As Emmy-nominated Kevin Spacey put it: “TV is at a golden age.” With Kate Winslet, Paul Giamatti, Claire Danes and even supreme Hollywood heavyweights Michael Douglas and Matt Damon (to name a few) taking their excellent talent and focusing it on the silver screen, it is a fair assessment.
There are higher budgets, larger mediums to broadcast and rapid technological advancement which has improved the quality dramatically over the last decade.
Thanks to advancements it has allowed these TV shows to be just one click away. Many shows have used it to their advantage and below are three shows which have surged in popularity thanks to clever use of different media outlets.
Game of Thrones
From fire-breathing dragons to Nightcrawlers; the fictional land of Westeros is a heaven of activity. George R.R Martin’s still uncompleted collection of fantasy novels has been transformed into an epic TV series and the results are tremendous. The set-design, costumes, acting, graphics and script all combine effortlessly and after having had initially perplexed critics, they are now waiting for their fix of the next series.
Games of Thrones has the record of the highest DVD boxset sales ever and is allegedly the most illegally downloaded TV show in the world; which just shows that those critics who claimed it was a niche series for geeks were wrong, Game of Thrones is one of the most popular shows of all time..
Sons of Anarchy
The high octane, testosterone fuelled TV series about a biker gang trying to keep anarchist order in a little Californian town, has a plethora of followers. With constant plot twists, sex, violence and some surprisingly moving and dramatic scenes by its three principal actors (Ron Perlman, Charlie Hunnan and Katy Segal) the five season run earned critical acclaim.
Not surprisingly the show earned critical acclaim with it’s memorable scenes aplenty and incredible action that could have rivalled any blockbuster.
Breaking Bad
Walter White’s transformation from standard high school teacher and father to cancer suffering Meth Lord Heisenberg is already becoming something of legend. Once considered the ‘hipster’ drama of the TV world, the final season has surged in popularity.
After recent Emmy awards and recommendations by the bucket load the whole world has been watching the final season. Breaking Bad’s trick is enticement. While not lathered with big budgets and enormous stars the quality of character development, clever scripts and incredible directing eventually gets you hooked.
The surge in quality can be largely down to the increased amount of mediums and ease of accessibility, thanks to competitive broadband phone deals that the modern world can attain. Through controlled use of putting out shows on the internet and inventive online marketing techniques; it has allowed more scope to gather audiences throughout the world and promote quality drama.