Do Todays Shows Have a Decrease in Show Writing?

Kai Leo

Have you ever been watching a show and it felt like you were on the verge of falling asleep? It lacks depth and fails to evoke a deeper emotional response in the audience. Recently, I had the experience while watching the Obi-Wan series. The series follows Obi-Wan Kenobi post Order 66, struggling to hide as a Jedi. This struggle becomes even more complicated when Leia gets kidnapped, and he must come out of the shadows to rescue her. To me, this sounded like a great show premise that I was really excited to watch, but unfortunately, the writing was so flat that it left me disappointed. So, why is the show's writing quality declining? Is it just a lack of creativity, laziness, a decrease in show writers' income, or maybe even AI?

 Robert McKee, an American screenwriting instructor, in his book Script, describes three simple principles for writing dialogue. Compression and economy, direction, and purpose are the keys to dialogue writing. Compression and economy mean to say the maxim in the fewest possible words. Direction means that a piece of dialogue must exist for a reason; it must move the story forward.  The purpose is each line is to help build character in the scene. So how can we improve our writing and hold shows and movie writers accountable for higher quality? One thing I think should be applied to all forms of media is show, not tell. This might seem unusual for a script because it is literally what they are saying, but it could be applied to writing. Let me imagine instead of saying “I really hate her” and saying “every bit of my being cringes when I see her face”. This not only adds more depth to one line but also doesn't interrupt the flow of writing compared to a very bland statement. Instead of just hating the character in this example, you really understand the hatred this person feels and are led to question why, further engaging the audience in the story. 

An example of great show writing is Interview with the Vampire (2022), which is inspired by the 1994 movie directed by Neil Jordan, as well as the book written by Anna Rice. The basic story is that Daniel Molloy, a seasoned reporter, returns to interview someone from his past, the vampire Louis De Pointe Du Lac. Louis takes us back to when he first became a vampire in 1910, all the way up to World War 2. When recounting his past, he recalls a character named Claudia, who, throughout the show, had delivered some of the most powerful but still simple lines. A line should not explain what's happening but only give you more context. You can understand the complex emotions and feelings of Claudia through her dialogue and diary writing through simple but brilliant writing. So next time you're watching a show, ask yourself, Is this really the best quality of writing I could have?