In he age of Peak TV, there are more shows to watch than any human could keep up with, and more ways in which to watch them. The shows are more diverse in style and tone than ever, and youre more likely to see a woman or person of color in a lead role. The lines between comedy and drama, hour-long and half hour have blurred, producing dramas that are funnier than some comedies, and sitcoms so confounding and dire that I recently labeled them Comedies in Theory. The sight of the medium evolving is a show unto itself.
But every revolution has casualties. In this one, its the hour-long, serialized drama that unveils its story over multiple seasons, and that fueled the so-called Golden Age of serious-minded, scripted TV; a form that, until recently, moved the needle on TV as an art form and dominated the cultural conversation. When discussing the serial drama in 2016, you can feel a sense of fatigue settling in.
Not since 2013s Orange Is the New Black has a longform drama caught fire in its first season and sustained itself through the end of its second (and that show is, in many ways, as much a Comedy in Theory as it is a serialized drama). Three of the buzziest new dramas in the past year Mr. Robot, UnREAL, and Empire exploded onto screens without much advance warning and built loyal audiences and acclaim overnight, but theyre foundering in their sophomore outings, generating discussion thats mainly about whether theyre actually good.
