Back in 2019: was told while making Lower Decks that “too much happens in each episode, what if someone watching is making spaghetti and only half paying attention?”
Comments
Log in with your Bluesky account to leave a comment
I told them that the person making spaghetti would have had to have gone to the app, clicked “play,” THEN started to ignore it- and that there was no amount of hand holding I could do to help them.
Honestly, I like having some shows that work more as background noise than something to really focus on. But there's plenty of shows like that already, and I sure as hell don't subscribe to any service just for those shows.
Also wouldn't they want them to watch the episode again? Like that's what I would do if I missed something when cooking? (But then again I would probably be putting on something I already watched if I'm doing other things.)
Or if they wanted to catch up and watch what happened, they can hit the playback button that every app has and see what happened in the last thirty seconds to get a better understanding of the situation. Like what I do all the time when I have a TV show on the background.
Mainly commenting on it as an aspect of what ended up being the show's identity. Guessing it might have been hard letting background guys add in visual gags/references if spaghetti multitasking was supported by the show?
Jeez.
I literally waited until I had *nothing* going on for every episode - there's SO much happening, I wanted to pay attention and absorb it all and not miss anything.
I don't know how you all managed to fit the arc of a 45 minute episode in under 30 minutes without feeling breathless.
Bravo. 🙏
I am the person making spaghetti- and I have a pause button for a reason.
"Background noise" shows are news broadcasts, stand up comedian shows, podcasts, and audio drama-esque TTRPG actual plays, not fuckin' cartoons. Why would I turn on ANIMATION if not to WATCH?
I’m starting to get extremely curious about what is actually taught in business schools because it appears respect for other human beings and their capabilities is not in there. 😬
My biggest issue was how rudimentary the material was, so that anyone with a shred of integrity could never get anything wrong and yet how often the other students got things wrong.
Ex: “You are presented with evidence that your product is found to be harmful to customer health. Do you recall it immediately or wait until it is discovered?”
Actual reply from another student: “But how do we REALLY know it is harmful?”
In Environmental Science grad school I had to take an “Arts” class so I took Ethics for Engineers. Just after finishing my BA in Philosophy and Theology. Somehow this class was even stupider than you might imagine.
Thank you for making a show SO detailed that it becomes an absolute joy to go back and pause because “holy shit, was that __ in the background?!” “Holy shit, play that back, that’s the __ theme from that one TOS/TNG/etc episode!” It’s like you animated the ST Encyclopedia & added swearing.
💖🖖
I watched it with a friend who was new to Trek (having started with Disco), and rapidly had to develop a policy to only mention out loud things which provided important context 😂 They loved it regardless. Excellent show
Same. Much as I enjoy Enterprise, I’ve always felt a little bummed that we didn’t get to see an early Starfleet Daedalus-class. Or anything from Masao Okazaki’s Ships of the Earth-Romulan War from the good ol’ days of 2001 internet fanfiction.
And here I was just imagining the crew of the Enterprise on the bridge arguing with each other while up voting and down voting every new alien they meet.
#StarTrek #LowerDecks has always my (and my family) full undivided attention. It’s just too good to get distracted by chores! That’s the beauty of streaming, you pick the show fitting your time, not the other way around. Paramount doesn’t know how streaming works? 😳
I was trying so hard to buy Moopsy gifts that year for people, the episode aired a month before my Star Trek themed wedding and I wanted Moopsys to give out! But no
It doesn't help that social media is filled with a bunch of people barely there because they're busy... posting on social media. "I'm so confused"... Gee, I wonder why! Maybe put the phone down for the rest of the episode and pay attention!
On the other end of this scale ; I typically read in bed for about an hour before I turn off the lights — and my cat will stare at the TV / demand I put something on.
Usually SpongeBob ; she loves cartoons and enjoys watching that the most right now. /
Soon they’ll be writing shows for the pets
FR she runs to the tv when it’s animated stuff ;
Haaaatss anything with cars or loud engines / seems to prefer sci-fi or best combination is animated sci fi ;
From what I can tell though SpongeBob is her fav and especially when they occasionally have the live puppet parts in between the cartoons
This person went on reddit to ask a question about a movie while they were watching it, before getting to the bit in the movie that would answer the question.
