ext_13058 ([identity profile] shadowkat67.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] shadowkat 2015-07-28 11:33 pm (UTC)

You can actually do that in a story. I've seen it done. Friday Night Lights, The West Wing, Grey's Anatomy, Poldark, Dowton Abbey, The Waltons, Happy Days, Friends, How I Met Your Mother...have all pulled it off.

But, if your show is structure to emphasize and play off of romantic conflict or angst, then it's not going to work. Television series like Buffy, Vampire Diaries, Arrow, Flash, Gotham, Daredevil, pretty much all the genre shows and a lot of the cop procedural dramas, although not all of them, and possibly the Good Wife, won't make that work.

Depends on the writers, the dramatic structure of the series, and the emphasis on romance not to mention sex. Sexual tension requires conflict in a story. (Not so much in real life - in fact you don't want that in real life.)

I remember being at a meetup once...and people were asking how I could like a romantic relationship -- all they did was fight each other. And I responded, because it's impossible - so I find it interesting to watch. It's compelling. Watching people make out on screen isn't all that interesting. Sort of boring actually. Nothing happens. (Boring for the actors too apparently, which is why they often play practical jokes.) When they fight - there's unpredictability - we don't know who will win, if they will both kill each other, have sex, talk, what? Interesting. Do I want that in reality? No. Of course not.

Now in a series like Friday Night Lights, the focus isn't one the Coach and his Wife's relationship, it's on their relationships with everyone else. Same deal with Firefly, the emphasis wasn't on Zoe and Wash, it was on their interactions with everyone else as a couple and as individuals. But if the focus is on the couple and the angst, then you need conflict.

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