My first reaction is that the cable shows you cite only put out a dozen or so episodes per season, while network shows churn out twice that.
But googling didn’t reveal a definitive episode count, and IMDb only lists 13, with the 13th airing Christmas Eve. Is that the season 1 finale, do we think, or just the mid-season finale? If the former, then yeah, no excuses.
You’re right about comparisons between the old network ‘23 episodes per season’ and the newer ‘10 to 13 per season’ shows being quite unfair. But as you suggest, this show appears to be following the ‘10-13’ model.
I’m not sure any dramas are made at that old ‘over 20 per year’ rate anymore, come to think of it.
ETA–oops, shows like NCIS ARE made at the 22-or-so per-season rate.
It’s almost as if ‘shows never up for Emmy consideration’ are 22-per-year, and ‘shows that might win Emmy Awards’ are 10 to 13.
The former is more easily referred to as “procedurals,” which comprise the vast majority of network dramas.
One current non-procedural I could think of was This Is Us, but that appears to be an in-betweener with 18-episode seasons.
NCIS doesnt care about Emmys, I am sure, since they are one of the highest in the Nielsen ratings year after year, bringing in boatloads of money.
It’s cheezy but it’s holding my interest. The whole goofy gray woman thing though… it was silly. And the detective woman? Terrible acting. I’m not picking on her appearance, she just makes these weird faces that take me out of scenes she’s in. Like she’s jutting out her chin and trying too hard to look like a tough cop. The wife of her brother annoys me too. She tries to make her eyes too damn big. Overacting, I guess that’s what it was. Everyone on the show over-acts.
Yeah, and no one knows how to lie. She shoudl have said, about the raid “I just had a hunch, and my last two hunches paid off, so…”. But she already knows the “callings” arent exact. So “save him” could have been anyone. So, assuming it was the ATF guy was just stupid.
The eyes were freaking me out a bit.
The angel reminded me of a cross between the Weeping Angels and the giftshop toys that gave advice in the late, lamented “Wonderfalls.”
Yes. And I don’t even watch Dr. Who.
I want to like this show. I really do. But I’m not buying it. I’ll give it a few more episodes before I pack it in. I like Charming and his wife, but the rest of them need to step it up.
While I thought the stowaway twist was interesting, I think he would have been spotted (or worse) when he tried to run away when the plane landed. Also, I suspect that Leo is still alive. On TV, if you don’t see the body, and sometimes even if you do…
At the end, when Michaela said, “What do you want?” to the angel, I said, “No, tell it to be more specific!”
And the Fed can just show pictures of the 828’s to the nurse. There’s going to be trouble.
Speaking of trouble, I’m surprised it hasn’t happened yet (and I bet it will happen soon) that there’s going to be a big confrontation (more than Cal and that woman) between an 828 and one or more of them.
(Missed the edit window) Kind of awkward to be the insurance company exec having to write those letters, although with that much money involved, I can understand why.
Legal question: What if the insurance company paid off to a family member/spouse/partner/whatever who is now deceased. Would the now returned passenger be obliged to pay off the debt?
And wouldn’t it be interesting if the 828’s who returned to the plane were all insured by the same company?
Isn’t there a good faith issue with the life insurance? I mean, Ben WAS declared dead. He didn’t fake his death, the plane disappeared for five years and everyone was presumed dead. I don’t think there was any fraud on anyone’s part. Does she still have to give back the money?
I thought she used the money to start her business, but it sounds like she let things slide while grieving and grabbed the life insurance payout as a lifeline to get caught up. Then, when she starting getting things back together, tapped into the house to start the catering business.
A smart insurance company would reason that way, and advertise the fact that they were dealing compassionately with those affected by this bizarre situation. (“Jane Doe just had her husband return mysteriously after 5 years. The last thing she needs is a bil from an insurance company. ‘County Homestead’ understands that; ‘County Homestead’ cares”).
“We know a thing or two…”
Because we’ve seen a few… people mysteriously disappear and reappear.
Wasn’t there supposed to be a bombshell on this week’s episode? What was it? I didn’t see anything that I would call a bombshell.
The old network rate was more like 26-34 episodes per season for an hour long drama and 39 (!) for half hour shows.
That a stowaway was on the plane is bombshell enough for me.
Yeah, things are getting weirder all the time, but maybe that’s the whole idea.
I am not sure, I dont really think so. But there’s nothing to stop the Insurance company from sending out letters ASKING for the money.
It’s hard to apply real life logic to stories of the supernatural. It’s unfortunate that the writers forced the issue by making it a plot point, and I hope they stop doing that.
I put the 828 life insurance payouts in exactly the same category as the question of what dental plan Santa’s elves get at the north pole. The more the show examines that kind of thing the less interested I will be in watching.
Yeah, they really did grind them out in the old days. And as Ellis Dee pointed out, the dramas that still do 20 or more shows per season are (mostly) procedurals. Stand-alone episodic writing requires less planning and care than does a season-long narrative; with no ‘story arc’ to worry about, the producers can buy scripts from a large number of writers. (And as DrDeth pointed out, those shows can be wildly profitable for the networks.)
But we’ve come to expect high-quality writing and acting in our story-arc dramas. Will we get that from Manifest? Jury’s still out, it seems.