Two people I know have a particular learning disorder that makes it near impossible for them to follow plots in movies or figure out what’s going on by inferring from visual clues in movies.
My kids do this all the time, and are so busy talking over the film to ask their question, that they miss the bit in the film that answers their question.
Hi, ADHD haver here. I am almost always doing something else while “watching”. Every once in a while I’ll rewatch a show and realize I’ve heard the dialog 20 times or more but missed a visual gag. I just do a lot of rewatching, so eventually I get it all. It’s not a reflection on the content.
For my brand of ADHD, this only exists in one format and I almost entirely avoided it until the last couple years as a result: anime. @maryis.gay and @monym.me have been boiling me like a frog, having me watching an episode or two of a subtitled anime before we switch over to…
…original English-language content or subbed anime. I find snobbery around subbed vs. dubbed obnoxious in the same way I find people who don’t consider audiobooks “reading” obnoxious. Some dubs are great, some are bad. Some audiobook reads are great, some aren’t. The more I watched subbed anime…
the easier it gets to focus for that long on something, but it’s still not my preference for something I’ll binge. Some shows are even good enough (Witch from Mercury) that I’ll ask to watch more episodes even with subs. I think the point I’m trying to make is for me unless content is…
Omg I can’t with snobbery about dubs. Permanently mad at someone who rolled their eyes at the dub for Kaguya-sama, a show which is (a) phenomenally dubbed and (b) ruined when you lose the comedic timing of the fast-paced delivery because you’re READING all the jokes
Yep! I like putting on a comfort watch as much as the next person.
My point was that ADHD doesn't necessarily mean "I will never give a show my full attention". (And Terra and I go back years, so she at least knows I'm engaging in good faith.)
That's it right there. I love my deeply involved does and movies that pull me in. But sometimes i ain't got it for one reason or another and i just need something that will be on
I love a comfort watch (esp at this time of year) but if I'm not fully engaged then I honestly don't enjoy it as much. If I pick up my phone then I'm taken out of the essence of the film/show, and that immediately makes it not feel as good. Ditto if people talk during it. I need full immersion.
Ok but like you shouldn’t expect writers and actors to make bluey for adults because you have adhd, like me. Just sit down and watch the show until you lose focus, pause it go do your thing, hit play.
Exactly. I have ADHD. Sometimes I miss stuff or get distracted while watching things I need to pay attention to. Big shock, but either I start again from the beginning or I rewind to the last part I heard and watch from there. I don't need Basil Exposition explaining every little detail to me!
...that's because I grew up with the show and have a certain ingrained familiarity with it. I'm not sure how this is supposed to work with something I haven't seen before.
And the rewind button for shows has existed since the earliest VCRs. It's not that difficult to say, "Oh, dang, I missed that, let me go back while the sauce simmers a bit longer."
I’ve been rewatching the series using the (well done) descriptive audio track, including while making spaghetti ands throughout the workday. No problems here! And thoroughly loving every minute of it!
The person making spaghetti can say, 'Wait, what was that?' and hit the rewind-10-seconds button as many times as they need. /They don't have to miss a thing with technology./
the first few episodes of LD, my complaint was that everything was too frenetic. You found the perfect balance about E5 or so, and kept it all the way along. <3
The fast-paced, packed nature of Lower Decks means you can watch it over and over again and appreciate something new every time. It's like Veep and Derry Girls in this way. But with LD the audience has the animation to appreciate too.
How dare you make TV that's actually worth giving one's attention to. I'm pretty sure all TV shows are meant to be made for people who would rather be doing something other than watching TV, right?
I think a person (with far more money that I have) or maybe a crowd-funded thing, should try to make a streaming service for modern animation. Lower Decks, Metalocalypse, Ren & Stimpy, Archer, etc. Also publish them on physical media so they can live forever. I am so sad about Lower Decks ending.
Silly exec. The answer is "then the person making spaghetti will be so intrigued they'll play the episode again to see what they missed". Multiple views are great for the numbers, right?
Netflix bought Arrested Development from it's Fox cancelation on the strength of its fanbase, who were known to rewatch episodes multiple times because of the high comedic density of each episode. They Should Know This Already, and yet they always go smooth-brain
That's all most people want. The content of the show is not important, the show itself is superficial comfort food. They've been conditioning us not to think for decades.
