advocate that every character on one of my shows has to be worthy of being the hero of their own show,' he says. 'I don't underwrite or underbake characters, and so finding the space and time to give every one of our terrific actors their due was one of the bigger challenges that any showrunner faces, but certainly in a half-hour format it makes it all the more difficult.'
That drive and determination allowed Oleson to shepherd a show that had plenty of character-building, laughs and scary moments — things were just cut down to the essentials, allowing the viewer to understand everything without luxuriating in the creative team's deep thoughts. Sometimes a story about a wisecracking demon hunter can just be that, and nothing more.
Additionally, the truncated runtimes encourage visual storytelling where essential information is conveyed onscreen versus housed in a monologue dump that could drag the show down.
The costumes alone of 'Sirens' immediately tell audiences all they need to know about Meghann Fahy's Devon, decked out in punky outfits and combat boots, kicking down the door of a Lilly Pulitzer fever dream. The nonstop camera of 'Adolescence' quickly sets the scene for viewers, as bits of caught conversation can simultaneously move the plot along as the perspective — ranging from high above the community to ground level — sets the scene.
And what is not seen in 'The Four Seasons' is as important as what is, given that key moments take place off camera, leaving more time for unique reactions and fallout.
There's a reason why one of Shakespeare's most well-known lines — 'Brevity is the soul of wit' — is a truism in writing. (Never mind that Polonius coined it somewhat ironically in 'Hamlet,' Shakespeare's longest play.) So, give a round of applause for the short shows — but make it quick, I've got more TV to watch.
Best of Variety
'Blue Velvet,' 'Chinatown' and 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' Arrive on 4K in June
All the Godzilla Movies Ranked
'House of the Dragon': Every Character and What You Need to Know About the 'Game of Thrones' Prequel
