Back in the day (late 1960s) there still used to be half-hour dramatic series on television, mainly police shows (e.g., "Felony Squad," "Dragnet"). "Adam-12" which went off the air in 1975 may have been the last one. Can anyone think of a later one?
I suspect it was initially the writers more than the audiences who felt that the format was just too restrictive for what they wanted to say. The early 1970s saw the rise of 90-minute and 2-hour rotating series and multi-day miniseries, and the later 1970s would see the coming of serial storytelling within series ("Dallas", "Dynasty" and the other evening soaps). So I suppose it's no wonder that everyone saw the 30-minute drama as being constricting.
But there was something to be said for a western series like "The Rifleman" or "Have Gun, Will Travel" that could deliver its action and its moral in a half-hour, or a "Twilight Zone," or "Alfred Hitchcock" that could provide its twist within 30 minutes.
Hitchcock Presents and Twilight Zone worked well because the twist eliminated the need for a 4th+ act. Otherwise, I'd say commercials killed them. The time slot is too short for a normal drama. Hour series used to run 52 minutes, then only 45 minutes. Mainly comedies use half-hour slots which used to be 25 minutes, now 22 minutes or less.
Some of those cop shows you mentioned reminded me how radio shows tried to make the transition to TV. They seemed hurried on TV, while on radio they played fine with the same runtime. Maybe the scripts didnt take into account the different medium.
But you bring up a point. Non-Network sources like Netflix could re-discover the half-hour drama. Pitch the idea at your next board meeting!
Some of those cop shows you mentioned reminded me how radio shows tried to make the transition to TV. They seemed hurried on TV, while on radio they played fine with the same runtime. Maybe the scripts didnt take into account the different medium.
That's an interesting point. On radio, your mind is first busy taking in the dialogue, and trying to differentiate the speakers by their voices, all without being able to see whose mouth is moving. Then, you have to mentally conjure up the speaker's facial expressions, body language, physical actions, and setting in your mind's eye. On TV, the visuals give most of this information to you without any mental exercise at all, giving your mind time to focus on the story-line and plot points.
In order not to overwhelm your mental faculties, the radio stories had to be more simple and straight forward, with limited characterization and locales. If you just transplanted the same simple stories to television, they would seem rushed. I'd argue that a radio series like "Dragnet" transferred well to TV because Jack Webb used the constant narration to set the time, place, and character descriptions for the radio audience, allowing the series to cram in more plot and locales for the radio audience than the average drama. For television, Webb kept the same style, only now there were silent visuals under the narration showing the characters in their offices, at their desks, on the phone, or driving between locations. It was the narration that was still pushing the plot forward and describing the procedures in this "procedural." The visuals were only there because you needed to be looking at something.
A show like "Gunsmoke" was equally successful in both mediums, but for a different reason. Like "Dragnet," the television "Gunsmoke" recycled many of the radio scripts for its shows But there was little narration in the radio "Gunsmoke," so under my theory, the shows should have been too simple for television. But here, the visuals stepped up and could go where the radio show couldn't. A television gunfight could show the combatants stepping out into the street, squaring off, staring each other down, with closeups of their facial expressions, etc. This would all be dead air on radio, but made for captivating television.
I wrote abut this in the Westerns thread. Much better in 30 minute format 25 minutes not counting ads)
However.... commercials now make up 20 minutes of the "hour" programs. So, they are really forty minutes. One reason I believe tv is better these days. Perversely! brm
I would argue that DRAGNET did not make the transition to television. Too much talk,,talk talk... Instead of dramatizing the action Friday and co. would tell us what happened! zzzzzzzzz. brm
I was watching some random Dragnet episode on youtube about kids on drugs: "It was 12:15 pm. We stopped for lunch. I had a hot dog and a glass of milk." Did we really need to know that, Jack? With only 25 minutes, it must have been a comedy.
The whole point of "Dragnet" was the idea that police work was generally dull, routine, dogged work, not the thrill-a-minute action-adventure that is usually portrayed on film. It was the painstaking following up of leads and the conducting of numerous interviews ("talk, talk, talk") that led to the closing of cases, not gun-play.