That's far more polite than I probably would've been, and my response of "Not my problem you have the attention span of a stoned goldfish" would've gotten the series cancelled before it left any approval committee 😅
Why is the future a dumbed down culture bending towards more reasons to water down everything? Remember when we thought the future would be filled superpowers and hover boards?
In game dev, we've started adding accessibility options that describe the scene. It's mostly for blind players, but anyone can use it.
I wonder if something like this could be innovated upon & added to TV/movie programming, which could give the execs are asking for w/out taking up story time.
audio description is what you're describing, has existed in tv and film (and live theatre too, sometimes) for decades. it doesn't get used nearly enough (very limited showing times in cinema/regular tv showings etc), but already exists on loads of netflix titles. i can't speak to the quality of --
said AD on netflix though, but if it's lacking (as subtitles/captions often are) then it's a huge shame that they don't instead put their time and energy into championing improvements there.
it's wicked to hear it's use in gaming is growing though 🩷
The thing is that teledescription is also a thing, in both audio and subtitles. That’s kinda sad to see exec pushing for stuff already existing in some form and making their « content » more idiotic by the same process…
Kinda got that backwards lol: Audio Description has been around in TV/film for several decades, but the first video game with professional Audio Description only came out 2 years ago (The Last of Us Part 1).
I did say "started," but it's quickly becoming the norm.
I knew there was some version of that around for TV and movies, but I haven't been aware of how it's being used or deployed or if special hardware was required. My accessibility director would probably scold me for my ignorance.
Yessss, I hope it continues the current trend, and becomes more common! 💙
On broadcast TV, AD is on SAP audio channels.
On streaming services and DVDs, it's a spoken language setting.
In theaters, it's a wireless headset or app which receives the narration track.
Meanwhile I rewatch every episode of LD intently to catch as many easter eggs as I can. And still catch at least one new one in every episode on a 3rd or 4th rewatch.
I barely ever rewatch any of the new Netflix stuff.
Argh. This is what reruns are for. When I want to Watch Something that's different than Having Something On. There's already a billion things to Have On so make Something to Watch
Netflix executives want visual sludge and not a film, it’s why these morons want ai so badly. If they fail to make a piece of media genuine then nobody will watch it and eventually just stop watching Netflix altogether, if they want background noise they should get into the music industry instead.
I feel so old reading this. Just saw someone less than half my age watching Mullholland Drive on a phone with subtitles while playing Switch on a train.
There’s so much richness in the visuals as well as the story in Lower Decks. Why do studios do this? TV is not background noise or for multi-tasking, if it’s a really good show, put your full attention into it.
I only watch shows while making spaghetti on rewatches
Also, isn’t that what the AD audio track is for? It basically turns tv shows into audio books? It’s marvelous for accessibility, but needing it dumbed down even more is disappointing to hear from the people who might decide Prodigy and LD fates
This explains the attitude of "if people haven't binged the first season of a show within two weeks then it's not getting renewed". A lot of great shows are ones that you need to sit down for and sit with each episode, but the tv equivalent of wallpaper gets more watchtime, so it's more profitable.
I see your point but do you think this is always a bad thing? I haven’t watched your show but I like that there are some shows you don’t have to concentrate 100% on. But with some shows you do. I like the diversity. 🤷♀️
to be fair popular anime shows have been doing this for decades. long flashbacks, relevance-based flashbacks, and like they'll do multiple episodes like that.
lower decks is absolutely tighter and tighter stuff means rewatch. I don't need to rewatch naruto lol
Yeah, but anime does this with their long running shows because in japan they don't do reruns. and since their shows air weekly, that 16 ep story arc you just binged in about 5 hours took 4 MONTHS to watch live.
for context, the 8ep "5min till namek explodes" thing in dbz lasted 2 months real time.
I 100% think there is a place for "light" TV that you can watch while you're making spaghetti, and there is nothing wrong with a streamer wanting to have some on offer.
This is what happens when clueless execs forget how modern their platform is.
Like....this isn't network TV anymore. People can pause, rewind, and even scrub, all on a whim. The dinosaurs want to drive flying cars but assume they still need gas to do so.
In fairness, TOS was written like a radio play, with every episode basically 100% followable without looking at the screen.
