Here lies the mini series. Once a noble television tradition, it has been relegated to the faint memories of those who lived under its reign. Born in 1974 under the name QB VII, the mini series grew to great lengths, entertaining millions with its portrayal of epic stories and generations of families enduring war, hardship, and love. Sadly, the days of the 14 hour epic seem to have disappeared.
A simple Google search fails to pull up a comprehensive list of mini series. Not surprising since the definition of “mini series” is a cloudy one at best. We know it has a limited number of episodes, but outside of that, the medium is wide open to interpretation. So guess what? I’m gonna write one!
Mini Series (noun): a televised narrative program consisting of 3 to 15 episodes broadcast over a constrained period of time, preferably under 2 weeks; often based on books. Must not be less than 5 hours in total run time.
A two night “event” is not a mini series!!! Are you listening Syfy? Alice was really cool, and so was Tin Man, but stop calling them mini series!! Here’s a good rule of thumb, if you can sit down and watch the entire thing between lunch and dinner with time to go to the gym, it’s no mini series.
I remember the big event, the 4 or 5 nights out of a week when I’d con my mom into letting me stay up late to watch North and South.
These were big deals, heavily advertised, and they took over a network entirely. The Thorn Birds, Shaka Zulu, Holocaust, Amerika, Jesus of Nazareth, Winds of War, and Blue and the Gray all were water cooler events that sparked national conversations as millions of homes tuned in night after night. Roots was the first blockbuster mini and remains a cultural icon to this day. It is the perfect representation of how this format could entertain and inform in a manner not accessible to the standard television series. They provided the full narrative arc of a feature film combined with the exploratory length of a TV show, a potent entertainment combo.
But my favorite has to be Shogun. Starring Richard Chamberlain, John Rhys-Davies, and the greatest actor Japan has ever produced, Toshiro Mifune, this tale of European explorers trying to establish trade routes with feudal Japan is both an accomplishment of production and story. It was bold in its non-use of subtitles, further immersing you in the strange world of the Samurai and the first real attempt by Hollywood to carefully and fairly recreate this era of Japanese culture without stereotype. It is a brilliant piece of TV and if you haven’t seen it, DVD copies are readily available.
BBC via your local PBS station has maintained a mini series tradition, often airing 3 and 4 part shows like Cranford or the recent update of Jane Austen’s Emma. However, at usually under an hour each episode, these generally add up to a lengthy movie, not the 10 plus hours of the mini series hay day. The exception being the 15 episode production of Bleak House, which scored big numbers for the small stations as well as numerous awards.
And that is why the virtual banishment of the format from the big 4 networks is so surprising to this guy; awards. The Golden Globes even still have statues dedicated to the television mini series, although with the caveat “or film” attached. And obviously their subject matter is still relevant as ABC relaunched the classic sci fi mini V again this season as a full on series.
While basic cable has given up on the old girl, HBO has been the primary physician of this ailing art form for years now. From the Earth to the Moon explored NASA’s baby steps to space in 12 weekly installments. World War II came to vivid life in the mini series Band of Brothers, an excellent example of how both character and circumstance can be flushed out via its 10 episodes. And most recently, history came alive as the story of overlooked American patriot John Adams lit up our TV’s with the birth of our nation and a more traditional 7 night run.
Maybe the mini series’ demise is as simple as the people who were good at them (like Roots and Thorn Birds producer David L. Wolper) got bored with the format and moved on. That left a hole in the line that no one was capable to fill. It’s a lot easier to mount a 2 hour one-off movie than the work required for a 14 hour epic. Double that with greedy money making machine networks not willing to take a risk on something that will rule their schedule for such a long period of time and the mini series is but a whisper of the past.
I know I’d be down for some new mini series and I’m pretty sure audiences would be as well. They don’t all need to be the epic 20 hours of Centennial, but something like Stephen King’s “Dark Tower” books would be perfect for the format. I fear the train has left the network station however, never to return. Oh well, at least we’ve got some great programs and their DVD’s to remember and of course, HBO.
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