Are story arc's good or bad for a show ?

[Mikey]

Do you like story arc's ?

I kind of do, but I also think story arc's tend to hurt the show when it's in syndication.
Example:
I liked Deep Space Nine on it's first run ... especially the Dominion War story arc's final season .....
But today, it's almost impossible for me to enjoy it in reruns.
I'd much rather watch a single story episode with a beginning and an ending.

I'm trying to remember early Sci Fi story arcs and see if they hold up today.
Off the top of my head, the earliest I can come up with is Trial of a Timelord.

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

I think you can do either just as well. Like I said on another post: entertainemtn producers are like kids playing soccer, they all run after the ball en masse with no sense of strategy. "Story arc" was one of the ways Babylon 5 was sold, and since then it's been a staple of the nerdly arts.

Both episodic and serialized shows are fine. Most shows mix the two; mostly episodic, with a few episodes that have to be seen in a certain order. Other countries do the serialized thing a lot more than us, mostly 'cos we don't usually write shows with an end in mind so they have to be open ended enough to go on as long as they're profitable.

>I also think story arc's tend to hurt the show when it's in syndication.

That was a complaint of the networks since way back when. They didn't like having to keep track of what order shows were shown in. That's one of the reasons a lot of shows were shown out of order on their ORIGINAL airings.

>the earliest I can come up with is Trial of a Timelord.

The prisioner. The original Galactica had several episodes that needed to be watched in sequence. The original Trek did too. (As I recall there were a few episodes from when they went back in time.) A LOT of Doctor Who, and any show with recurring bad guys. Ultraman and Johnny Sokko/Giant Robot are meant to be watched in a certain order too. Robotech.

Don C.

[The Bat]

Depends on which TV Show. It works great for shows like "24"...but I like Star Trek:TOS for an example of non-story arcs.

[vulcan2074]

I Love Story Arc's
Sammy