Hell, this continued into Berman Trek. When the characters tell us outloud what they're trying to do with the LCARS display, it's for our benefit as viewers.
Sure, there’s shows that I use as “background” noise like reality cooking or sports - but when I watch my Lower Decks it was phone down full focus - cause it’s a show I actually have two woots about. 😒
But that’s your CHOICE to do that, and it’s fine for you
It’s just absurd that artists are being pushed to make shows/movies that require a minimal amount of attention. You should WANT to focus on them. The whole point is to capture the imagination of the viewer.
10ish years ago, when all the streamers started firing up original content, I was working in entertainment journalism. Every single creative I interviewed back then praised the hands-off approach as a refreshing change from studio micromanagement.
Why can't Netflix just make sure that every show has Audio Description in the accessibility options? Let people decide what works best for their own access needs. 🙄🙄🙄🙄
People making dinner and NOT WATCHING aren't your audience then. Just make TV for a specific group of viewers and be okay with not every person ever possibly watching the show.
All their data suggests 87% of viewers are somewhere in the process of spaghetti-making while they watch TV; Making, just having made, thinking of making, fondly remembering past occasions of making, etc.
They want shows designed to only half pay attention now? So like, transform into YouTube/TikTok?
I guess maybe they're interpreting people no longer having a decent attention spawn or being so brain dead they have to simplify their content and slice it in child-level of complexity cut scenes.
I hate those long hesitation moments when swift action should be taken, or endless stares to stretch the minutes without further content. I also fast-forward prolonged kissing and sex scenes, as they add nothing to the story.
IMO the best thing about lower decks is the rapid fire, if your not paying attention, you’ll miss it Easter eggs and hidden references to other episodes and series. THAT’S WHAT’S REWARDING AND HILARIOUS about the show in the 1st place. If you’re making food during an ep, you’re watching it wrong.
Sorry I’m screaming. I’m really pissed lower decks got canceled. I love this show. Overall, the gag that the main characters are Star Trek fans is funny and cool but the stories and characters themselves are interesting. They drew me in more than some of the other new series did. LOWER DECKS!
Does anyone just watch TV anymore?
The only other thing I'm doing when I watch TV is sitting on the edge of my seat or enjoying a drink.
Also, LOWER DECKS! LOWER DECKS! LOWER DECKS!
You enjoy the episode and make dinner, and a few days later you can watch the episode again and it feel like there’s bonus content. It just needs to be funny in moments and good enough that you have faith it holds together.
There’s kinda two philosophies: a distracted audience will get confused and change the channel VS an audience who isn’t surprised or challenged will get bored and change the channel.
There’s a balance and wisdom to both but I lean to the latter.
I already hate the heavy-handed ways characters say on the beginning "well, I AM your big sister that drove down from Chicago 3 years ago to help with your wife after the baby and now...." 🤪 So you are telling me this is going to get worse???
Mariner missing half the important stuff Boimler is trying to tell her because she's making spaghetti is something I would expect to see on Lower Decks.
Seriously that's me being an idiot. I don't want bad habits catered to like that. It's like them saying they're not going to sell toilet paper anymore bc ppl shit their pants and make everyone wear diapers
Remember folks, they canceled Police Squad because it had so many jokes people were missing them. Canning shows that are 'too good' is not a new phenomenon, and all the more reason to disbelieve that the market and the execs only reward (or for that matter create) good work~
Maybe media conglomerate execs could learn about #Accessibility & such technologies as #DescriptiveAudio & #ClosedCaptions. These extra methods deliver a show to those not just distracted but requiring adaptive tech to make show access #equal AND #equitable!
Every Star Trek fan I know can actually do two things at once. Anyone who thinks Star Trek fans can't make dinner while watching television and succeed at both hasn't met many Star Trek fans.
We had a four inch black and white TV in the kitchen in the early 1990s and we usually watched Next Generation while we made dinner since it was on at the perfect time.
I have c-ptsd and drift away mentally if the timing is too slow. Thanks for packing everything in so many layers, so I always had something to pay attention to and with the story.
My partner and I love rewatching to pick out all the references and revisit those too.
