Yes, but the problem with what goes by the name documentary is more than just production values. Books are classified as “Non-Fiction”, without implying they are journalistic.
On Mon, 12 Apr 2021 at 4:14 PM Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote: > There are entire TV series which are disguised as documentaries but really > aren’t. “America’s Book of Secrets” is sometimes interesting but rarely > factual (and nothing they televise is ever a secret). And those shows about > hunting ghosts (which don’t exist) are shot in the style of a factual > documentary, albeit in darkness. > > The term documentary can be used to describe a lot of media, including > some reality shows, but I don’t think narrowing the definition will solve > anything. There is a market for badly produced TV, and I suspect there > always will be, regardless of its label. > > On Mon, Apr 12, 2021 at 3:55 PM PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Totally agree about the bloated run times, as I think we discussed with >> the Woody “Doc”. I have had a couple of No Shows today at work, so almost >> done with “This is a Robbery”. Clearly it would be much stronger at under 2 >> hours than closer to 4. >> >> Your closing point is my main point as well. I am not in favor of banning >> bad or pseudo documentaries, but it is pissing me off to see bad docs >> passed off as good ones. I don’t think it would be that hard to set some >> basic criteria, then come up with a term that refers to “real” >> documentaries, and another, non pejorative term, that refers to the other. >> >> On Mon, 12 Apr 2021 at 3:23 PM Adam Bowie <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> I think that it's pretty clear that quite a few things have changed in >>> the documentary genre, but like everything, there are good ones and bad >>> ones. >>> >>> My personal bete noire is the over-extension of stories into multiple >>> episodes when the story just doesn't deserve it. I guess that this all >>> follows the success on Netflix on series like Making a Murderer, and then >>> more recently Tiger King. The former was a well told narrative, made over >>> years, and deserving of the series length they delivered. But I believe >>> that Netflix only came on board fairly late in the day. It was a massive >>> success, at least by Netflix's metrics, where keeping audiences coming back >>> for many hours is critical for maintaining subscribers. The worst case of >>> this I came across recently was the HBO series on McMillions. It was a >>> decent story, but could have been told in 90 minutes instead of six hours. >>> I didn't make it to the end I got so frustrated with it. (SNIP) >>> >> >>> I think some of the problem is that the same broadcasters/streamers >>> produce both good docs - the kind that win Oscars, BAFTAs and Emmys - and >>> tabloid trash. The same glossy "sheen" is applied to all of them, and it's >>> really hard to tell in advance, without knowing at least something of the >>> makers and perhaps their previous output, whether we're going to get >>> something good, or something trashy. >>> >>> >>> Adam >>> >> >>> >>> On Mon, Apr 12, 2021 at 6:55 PM PGage <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> I am watching “This is a Robbery...”, like many, I always like a good >>>> (sometimes even a not so good) art heist story. >>>> >>>> The story here is interesting, but there are elements of the >>>> documentary style that I dislike (musical and sound effects, and some >>>> visual effects, added to create cheap drama). But what is really >>>> interesting to me is how this relates to the state of TV (especially cable >>>> and streaming) documentaries. After the shit show that was ‘Allen v >>>> Farrow’, I did some reading and found that there is a general sense that >>>> the skyrocketing popularity of documentaries on places like Netflix and HBO >>>> has been accompanied by a plummet in credibility and journalistic >>>> integrity. That helped me place the Allen project in a better context: more >>>> infotainment than actual news documentary. >>>> >>>> It does seem that someone, perhaps news divisions at the TV networks, >>>> or outside sources like Columbia School or Journalism, needs to define a >>>> sub genre of news documentary, and establish criteria and best practice >>>> guidelines. Then we could have like entertainment documentaries, that would >>>> perhaps contain a disclaimer of something like “inspired by real events”, >>>> and news documentaries, that would indicate it was produced based on >>>> accepted journalistic standards. >>>> >>>> I’m only halfway through “This is a Robbery”, and so far think it is >>>> not as entertaining as a Ian Pears novel, and about as credible as a >>>> documentary on the History channel. >>>> >>>> On Mon, 12 Apr 2021 at 7:16 AM Mark Jeffries <[email protected]> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>> For the Sunday after Easter: (Snip) >>>>> >>>>> 2. THIS IS A ROBBERY: THE WORLD'S BIGGEST ART HEIST--The Netflix >>>>> original true crime docu-mini about the 1990 theft from the Gardner Museum >>>>> in Boston of $500M of art works dropped Apr. 7 and has an 88% RT >>>>> >>>> -- >>>> Sent from Gmail Mobile >>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYKUdHTias49H%3D1YLLYdBZnYTnGHEWB5urZmcwLcBofNTA%40mail.gmail.com >>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYKUdHTias49H%3D1YLLYdBZnYTnGHEWB5urZmcwLcBofNTA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>>> . >>>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to [email protected]. >>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAD_sJGDYkgbompChc8qEEa1jksH6LW8O68bMgbgeCvxoesSsEA%40mail.gmail.com >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAD_sJGDYkgbompChc8qEEa1jksH6LW8O68bMgbgeCvxoesSsEA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> -- >> Sent from Gmail Mobile >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> > To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYLmkiPTh3UmnyvvCwg37ri_%2B1v1dBOSqZqmWq1sO6xNZA%40mail.gmail.com >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYLmkiPTh3UmnyvvCwg37ri_%2B1v1dBOSqZqmWq1sO6xNZA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- > Kevin M. (RPCV) > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKgmY4A_dvwideryc2%2BEvuUf1S69eahE4MTY4O8Z35NrDGszqA%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKgmY4A_dvwideryc2%2BEvuUf1S69eahE4MTY4O8Z35NrDGszqA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- Sent from Gmail Mobile -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYL9grEHSoZv0K%2BUfntDibri22LduqNYVivyf-jDQfEXPA%40mail.gmail.com.
