Breaking Bad And Game Of Thrones, By Robert J. Thompson
Quality television is a term which has been given to television program’s which tend to be of a higher standard than others. These television show’s generally offer a range of characteristics which set themselves apart from the rest of television. Whilst Quality Television is a recognized term, many have failed to put a definition on it. This had led the author Robert J Thompson, a leading theorist in the concept of Quality TV, to comment that “No one can exactly say what “quality television” means” (Thompson, 1997, P12). Critics are generally aware of what TV shows they consider to be quality however they ultimately fail to provide a concrete meaning. Strong examples of Quality TV would be that of Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones. The analysis
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Thompson states that in quality TV “the writing is usually more complex than in other types of programming” (Thompson, 1997, P15,). Quality television tends to have complex storylines running throughout its course. Game of Thrones acts as a prime example of this due to the vast amount of storylines happening at any given time. The narrative is complex with stories intricately crossing over each other. Karen Fricker also gives weight to this argument by adding how quality TV exhibits “Overlapping plotlines that indicate literary values” (Fricker, 2007, P14,). Breaking bad also features a complex plot due to its unique narrative. The non-linear structure has become a staple of the series due to the show being littered with flash backs and flash forwards. Furthermore Breaking Bad was noted for its usage of symbolism such as a fly acting as a manifestation of the main characters guilt. Sarah Cardwell comments that in Quality television “Themes and styles are intertwined in an expressive and impressive way” (Cardwell, 2007 P26). Breaking Bad links all of its themes throughout the series in an imaginative fashion and displays them in clever ways. The writing within in Game of Thrones needs to be commended due to the fact that a lot of the storylines are happening over a large geographical distance. The series is crossing over themes despite the fact the characters are worlds
Thompson states that in quality TV “the writing is usually more complex than in other types of programming” (Thompson, 1997, P15,). Quality television tends to have complex storylines running throughout its course. Game of Thrones acts as a prime example of this due to the vast amount of storylines happening at any given time. The narrative is complex with stories intricately crossing over each other. Karen Fricker also gives weight to this argument by adding how quality TV exhibits “Overlapping plotlines that indicate literary values” (Fricker, 2007, P14,). Breaking bad also features a complex plot due to its unique narrative. The non-linear structure has become a staple of the series due to the show being littered with flash backs and flash forwards. Furthermore Breaking Bad was noted for its usage of symbolism such as a fly acting as a manifestation of the main characters guilt. Sarah Cardwell comments that in Quality television “Themes and styles are intertwined in an expressive and impressive way” (Cardwell, 2007 P26). Breaking Bad links all of its themes throughout the series in an imaginative fashion and displays them in clever ways. The writing within in Game of Thrones needs to be commended due to the fact that a lot of the storylines are happening over a large geographical distance. The series is crossing over themes despite the fact the characters are worlds