As a wife contemplating matricide every time the husband and I watch something together because he’s either snoozy or distracted, I’m concerned that crime rates will go up if they further ruin the experience for those of us bothering to pay attention.
What if some people actually start the episode and then switch off their screens? (they do)
Maybe you should include some helpful descriptions for them, too.
I once worked on a show whose producer who told me we needed to make a VFX shot “obvious”; for the people who are “chopping onions in the kitchen while watching”. I found it deflating that he had so little respect for his own show.
Also, what’s with all the people cooking while watching TV?
I mean... I basically only watch things while doing something else these days, as I have so little sitting down time that I try to use it for reading books.
That said, I also don't mind rewinding when I miss something entirely (like I do with audiobooks when my focus zooms in on something else).
Agree. Granted, this WAS a network show that began long before the prestige TV/streaming era, so I know they were mired in that mentality. But still, I was struck that he didn’t even want to attempt to elevate or innovate, and that he thought so poorly of his own audience’s observational skills.
the ones leaving a show on while cooking are the ones most likely to plow through the commercials- the things that the ad money guys are telling the execs is the best audience.
To be fair I watch my fav shows at 5 30am. Kids asleep and the night before come to streaming. The least favorites I play in back while working and pause when a call comes in. They really don't think we care it's seems.
Yeah cooking is not the time for that. I get needing constant stimulation/background noise because of ADD, I can relate, but cooking is the time for podcasts or music or an audiobook. Who the fuck watches a new show they have to pay attention to and cooking at the same time??
Sometimes I'll put on cooking youtube videos to keep me company while cooking but I do that knowing that I'm only going to half pay attention to them and will have to rewind if I miss something, sounds like all of these execs are admitting that they don't know how to rewind a video lol
I do this, but I also would very deliberately NOT watch a show that requires I pay that heavy attention while cooking. You save those for after cooking.
dramas and true crime are great for background noise because most everything is communicated through the dialogue, but I will agree that I only put on junk TV for background noise. Nothing I need to pay attention to.
I would wager that MOST people watch TV while they cook. And have since the advent of television. So suddenly thinking that people are losing retention that way is ignoring decades of habit
Money people don't understand story telling 'cause they're too busy hoarding every dime they can get their grubby fucking hands on to understand that it's not just flashing lights & loud noises.
They're infantile people with no skills or personalities beyond owning things they don't need or want.
like what does it matter if the viewer isnt fully paying attention...it wont hurt the viewership cause the concept of having something playing in the background has been around since forever. what kinda life do these execs live...
In a way it's a return to the way TV was before the Golden Age of Television. I'd never stopped to think of this before I watched this video (16:41), but yeah, TV shows used to be made with the idea that you're probably doing something else. https://youtu.be/xbZMqS-fW-8?si=9ry0TPI5_NI50ETm
I can't say I like the idea of these streaming shows trying to dumb things down, saying "hey, you gotta make this with the person mindlessly scrolling through TikTok on their phone as your main audience", but it probably should be something to take into account.
Like, there are a lot of things about the streaming age that suck, but I've watched so many dull Netflix shows that could've stood to try and draw the audience's attention from time to time or alternate between slower, less exciting scenes and faster, more tense/action-oriented ones.
Netflix lowers speaking volume to inaudible levels so people have to watch with Closed Captions on. So how is anyone watching Netflix while making spaghetti?
Literally just finished the series last night (🥹😍😭) and like, one of my favourite aspects of the show IS that So Much Happens! It's So Much Star Trek for such a tiny little episode! Even on a fifth viewing I don't think I could ever tear my eyes away for a pot of measly spaghetti wtf.
You were doing amazing work making the most consistently excellent series of Star Trek, and the only one that has ever really paid attention to continuity in a way that makes sense and rewards fans of the show. Thank you so much for making a show that respects fans and delivers laughs and pathos.
Psychiatrist here. Ppl on their 📱 while doing other things is not, necessarily, ADHD.We don't need to pathologize regular, or bad, behavior.Electronics have changed ppl's regular behavior but it hasn't caused brain d/os manifested from childhood in adults.We need to stop catering to poor behavior.
I cancelled netflix months ago and regret it less and less each day. I'm honestly at the point I just can't bother with subscription streaming anymore.
