The competition never has been more intense. The old-school notion of networks being broadcasters and owning the big-tent audience is largely over. Cable series beat network series with regularity now, often in both total viewers and the 18-49 demo. Launching a series has never been harder or done in a more crowded and competitive environment. You want to pull out because some tweets bruised your ego or the ego of your stars or showrunners? Please. One absent network would be absorbed by others. All four want to pull out in a show of unity? I guarantee the cable channels would seize the moment, take your spot and create a master plan to roll over you. Netflix was here this time. It’s a serious content provider now. It didn’t get much time for its panels. No doubt it would like to be a fixture on press tour. Hulu? Yep. All the cable channels that weren’t invited? Yep. They would all come. And you know what? If all four networks agreed to bail on the TCA, two would change their minds just to screw the other two. It’s that competitive. (Yes, I know that The CW is our country’s fifth network; I just can’t be sure the lights will still be on. But if they are on, they’ll be here — or they’ll be replaced by Crackle or Blip or DirecTV. Book it.)

TCA and Twitter: Networks and Cable Channels Battle Critics - Hollywood Reporter

In case it’s not clear, this is a quote from THE TELEVISION CRITIC FOR THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.

This industry’s disruption, let me show you it.

Watching TV for plot is a fool’s game, and it’s just going to end with you being disappointed. But watching TV for long-term character arcs can be very rewarding, particularly if you’re in the hands of writers who keep an eye on the characters in a way that keeps them more or less consistent.

You shouldn’t click on this link unless you’re cool with huge spoilers for last night’s Homeland.

But I liked what Todd VanDerWerff said here because it connects to a similar revelation I had a few months ago (oddly, during a Timey Wimey TV podcast): No matter how ridiculous the plot gets, no matter how bad the storytelling becomes, you can watch a terrible TV show for a very long time if you still like the characters.

Think about it — there has to be at least one TV show that held your interest for far longer than it should have, just because you cared enough about the characters to want to know their fates. Without that mesh of acting and writing and direction that creates fictional people, that alchemy, television is just talking heads killing time between commercials.

The reverse is true, by the way: It doesn’t matter how interesting the storytelling is if you seriously wish all those fuckers on that goddamn island would just shut the hell up already and build a boat or something. (My feelings on Lost seasons two and three, let me show you them.)

But still, television. I love it so.

evangotlib: hulu: News that Season 4 of The Thick of It is premiering on Sunday on Hulu has reached Malcolm Tucker and he’s a wee bit upset about it. Click here to watch him excoriate Peter Mannion about this leak to some American site called Hulu…oh hey! That’s us! (Since this is Malcolm, needless to say the language is NSFW). Wow.  I’m shocked they got Chase to sponsor this given the language.  And we’re not talking your simple four letter words here.  Impressive. In honor of Malcolm, I will allow myself a rare burst of profanity to shout HOLY SHIT this happened.

evangotlib:

hulu:

News that Season 4 of The Thick of It is premiering on Sunday on Hulu has reached Malcolm Tucker and he’s a wee bit upset about it. Click here to watch him excoriate Peter Mannion about this leak to some American site called Hulu…oh hey! That’s us! (Since this is Malcolm, needless to say the language is NSFW).

Wow.  I’m shocked they got Chase to sponsor this given the language.  And we’re not talking your simple four letter words here.  Impressive.

In honor of Malcolm, I will allow myself a rare burst of profanity to shout HOLY SHIT this happened.

(Source: )

In case you didn’t know, this show was EFFING BONKERS. Liz Tells Frank What Happened In “Defying Gravity.”

In case you didn’t know, this show was EFFING BONKERS. Liz Tells Frank What Happened In “Defying Gravity.”

benpaddon:

72pins:

Reblog & Win: The IT Crowd

Have you tried turning off and on again? Only a few It Crowd NEStalgia art carts were made as samples and never publicly available. Until now that is. Reblog this post for a chance to win your own!

One winner will be selected July 13th. 

“Have you tried turning it off, blowing into it, then turning it on again?”

I don’t think I’m going to win this as I actually know some of the team behind 72Pins, but there’s no reason why you can’t reblog and give it a go.

Yeah, I’ll have a go.