Never before has there been a time where television has garnered the acclaim it does today, and most of that can be attributed to cable networks. Just look at the shows that have been nominated in the outstanding drama category at the Emmy’s from the last 8 years and you’ll see a selection of shows dominated by HBO, AMC, Showtime and FX. It seems that with the rise of cable TV, complex narrative has had the landscape to thrive which can be directly linked to the way they are produced. Rarely ever featuring more than 13 episodes a season, if not less, it has allowed a cinematic craftsmanship to be applied in terms of narrative; something that a broadcast network show which needs to produce 22 episodes in the same amount of time can ever truly maintain.
While it can be said that it’s a quality that most cable shows share, what factors contribute to a narrative being complex? Jason Mittel has described narrative complexity in being that it does not rely on the episodic nature of television where everything ‘resets back to a steady-state equilibrium at the end of every episode’, (Jason Mittell, Complex TV: The Poetics of Contemporary Television Storytelling, pre-publication edition (MediaCommons Press, 2012-13), http://mcpress.media-commons.org/complextelevision/) but one that takes the time to allow storylines to slowly build with each episode further enhancing the story. Other common features of complex narrative is that they feature a strong focus on character development as opposed to action, and writing which is geared towards an intelligent audience as opposed to making everything obvious and easily digestible in order to be broadcasted to a mass market. In summary these shows require deep attention and a high level of investment (N. Katherine Hayles, “Hyper and Deep Attention: The Generational Divide in Cognitive Modes,” Profession (2007): 187).
HBO’s new anthology series True Detective is a perfect example of how through monetary allowance from a production house, a sophisticated prose can find its way to television. While True Detective firmly places itself within the genre of a police procedural, checking off all the suitable criteria within the pilot episode with having an unlikely duo paired up to solve a bizarre murder, it uses these tropes to create an innovative method of storytelling which at its core looks to dissect the male psyche. In regards to the form of the series, it features a highly disjointed timeline which the shows intrigue relies on as information is extremely selectively revealed. However, all of this would be entirely impossible to be made if it had to follow the usual protocols of financing a television show, in creating a pilot episode to present to the channel to then put into production as the episodes air on television.
True Detective’s new age style of filming a season of television, along with its fellow cable shows, signifies how it directly influences the quality of the series. True Detective takes a cinematic approach in the way that the every episode of the show is written by creator Nic Pizzolatto, as opposed to having a team of writers who take turns writing episodes each week. This allows Pizzolatto to gain complete auteuristic control allowing his ideas to significantly develop alongside the narrative. Similarly, Cary Joji Fukunaga is the sole director of each episode, while it means the show maintains a coherent visual style throughout the season, this also means that the season can be filmed completely out of order all at once instead of episode by episode. True Detective uses this factor seemingly better than any other show as it is because of this that can feature storylines from disjointed timelines throughout the season without having to stick to presenting the narrative in chronological order. By having the show be an 8 episode anthology series, it also has seemed to increase the pedigree of actors attached to television shows as it is not a long term commitment like regular shows attracting typically cinematic actors. This is evident with the first season starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson and the second season set to feature Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn.
Through looking at True Detective as a case study it is clear to see how the way in which it’s filmed has an inextricable link to the quality of the product. With the ever rising popularity of cable TV which has also begun to branch out to online facets like Netflix, it seems no coincidence that more and more complex narrative is being produced as the emphasis is beginning to shift from quantity to quality.