Well, Silo (yep on Apple streaming not Netflix) must be casual viewing. Every 2 episodes could easily be condensed to 1 episode. I like the show, but it moves at a glacial pace.
It's called a remote that lets. you rewind. IOW, ya movie seen twice!! Aye Dios mio, do we have to tell them rookie Exects everything to do?! Open ya eyes👁 🎥🎬📽🎞! &more films w real Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Cubans, Haitians, Jamaicans, Hawaiians, Samoans, Lakota , Blackfoot, Hopi,Dine+++
Studies continue to tell us that multitasking (and that includes having more than one screen on at a time) is KILLING US. It's making us distracting and inefficient.
FOCUS, people. Put your phone down. Watch the damn movie. Read a freakin' book!
I haven’t watched lower decks, but I have noticed a trend in TV toward extremely fast moving action, to the point that I often have to pause and replay a brief snippet of dialogue to understand what just happened—that’s when paying full attention. Different approaches to chasing distracted viewers?
Why the fuck is the target demographic "people not even watching the thing"?
I really wish someone could explain to me the importance of watchtime if it isn't even being watched and the service its on is a monthly subscription that is the same from watching an episode to binging 200 hours straight
Not an expert, but my guess would be the more someone watches your streaming service, the less they watch someone else's and the more likely they are to cancel their subscription to other streamers, so your competitor loses money?
Yes, I think their goal it to become low quality background noise we all pay a monthly subscription to keep using, because our brains have gotten used to multiple sources of stimulation at once.
That leads to either “How do we convey our media content into the brains of people who can’t perceive it at all?” or “Our media must contain zero content, for the oblivious audience”
I'm only a casual ST fan post TOS so most of the guest stars in ep 9 this yr were almost new characters to me. The way the show brought me up to speed and made me care about these people, gave everybody arcs and meanwhile had a ton of other things happening was amazing storytelling.
If people aren’t paying attention to the show, they’re not getting the full “Lower Decks” experience. Half the appeal of the show is all the sight gags and Easter eggs, especially for long-time Trekkies.😂
Streaming execs really need to stop pandering to people who can't pay attention or need everything explained to them and to have no plot holes whatsoever.
Plot holes really enhance a show when done well. As it generates discussion with fans.
What's wild to me is that people apparently put on stuff they've never seen in the background? Like I only do that for shit I've seen a million times, that's the point of it being background noise.
Omg that's so insulting to both writers and audience.
THANK YOU for making Lower Decks, the best Star Trek since DS9 and one of the few bright spots in the miserable media landscape of the past several years. My spouse and I looked forward to watching every episode together (and we paid attention)
I've been screaming into the ether for at least a decade now:
When it comes to streaming, mediocrity is the GOAL. It is not a viable business model for anything else because people using their service costs them money. They want people to pay for the service and then not use it.
Yep. How would the streamers mitigate the damage? My guess was they would start passing around/spreading rights to well liked shows/movies hoping that fans would follow them around but not cancel their old service because of "that one show I'm watching".
As someone who gets distracted easily: the spaghetti maker would rewind the episode to get the stuff they missed. That's one of the benefits of streaming or home video vs live TV.
This isn't the only time I've got the impression that the executives of streaming services don't seem to understand that they're streaming, not broadcast.
Je trouve ça intéressant qu'au final, quelque soit le medium, des plateformes de VOD à Twitch, on fini toujours pas retomber sur les codes des émissions de TV et du concept de "vendre du temps de cerveaux".
Besides all the obvious anti-art nonsense built into this, it also says something about personal responsibility. Like, I realize the risks when I get up in the middle of something on television. I know I’m tempting fate when I’m too lazy to find the remote and hit pause.
second screen is great for a lot of shows... that do not have plots. like rewatching anthony bourdain or something. people having a show with a story on their phone while they're doing laundry or something blows my mind
I've found some gems that way. 20 minutes on the logistics of feeding a moving Roman legion. All of a sudden I'm ignoring my civilization game and intensely following lol.
FFS! Network execs need to know that the pause button exists in streaming for a reason! Can they learn to make shows for the people that watch them instead of the people that don’t!
It's such a shame that the Dune prequel series wasn't set in the Butlerian Jihad. Our robot tech-lords wouldn't want the pleebs to get too many ideas, I guess.
