So I'm re-watching in order That 70's Show, I'm in the middle of season two and there are several things that hit me and I'd like to share them with you.
First of all, it's a pretty good show in my opinion. I mean, it works rather well despite the unbalanced Gender Equilibrium, it has some pretty good jokes, the characters are distinct without being to extreme, role balancing is nice,... all in all a fun show to watch.
I know how the show will end and probably could map out each season according to the different episodes, so there are a few things when watching the first season again that made me go "uh,... well that's a bit weird."
POCS Vs TOCS
The first season of each show will be a little rickety until the characters develop and we can truly identify them easily. I think of it like this : If I can give the full names of every main and secondary character and the way they are linked together (friendship, relationship, family,... ), then the show has reached its Optimum Cruise Speed (OCS). Between the first episode and the OCS, story-lines and character evolution will have built my perception of the show and will have taught me everything I need to know for the next episodes. We'll call this period "GESTATION"
PERCEIVED OCS (POCS) : POCS is reached when I as a viewer, consciously or not, find that the show has reached its OCS. If I missed a couple episodes, then my POCS will be different than the show's OCS.
TRUE OCS (TOCS) : TOCS will be reached when every character has been introduced (name, occupation, where he/she lives,...), has had a personalized episode and has reacted with all the other characters at least once. TOCS has nothing to do with viewer-perception while POCS does.
Once your POCS is synchronized with the TOCS, then you don't need to watch the next episodes in order (or at least 97% of them), you understand how the show works and know that Beginning = Ending.
For example, first season of Seinfeld (aka the Seinfeld Chronicles), Jerry and George talk to their waitress as if she was a very close friend. I thought she would keep on existing in the next episodes, but she did not. She appeared once, only reacted with George and Jerry, not Kramer nor Elaine. Once the show got to its TOCS and my POCS, I realized the waitress would never reappear.
Some shows have a very short Gestation others have a very long one. A traditional sitcom will probably have a Gestation of at least the first half of the first season.
Modern Family, for example, has a very short Gestation : POCS and TOCS are linked since TOCS is pretty much reached in the second episode.
Now, returning to That 70's Show....
Have you noticed that Donna's Sister appears once and then we never hear from her again ? That may be anecdotic, but here is something quite interesting : TOCS comes way after POCS. Let me tell you why :
First season of That 70's Show tells the story of how Donna and Eric fall in love. That's the very main story. But in a few episodes in the first season, tell me if you though like me, but I was convinced Eric and Hyde would fight longer and more violently over Donna. I really thought that the show would oscillate between Hyde and Eric in the role of Donna's boyfriend. When I thought that would be the leit-motiv of the show, I had reached my POCS, but the whole thing was annihilated when Hyde moved in the Foreman's house.
Did I regret that this was not so ? Maybe a little, because it was going to give Hyde a little more depth. However, he made up for it later and became a beloved character nonetheless.
Try to (re-)watch a show from the beginning without skipping an episode and see when TOCS is reached. I find it quite fun.
Well, that's all folks !
See you soon !
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TRJ
Teo comments :
ReplyDelete1. I was very impressed with how Modern Family managed to introduce what is a LARGE cast of main characters (10 at the very least) in the FIRST episode, in a compelling an enticing way.
2. I was not in the US for the period of South Park history where butters became a serious contender to pseudo-main character status. The first episode I watched after re-obtaining access to SP already had inside jokes about butters that I did not grasp fully because I had not had the proper introduction to the character during my hiatus. This was unexpected because I had had about 4 years of watching every SP episode from the very first one, and was definitely at POCS.
What do you think about main characters developing years after POCSTOCS?
Excellent ! I was hoping for such a comment because you really put your finger on the issue and by doing so, show how incomplete my post is.
ReplyDelete1. Absolutely, Modern Family introduces every character in the first episode giving us very intimate insight as to how the family works. I explain this in two ways :
First : each "part" of the family has a story in the very first episode and in this show you must consider the characters but also each family "part" as an entity and therefore a character itself.
Second : the ending shows all the characters together, like many episodes after the first one. With different apostrophes ("dad", "mitch", "claire"...), rapidly the audience gets a clear understanding of this "modern family". Criteria for TOCS have been reached.
Now, more difficult,... The second part of you comment
2. South Park is a very particular show. Because even if the first season sets up OCS quite fast, the problem is that the show will later change its "angle". SP starts with vulgar jokes, kids saying obscenities... all great! But as the seasons move on, the show gets more and more involved in political and social events. Thus, SP adresses important issues while staying rather hilarious.
Butters appears a couple times until he gets his very own episode, S05 E14 "Butters' Very Own Episode". According to the rules I've set up, that would mean the show reaches TOCS very very late. obviously, this is not correct.
SP is a very particular show and couldn't be called a "traditional" Sitcom. Also, the fact that the SP movie came out relatively early in the show's history has altered the playing field as well.
I believe that it was time for a change. Also, Kenny stopped dying around that time, or was completely dead,... can't remember just now. Things have to change or the show might get boring.
In the same way, Cleveland from Family guy leaves the show and has his own spinoff where he actually has to evolve a lot more to be worthy of a show devoted only to himself.
I just watched the latest family guy episode, and rethinking of the first episodes, the whole show has drastically changed course and the characters have evolved much later than POCS or TOCS.
In my opinion, once TOCS has been reached, there is a sort of maturation period until they need to change a few things around. Introducing new characters, or even having the old ones evolve in an unexpected way can work and be profitable if the basis of the show have been set. Therefore, Butters reacts with the main characters, until becoming one himself. The same thing happens for Stan's father who becomes more and more of an extreme character.
Putting things into perspective, once in OCS, you can miss a few episodes. Missing, four years, four seasons, is a bit much. Relationships change, characters change,....
Thanks for your comment though, it was more challenging to answer than I thought !