To Arc or Not To Arc

I've been posting a lot of useless crap lately. I figured it was about time to post something slightly on topic.

I had two separate conversations today about arcs on TV.

The first conversation happened as I walked by my parents' bedroom. My Dad was reading Batman and had the TV on. I poked my head in the door and asked what he was watching. He answered 'Galactica'. I made a comment about how I'd never really gotten into it because it was a little soap opera-ee for me, but that I'd heard that it was very good. He shrugged and said that he was always confused whenever he caught an episode. He didn't know who the Cylon of the week was. It was the kind of show that you really had to watch every episode of to really understand.

But, then, I remembered that my Dad watches 24 every single week without fail because he's hooked to the continuing storyline.

Later, I was sitting with my brother and we got to talking about our favorite shows again. I can't remember what brought this conversation around, but we got to talking about LOST and how my brother was confused. "I don't know who's evil. There are people who you think are good that are evil and people that were evil that are good now and good people that turned evil. You're trying to follow, like, thirteen lives and it's confusing."

I watched almost all of the first season of Lost and then I missed a couple episodes and when I tuned in again, I was so confused that I'm still wondering where that hour of my life disappeared to. I haven't watched it again since.

You look at something like CSI, and it's heavily bottle episode based. I can tune in whenever I want. It doesn't matter if I missed the previous episode or if it's a repeat or what have you. I can watch and enjoy. And it's one of the most successful dramas in recent history. BUT many people say that they really wish they could know more about the characters on CSI. I would have to agree. I would bring Miami into the picture... and how it's a bit more woven... but I can't stand Horatio. And I was really pissed off that they killed his wife and then promptly did not deal with how it would feel to have your wife murdered. I mean, if you're going to use something so personal in your story line, you can't just refuse to deal with the repercussions. Anyways. I digress.

But, to use an example from a similar format to Battlestar, Stargate is pretty balanced in the arc department. Well, from what I've seen of it. I've never been confused. I have a couple seasons of Atlantis on DVD and I'm randomly perusing the episodes and although I've gone 'huh' a couple times, I've never been LOST enough to turn it off. But, there's also some great character moments and continuing threads that don't overwhelm you. I've heard that SG1, on the other hand, was very heavily arc based in the last couple seasons. Seasons that I've never bothered to watch.

And closer to CSI... When I watch NCIS, it's really very balanced. This season has been less of an arc based season, but even back when they were dealing with Ari or the Frog Dude, it wasn't impossible to simply tune in. Plus, they throw out little nuggets for the fans even in the little bottle episodes... such as the time we met Gibbs' Dad. You didn't need to know anything about the show to watch and understand the case or what's going on, but it was especially touching for all of us who watch week in and week out to find out about Gibbs' Dad and learn that Shannon was the one who'd stared the 'rules'.

Shows like House have almost a weekly storyline (the patient) thrown in with the continuing thread (drug abuse, babies, relationships, friendships, etc).

I guess you can tell where my bias lies... But I can't dispute that shows like Battlestar and Lost have been quite successful -- and, hey, look at 24 -- even if they aren't my cup of tea. Oh, and those last two seasons of Stargate: SG1 (that I didn't watch) spawned a movie that sold very well. Shows what I know I guess, hey?

I guess the big question to anyone who knows something is... What do you prefer? Both in terms of writing and in terms of watching.