I just watched the first episode of the new V with my good friend Matthew Hoskin.  We were discussing the show afterwards and both agreed it was quite good.  V is definitely great SciFi for Primetime television.  I realized though that one thing it was seriously lacking was the subtlety of the first few episodes of the original miniseries (which I still haven’t seen in its entirety).  It set me to thinking that subtlety is missing in a number of areas.  Have Facebook, Twitter, and all the various social media reduced our level of human contact to the point that nuance lost in real life is nuance lost in our entertainment?

It is probably part of the necessity of trying to keep a show like this on air that has caused them to keep the hooks right up front.  Too many times a show keeps subtlety in the plots and directing to their own detriment and flagging ratings.  Kings was one such show I’d argue.  It just worries me that subtlety is going the way of the giant armadillo.  Have we become so used to having everything explained to us? Does Primetime TV have to tell us what exactly is going on to keep us tuned in?

Maybe I just need to read more novels.  Perhaps I expect too much from entertainment to the lowest common denominator.