Comments
So fuck that exec. 😂
I literally waited until I had *nothing* going on for every episode - there's SO much happening, I wanted to pay attention and absorb it all and not miss anything.
I don't know how you all managed to fit the arc of a 45 minute episode in under 30 minutes without feeling breathless.
Bravo. 🙏
"Background noise" shows are news broadcasts, stand up comedian shows, podcasts, and audio drama-esque TTRPG actual plays, not fuckin' cartoons. Why would I turn on ANIMATION if not to WATCH?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Welch#CEO
Actual reply from another student: “But how do we REALLY know it is harmful?”
Their subscriber fee is the same if they watch five or fifty shows.
💖🖖
My favorite background gem of all LDS was the Daedalus Class ship in An Embarrassment of Dooplers. It made my nerd-heart so happy.
Thank you @mikemcmahan.bsky.social
#Moopsy
Usually SpongeBob ; she loves cartoons and enjoys watching that the most right now. /
Soon they’ll be writing shows for the pets
Haaaatss anything with cars or loud engines / seems to prefer sci-fi or best combination is animated sci fi ;
From what I can tell though SpongeBob is her fav and especially when they occasionally have the live puppet parts in between the cartoons
Some people just aren’t in to any delay or subtlety in story telling.
My most often-repeated phrase when watching anything is “Let’s watch and find out.”
Tandi Tagliatelle
Rutherford Rigatone
Mariner Macaroni
Ransom Ravioli
Somebody please make it so
My point was that ADHD doesn't necessarily mean "I will never give a show my full attention". (And Terra and I go back years, so she at least knows I'm engaging in good faith.)
Where did i mention my expectations for writers.
Which reminds me - take my Adderall!
The closest I've gone though to actively playing something in the background when I'm doing work is old episodes of TNG, but...
Technology!
Lower Decks was too good to ignore. We learned to eat the spaghetti, then turn the show back on.
But guess that wouldn't allow the streamer to claim the "viewer"
I wonder if something like this could be innovated upon & added to TV/movie programming, which could give the execs are asking for w/out taking up story time.
it's wicked to hear it's use in gaming is growing though 🩷
But alas...
I knew there was some version of that around for TV and movies, but I haven't been aware of how it's being used or deployed or if special hardware was required. My accessibility director would probably scold me for my ignorance.
On broadcast TV, AD is on SAP audio channels.
On streaming services and DVDs, it's a spoken language setting.
In theaters, it's a wireless headset or app which receives the narration track.
I barely ever rewatch any of the new Netflix stuff.
Crap, y'all.
Also, isn’t that what the AD audio track is for? It basically turns tv shows into audio books? It’s marvelous for accessibility, but needing it dumbed down even more is disappointing to hear from the people who might decide Prodigy and LD fates
I want to talk about shows like Lower Decks without having to come into a burning building to do so.
Just watch the cooking channel....
"AND NOW IM GOING TO~ mince the garlic...."
The passive viewer:
lower decks is absolutely tighter and tighter stuff means rewatch. I don't need to rewatch naruto lol
for context, the 8ep "5min till namek explodes" thing in dbz lasted 2 months real time.
which puts the lie to netflix's bs even more.
like, people can literally click on any episode and rewatch it. no need to delve into flashbacks because they're RIGHT THERE.
It is my favorite Dr Who spinoff!!!!
I am sad you didn't put my favorite Dalek R2-3PO in it tho. 😭 Not even a cameo!
I 100% think there is a place for "light" TV that you can watch while you're making spaghetti, and there is nothing wrong with a streamer wanting to have some on offer.
Not all TV needs to be that.
"Because I can have it on in the background while I'm folding my laundry."
Part is because it's a simple show & part is because they've seen every episode eight times.
Like....this isn't network TV anymore. People can pause, rewind, and even scrub, all on a whim. The dinosaurs want to drive flying cars but assume they still need gas to do so.
Hell, this continued into Berman Trek. When the characters tell us outloud what they're trying to do with the LCARS display, it's for our benefit as viewers.