If you can't accept the premise of the series, no wonder you couldn't enjoy it.
I assume you mean HOMECOMING? Yes, that was what immediately came to mind when I read this topic.
As for ancient US half-hour TV shows (which I'm guessing this thread was for; not really about contemporary half-hour drama shows), I have absolutely nothing to contribute -- unless it's John Williams-related.
The whole point of "Dragnet" was the idea that police work was generally dull, routine, dogged work, not the thrill-a-minute action-adventure that is usually portrayed on film. It was the painstaking following up of leads and the conducting of numerous interviews ("talk, talk, talk") that led to the closing of cases, not gun-play.
If you can't accept the premise of the series, no wonder you couldn't enjoy it.
The series was parodied even back in the 1950s, so I dont get your upset or making a personal criticism that I found it funny, as most people would get a chuckle today. I recall Dirty Harry eats a hot dog near the start of the movie where he coincidentally gets to nab some bank robbers, so it's not always the food choice of dull routine police work.
There was intentional humor injected in the Joe Friday/Gannon series, and there's nothing wrong with getting a chuckle out of some dated storytelling. Webb starred in 1940s radio show PAT NOVAK which was a hilarious parody of Raymond Chandler-style dialog and narration, so humor has always operated within Jack Webb's web.
Whatever happened to the one off hour drama? In the UK in the sixties there used to be lots of them, it's all series now. I suppose it's thought that writing, casting & making the sets is all too much trouble for just one hour. But I don't want to moan too much, as with all the HBO stuff (& the like) it's a bit of a golden age now (with American money).
...& so many UK cop shows are now two hours long, sometimes it works & sometimes it's an hours worth of story stretched to two.
Amazon's HOMEFRONT is 30 mins! ------------------------------------------ I assume you mean HOMECOMING? Yes, that was what immediately came to mind when I read this topic.
I've never seen it. It's not exactly broadcast TV (or even cable), but it's good to know that the short form persists in some medium. FWIW, Wikipedia lists the show's episodes as running 24–37 minutes.
There were plenty of one-hour anthology series in the 1950s and stretching into the 1960s, but by 1970 they were dead too. As for single stand-alone dramas (not under a series umbrella like Studio One or The Chrysler Theatre), they were rare in the States. Most so-called dramatic "specials" were longer than a hour. They were the early TV movies. Most comedy-variety specials ran an hour.
I've never seen it. It's not exactly broadcast TV (or even cable), but it's good to know that the short form persists in some medium. FWIW, Wikipedia lists the show's episodes as running 24–37 minutes.
Yeah, the length varies a bit, but is roughly around 30 minutes. It's excellent too, I think you'd like it. Very 70s/paranoia thriller-style.
The mentions of Dragnet and parodies reminded me that it's been a few years since I've watched "Greenboy." Some "blue" language in this, but the video cracks me up.
The whole point of "Dragnet" was the idea that police work was generally dull, routine, dogged work, not the thrill-a-minute action-adventure that is usually portrayed on film. It was the painstaking following up of leads and the conducting of numerous interviews ("talk, talk, talk") that led to the closing of cases, not gun-play.
If you can't accept the premise of the series, no wonder you couldn't enjoy it.
Fantastic on radio. WEBB is a genius!
Awful on television. Webb is a no-talent idiot! brm
Amazon's HOMEFRONT is 30 mins! ------------------------------------------ I assume you mean HOMECOMING? Yes, that was what immediately came to mind when I read this topic.
I've never seen it. It's not exactly broadcast TV (or even cable), but it's good to know that the short form persists in some medium. FWIW, Wikipedia lists the show's episodes as running 24–37 minutes.
"There was intentional humor injected in the Joe Friday/Gannon series, and there's nothing wrong with getting a chuckle out of some dated storytelling. Webb starred in 1940s radio show PAT NOVAK which was a hilarious parody of Raymond Chandler-style dialog and narration, so humor has always operated within Jack Webb's web."
