Hulu, Sitcoms and Collective Experience

Splitsider ran an interesting piece today examining how DVR, Hulu and other technologies are potentially improving the quality of television sitcoms. The argument runs that new means of delivering television programming make it easier to catch up on plot-lines, give more time for viewers take in shows, and provide the means for dedicated fans to follow a show without having to be at the right place at the right time. As the act of choosing to watch the show becomes a more active process, the demand for complex narratives and more sophisticated humor increases:

As more and more television viewing is done on DVRs and streaming video, the entire experience of absorbing a given comedy show will change. They will be packaged less as single, cohesive episodic pieces and more as installments, which will give writers a degree of freedom that they have not always had. Whereas many sitcoms may have previously stretched themselves thin in search of a set-up, climax, and resolution within less than a half-hour, new viewing methods will continue to encourage writers to situate their comedies in more realistic human spaces. As television comedy writing becomes less shackled by the impossibly canned 23-minute plot model, perhaps laugh tracks will be replaced by real laughs.

In addition to my interest in the ways that new technologies can change the art we consume and the way we consume it, I'm curious about the potential for technology to reinvigorate the collective experience of television watching. In an earlier era, a show came on at a specific time on a specific channel. There was one screen to watch it on and everyone watched it at the same time. As access to television shows has multiplied to include a variety of viewing means and formats, this collective experience has somewhat fallen by the wayside. As much as we might lament the disconnection of a family hunched around a glowing box, it's certainly better than a group of isolated individuals hunched over their own personal screens.

If the analysis on Splitsider is correct and narrative arcs become longer and more involved, I wonder if these technologies can also return some of the sense of shared experience associated with television. While we might not all watch the shows at the same time, it could be that, with increased complexity, increased involvement, and maybe most importantly, increased access to an entire series, television will spark the same type of discussion that a shared viewing would.

Splitsider via Gizmodo