by Catherine Leahy

Created on: June 24, 2008

Having just finished watching the complete five series of "Six Feet Under" on DVD, I can see quite clearly what TV has to offer over film. TV is the better medium because the narrative is not constrained by the two hour time limit that film is limited to. Characters can develop in a way that film can only dream of, so that we can get to know and love the characters in a more deeply personal way. Similarly the story can develop, storylines can be more intricate and involved and more drawn out so that more than a few issues or themes can be explored. Film, by its nature, is limited to telling stories in a very structured way. Television is also constrained and the stories are constructed according to certain conventions, however, because of the serial nature of television drama the structure can be experimented with, turned upside down, extended or discarded. Television drama offers more than film in terms of character and narrative. However, television has its own constraints that film is not subject to. The main one is broadcasting restrictions which imposes limits on what can and cannot be broadcast, film does not have so many restrictions. Television is aimed at a wide and varied audience and attempts to satisfy its audience without offending a number of different groups within that audience and, of course, appealing to advertisers at the same time. This can lead to very feeble kinds of drama that lack strong themes or definable characters. Film can target very specific audience segments in a way that television cannot. However, this is changing. Subscription based satellite channels who are not solely reliant on advertisers and whose subscribers are well-defined have been the leaders in providing strong, high quality programming. HBO is the best example and its success is testament to the demand for good quality drama.

Television does not score better than film just in drama, however. The medium of television itself is both an advance on, and a challenge to, film. Television is multi-faceted, providing news, documentary, sport, entertainment, drama and reality. It comes to you, being broadcast into your home where you can watch in the midst of your day-to-day life. For this reason television becomes part of the daily living experience of most people in the western world, it serves many functions, from information to entertainment and has even been said to have replaced community for many people. This is a strong claim, but it can be seen to have some truth.

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