Why We Watch
This had originally been a thread that was started over on the Squadron message board. I had put a lot of thought and effort into an answer to the question and posted it. Some board members gave some very nice feed back, but inevitably I got into another argument with Grood over my thoughts on the subject (apparently content, cast, stunt work, special effects, etc. are meaningless to Grood, all that matters is that a serial is told in parts. Ironically, for a man who stated I wasn’t a true fan and he was, also claimed he can’t name all of the serials Anthony Warde has appeared in, that’s something a none fan like me wastes their time learning. But that’s a topic for a different post.) As my first post of the year I thought I would repost my thoughts on why we as fans watch serials. I was going to be lazy and just cut and paste my original post from the Squadron’s board, but ha ha, jokes on me, I couldn’t find the thread. So I’m going to have to do it from scratch again. Here goes.
I can only speak for myself, but the reason I watch serials is that they fulfill their promise. You look at any trailers, posters or one sheets and they promise a slam bang, action packed experience and I have found that for the most part serials keep their promise. Take a look at The Shadow (ignore the farcical comedic tone), before I had ever seen it, back in the nineties, I knew when I first put that VHS tape in the player that every episode was going to feature Jory appearing in the Shadow costume, there would a be a fist fight, a gunfight and a chase. I also knew the last episode would contain an exciting confrontation between the hero and the main villain and The Shadow did not disappoint me.
The same can not be said for other types of film or TV. I remember being very excited when The 4400 first started, only to quit watching after the second season when it became apparent that the people making it had no idea where it was going. Superman Returns is another example. How many fans were pumped to see that film and ended up being vastly disappointed with the ending. Instead of a major confrontation with Lex Luther, we saw Superman laying in the hospital for the last twenty minutes of the film.
Serials have never done that. They may not all be great, and some may even be down right awful to sit through. But they have always kept their promise. And that’s why I watch them.
I agree, a serial - no matter how good,how bad,or long,or from what studio does deliver what is promised
(As for the whole Grood thing, he seems to care more about The serial “artform” than the actual serials - it’s as if all serials are the same to him as long as they are presented in the serial format.)