Yesterday's New York Times Magazine had this great piece on how TV makes you smarter. In the article, they review television shows from the past (like Starsky & Hutch!), and compare them to current shows like "24".
Older shows like "Starsky & Hutch" follow only a single narrative thread (but they've got such a cool car). Compare that to "24" - where in a typical 44 minute episode (show time minus commercials), a viewer must follow story lines of 21 distinct characters, each with a clearly defined "story arc", and up to nine narrative threads. Clearly, we're processing more information in a shorter period of time. Watch any 70's television show, and it will become painfully obvious how slow and simple these older productions were.
Anyway, the article goes into great depth, with some really cool info graphics that we won't bore you with here - as I'm barely capable of writing one narrative thread, especially while watching tonight's episode of "24".
No comments:
Post a Comment