Why no modern anthology shows?

[grude]

Yes I know there have been shitty attempts at the concept.

But no network is interested in a smart but pulpy short story show? Something like the original Twilight Zone but updated with modern production values? Some stories with a twist, some without but most thought provoking and hey if it isn’t grabbing you a new premise next week. Bring on a guest writer or director, mix things up scifi, horror, crime, just strange and slightly surreal.

I often think “that would have made a good TZ episode” and wonder why no one will give it a try.

[Scumpup]

Hasn’t Sy-Fy attempted stuff like that?

[Mithras]

I’d think the first problem is the modern production values. With most shows, you reuse a few different sets every week. Because you only build them once, they can look pretty decent. To pull off an anthology, you need several new ones for each show. Quality would suffer.

There are many shows that aren’t shot on only a few different sets, but they’re mostly shot in pre-existing locations in a single city. If you have a single episode inside of a spaceship, you’ve probably used a decent chunk of your budget.

I think what you’d end up with is either an anthology where every story takes place in the same city, apartment, and bar or one where everything occurs on sets that look like they were designed for SNL.

[The_Other_Waldo_Pepper]

@Mithras

I’d think the first problem is the modern production values. With most shows, you reuse a few different sets every week. Because you only build them once, they can look pretty decent. To pull off an anthology, you need several new ones for each show. Quality would suffer.

There are many shows that aren’t shot on only a few different sets, but they’re mostly shot in pre-existing locations in a single city.

Was QUANTUM LEAP especially expensive? (Not being snarky; I genuinely have no idea.)

[RealityChuck]

Because they don’t have a particularly good track record. Networks believe that audiences want to see the same characters every week. Quantum Leap was really conceived of as an anthology show, but they realized it would never sell, so they invented the leaping concept so that Bakula and Stockwell would be in every episode so the audience had someone to follow.

There was a mini-boom in them back in the late-80s, when NBC gave Steven Spielberg an unprecedented two-year contract for Amazing Stories. The other networks jumped in with The New Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock (with the same stories as the original, but with a modern cast and in color) and George Burns’s Comedyworld. None did well; the last successful network anthology show was Love American Style (or, depending on your definition, The Love Boat and Fantasy Island.

After the failure in the 80s, the networks were no longer interested. There were a few on other networks and another attempt at the Twilight Zone, but nothing that succeeded, and once TV executives get hold of an idea of what works or doesn’t work, they never let go of it (they still love to program science fiction on Friday because of The Twilight Zone’s success on that night).

[DCnDC]

The most recent ones to have any success were on cable: The Outer Limits (1995 - 2002) had a decent run (on Showtime and Sci-Fi), as did Tales From the Crypt (1989 - 1996) before it (on HBO). Both were later syndicated to basic cable and other non-“Big 3” networks.

More recently, also on cable (Showtime) there was the Masters of Horror series.

[hogarth]

@DCnDC

The most recent ones to have any success were on cable: The Outer Limits (1995 - 2002) had a decent run (on Showtime and Sci-Fi), as did Tales From the Crypt (1989 - 1996) before it (on HBO). Both were later syndicated to basic cable and other non-“Big 3” networks.

More recently, also on cable (Showtime) there was the Masters of Horror series.

You forgot the always-classy Red Shoe Diaries.

[TriPolar]

I think the reality shows like Pawn Stars fill this void. And they’re a lot less expensive to produce. They provide the continuing characters like the Rt. 66 and Quantum Leap models, with a changing set of guest characters and situations. I think a problem with totally different casts and storylines in episodes is holding the audience interest. Tightly coupled series and cliffhangers build ratings, while an anthology episode could be hit or miss.

[Mithras]

@The_Other_Waldo_Pepper

Was QUANTUM LEAP especially expensive? (Not being snarky; I genuinely have no idea.)

I’ve no idea. The only reference to its budget I’ve been able to find so far suggests that it was too high for NBC, at least:

NBC Took a Quantum Leap Backward

[Morbo]

American Horror Story is doing this. Next season will feature a few of the same cast as last season, but playing completely different roles in a completely different scenario.

Link:

Instead, Murphy and co-creator Brad Falchuk are doing something different. They’re inventing something that’s essentially a new model for television: a season-long anthology series, creating something that will occupy a space between traditional miniseries and long-form serialized dramas. As stated in a conference call Murphy participated in with FX president John Landgraf, each season will tell a single story with new characters, a new setting, and a new set of “horrors.” Some of the actors may return as new characters, but a whole new cast will be recruited most years. The only thing uniting each season of the show will be the idea of “American horror.”

[Jim_s_Son]

The original “Twilight Zone” was not a huge ratings success and CBS honchos such as Jim Aubrey thought it cost too much money. I’m sure they made a mint on syndication and video sales but those things are hard to predict when you are deciding to produce a series. TV is almost looking for the next big hit, not something that at best projects to be a modest success

[Roadfood]

@RealityChuck

Because they don’t have a particularly good track record. Networks believe that audiences want to see the same characters every week. Quantum Leap was really conceived of as an anthology show, but they realized it would never sell, so they invented the leaping concept so that Bakula and Stockwell would be in every episode so the audience had someone to follow.

I came in to say exactly this, that audiences want continuing characters. I’m one of the weirdos who never really watched Quantum Leap, mainly because I thought having the same actor portray different people each week was just stupid. I thought the show would have been far better with a different actor each time that actually fit the character being played. But I’m obviously in a small minority.