Sure, there’s shows that I use as “background” noise like reality cooking or sports - but when I watch my Lower Decks it was phone down full focus - cause it’s a show I actually have two woots about. 😒
It’s just absurd that artists are being pushed to make shows/movies that require a minimal amount of attention. You should WANT to focus on them. The whole point is to capture the imagination of the viewer.
attention is a resource. if they don’t pay up, they don’t get the reward
We used to have that. It was called "Radio".
People making dinner and NOT WATCHING aren't your audience then. Just make TV for a specific group of viewers and be okay with not every person ever possibly watching the show.
You can't argue with math, Ben.
(I never knew that it wasn’t the _spaghetti-making_ that was the in-the-background activity!)
I guess maybe they're interpreting people no longer having a decent attention spawn or being so brain dead they have to simplify their content and slice it in child-level of complexity cut scenes.
The only other thing I'm doing when I watch TV is sitting on the edge of my seat or enjoying a drink.
Also, LOWER DECKS! LOWER DECKS! LOWER DECKS!
Like Hitchhiker's Guide or The Sojourn.
There’s kinda two philosophies: a distracted audience will get confused and change the channel VS an audience who isn’t surprised or challenged will get bored and change the channel.
There’s a balance and wisdom to both but I lean to the latter.
Seems like a win-win.
Villain:
"I am creeping up behind you now with this weapon in my hand. I'm getting closer. No, don't turn around, I'm almost there."
Riveting.
My partner and I love rewatching to pick out all the references and revisit those too.
Maybe you should include some helpful descriptions for them, too.
Also, what’s with all the people cooking while watching TV?
That said, I also don't mind rewinding when I miss something entirely (like I do with audiobooks when my focus zooms in on something else).
and the shit rolls downhill
But I can also walk and chew gum at the same time so I don’t need good writing neutered because I’m doing mise en place.
In my own case I watch enough shows that I sometimes prioritize based on "what do I need to catch up on"
Or you can just put on a show that you've seen before.
And it's Netflix. You can just watch it properly when you aren't busy.
They're infantile people with no skills or personalities beyond owning things they don't need or want.
we're dumb.
My comment, re: some hapless fool making 'getti:
WELL TOUGH TITTIES, WATCH IT AGAIN THEN
(I mean, ST: Lower Decks is like _the_ most rewatchable series EVER.)
My response would have been that “You, sir or madam, want to work on a podcast, not a TV series.”
https://youtu.be/xbZMqS-fW-8?si=9ry0TPI5_NI50ETm
It makes me so happy!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/39-over-pathologizing-normal-behavior/id1518405662?i=1000651776430
What if someone 9 years or older wants to actually sit down and watch something?
FOCUS, people. Put your phone down. Watch the damn movie. Read a freakin' book!
https://youtube.com/shorts/luQGaJwFliA?si=Am7BBa7Z9ShZd2L2
I really wish someone could explain to me the importance of watchtime if it isn't even being watched and the service its on is a monthly subscription that is the same from watching an episode to binging 200 hours straight
If it's new to me, I pay attention.
I'd tell those execs to tell people to watch it again.
No show designed as background show could become that.
iv seen shows like buffy and stargate enough that I dont need to pay attention 100% to get whats going on
… said no one ever.
"Does a tired sigh"
Streaming execs really need to stop pandering to people who can't pay attention or need everything explained to them and to have no plot holes whatsoever.
Plot holes really enhance a show when done well. As it generates discussion with fans.
I mean, we know why. But at the very least we can make them feel *slightly* stupid in the moment.
THANK YOU for making Lower Decks, the best Star Trek since DS9 and one of the few bright spots in the miserable media landscape of the past several years. My spouse and I looked forward to watching every episode together (and we paid attention)
When it comes to streaming, mediocrity is the GOAL. It is not a viable business model for anything else because people using their service costs them money. They want people to pay for the service and then not use it.
Seinfeld/Greys Anatomy/Friends/The Office
We can decide when to watch it.
Some of those folks run studios and networks.
...
Sur beaucoup d'émissions sur lesquelles je travaille, si quelque chose n'est pas expliqué en ITW alors ça n'existe pas au montage.
Le spectateur NE DOIT PAS réfléchir.
L'adaptation du Loup-Garou de Thiercelieux sur Canal+ est une anomalie aujourd'hui.
"We're here to cross the bridge to get medicine to the kids so--"
"WE KNOW!!"
audiobooks are for spaghetti