Why TV Shows Fail in Season 2! A Solution to Season Two Blues

AN IDEA TO SAVE FAILING SEASON TWO TV SHOWS  

Have you noticed how often a television series can have a good season 1 then fall apart in season 2? Witness Agent Carter, Knightfall, Daredevil, as just three recent examples.

There can be many reasons for a show not to have legs: Changes of key staff, first year teething struggles not overcome to fully find the show, star changes, and good ole bad luck, for example.

But I want to throw into the mix another idea.

Ideas.

Everything in life comes down to ideas. How we survive, find love, do great work, raise our children. All of these life affirming choices and actions are based on ideas. Finding the best ideas is vital to life. And to storytelling.

In essentials a story is the clash of ideas. On a collaborative creative effort like a television show, to find the best ideas most often needs many and varied strong voices.

Ideas are vital to developing and writing stories, but this is especially important for a long running television series. While the first season of any TV show is often the hardest because the producers/talents are still finding the show -- the key best ideas that work -- the first season too often these days is the best one.  

I presume that a key reason for this is that in season one the best new ideas are squeezed from the premise and produced early in the show. Too many season twos then spiral down into weak ideas and lost opportunities. Their main plot situation is weaker, new less interesting characters are introduced, and often the main character goals and conflicts become repetitive or not big or important enough. And the worst, to keep the story moving, characters suddenly do stupid things. Thus a once stunning show now becomes unbelievable and uninvolving.

In short, the major reason for season two blues is that the producers/writers don’t find the best ideas for the new season storyline.

That is a herculean task. I don’t want to belabour examples of failures -- we all know how hard it is to devise and produce a TV show -- but in Agent Carter, the season two main plot situation was the heroes chasing some black blob in LA.

In Knightfall, the heroic knight has to go back to being an initiate.

What’s more surprising is that both of these shows in season one set up better ideas for season two but didn’t use them:

In Agent Carter, that idea was replicating the blood and thus the powers of Captain America.

In Knightfall season 1, the hero had a child with his now murdered beloved that he gives away instead of having to focus full time on protecting her from the vengeful king.

The Creators Takeaway

There are many ways to find the best ideas in a story sequel, but let’s focus on one key way: Diversity.

By diversity I mean a true range of ideas!

Remember it is ideas that are the building blocks of all stories and all TV shows. But if most -- if not all  -- of a TV show’s creative staff are from one viewpoint or philosophy -- that is not a boiling stew in which many diverse and strong story conflicts can brew.

My main point again: In essence conflicts are the clash of ideas. Great conflicts come from the clash of big ideological differences. But how can great conflicts be brewed for an extended time during many seasons of a show if everyone agrees on the same basic ideas?

When conceiving stories, it can often be productive when the staff are NOT in agreement. For that to happen there needs to be a true diversity in thinking. The more different ideas, the more solutions. The more opposing and bigger the ideas, the stronger the clash of ideas. Thus there is much more conflict and drama.

That doesn’t mean that a show has to be in its ideas all things to all men. Each show will have and should have its own philosophy. But it must also be creatively open to the big clash of ideas. That is the core of good stories. For instance, a protagonist must face the strongest opposition to his beliefs and values.

Writing and producing teams need to have creatives from opposing belief and value systems.

On a simple level, this diversity of ideas could mean that fresh young voices who brim with more contemporary ideas might better fit the demographic of the show. While at the same time, older writers with more life experience can add depth and variety to the show’s concepts and characters.

It’s important for showrunners to have creatives on a show who are outside their creative sand box, people who they would never hang out with on a Saturday night. People who think differently to them culturally. Someone who might challenge and push a showrunner and their stories to greater heights.

With true diversity in the makeup of TV show staffs, I suspect television series would be more compelling and for a longer time. Just a thought. Please leave your comments below.