Stop calling TV episodes filler. Shows don’t need to be constantly “forwarding the plot.” Let the Emissary take a week off from the Dominion War so he can teach the crew how to play baseball. Trust me, you’ll love it. - ThreadSky

peterdicicco.bsky.social • 45 days ago

Stop calling TV episodes filler. Shows don’t need to be constantly “forwarding the plot.” Let the Emissary take a week off from the Dominion War so he can teach the crew how to play baseball. Trust me, you’ll love it.

Reposted from erika

i don't want to hear your most boomer complaint. what's your most millennial complaint?

Comments

yeehawcowpoke.bsky.social•45 days ago

One of the biggest reasons I hate the shorter season runs we get these days. I want to watch two dorky kids chase down an ancient baseball card, dammit!

adam-crocker.bsky.social•42 days ago

I partly agree with you though having read what it was like to produce Star Trek behind the scenes I also realise this is a relief to people working on the show given the gruelling production scheduled of 20+ episode seasons

beetlefella103.bsky.social•44 days ago

If an episode is bad and boring then it’s bad and boring because it’s bad and boring - not because it’s “filler”

andrusi.bsky.social•45 days ago

Fucking this.

jeff-besitos.bsky.social•44 days ago

I would watch a version of Next Generation that’s just holodeck episodes.

jeff-besitos.bsky.social•44 days ago

Star Trek: Oops All Holodeck

scarpa.bsky.social•44 days ago

That’s Voyager basically

davemaru.bsky.social•45 days ago

Ultraman doesn’t have filler, it’s just episodic!!!! ><

rebochan.bsky.social•45 days ago

My millennial complaint - yo, we were the ones that complained about filler episodes all the time. Grass is always greener.

mapugavalera.bsky.social•45 days ago

Let #TheBadBatch adjust to their new life as guns for hire while they help other rogue clones!

chacha1847.bsky.social•44 days ago

enslore.bsky.social•45 days ago

Yes! I love those episodes.

onewingedsparrow.bsky.social•44 days ago

I won't. But mostly because I don't like baseball. Or sports in general really. But I also recognize that's a me problem, not a problem with the show.

morosebarnacle.bsky.social•44 days ago

I know "bottle episodes" were usually due to budget constraints, but locking the cast into limited existing set pieces often forced the writers to get extra creative!

Lots of fun character exploration in those kinds of shows.

peterdicicco.bsky.social•44 days ago

Bottle episodes or shows that have to creatively figure out how to use limited sets and actors for one week are often some of the best television.

3fecta.bsky.social•45 days ago

Best X-Files episodes for me tended to be the one off monster of the week, rather than the episodes driving forward the conspiracy/story.

rangerdonald.bsky.social•45 days ago

Breathers, let’s call them.

twirl4mek.bsky.social•45 days ago

YES, when I was reading ep reviews in the late 2000s and 2010s they were called breather or stand-alone episodes, and not as a pejorative. Now everybody throws around "filler" left and right, and that's not even correct.

xelkelvos.bsky.social•45 days ago

Ostensibly they could be colloquially be called "filler" because they were trying to "fill" episode counts for a season, but that's not what they were called then and should not be called now.

shadowmaster13.bsky.social•44 days ago

Filler should be limited to like bad clip shows.

adam-crocker.bsky.social•42 days ago

Right. The concept of "filler" is meaningless in episodic television. It simply did not exist on old shows like Star Trek or Mission Impossible because there was no overarching story to advance.

peterdicicco.bsky.social•45 days ago

Oop, this blew up overnight. I guess, go watch Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which mastered the art of serialized TV in a syndicated episodic landscape.

And enjoy more shows that take the care to spend time with their characters.

peterdicicco.bsky.social•44 days ago

“Fly” is one of the best episodes of Breaking Bad, and I’ll hear nothing otherwise.

Thank you for proving my point.

nomadajaime.bsky.social•42 days ago

Rian Johnson is awesome.

pazzojinn.bsky.social•45 days ago

Filler is when it is bland and spinning the wheels. Just an extra wad of flour in the cake.

When it is a otherwise disconnected bit of joy, it is a 'Cherry'. A wonderful extra bit of flavor that stands out from the surroundings.

xelkelvos.bsky.social•45 days ago

That's not what filler is unless you're making up your own definition that's divergent from how it's used for anime.

That's maybe padding. But also just a whole ass series like a bad sitcom
This is what filler is:

pjrodriguez.bsky.social•44 days ago

I love an episode that’s about character, not plot. But I suspect complaints about “filler” episodes are more about ten-episode seasons and two of those episodes, characters run around to no purpose. No character stuff, just a lot of running and yelling.

pinkie-dawn.bsky.social•37 days ago

Invincible Fight Girl, My Adventures with Superman, Skeleton Crew, X-Men '97, Batman: Caped Crusader, and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man all would've benefitted from filler episodes. Thank you, Naruto and Bleach, for ruining audiences' perception on filler.

jemthansson.bsky.social•44 days ago

Maybe let the viewers know the crew before killing one off and having to cram their whole backstory in the same episode they die. “Why are they showing me this? She’s going to die isn’t she?” I’m looking at you Star Trek Discovery.