In the latest instalment of his TBI column, LA-based exec Anthony Kimble, co-CEO and founder of Arrested Industries, argues that less can be so much more when it comes to scripted series.
From Dahmer and Dropout to We Own This City and The White Lotus, limited (or mini or anthology) series have been punching above their weight for some time now. They’ve been grabbing more than their fair share of press coverage, setting the Twittersphere alight and frequently being held up as the sort of content we should all aspire to create.
Why then, when many such titles are getting their just rewards during the current awards season, is it still virtually impossible to get a limited series commissioned in the US?
At the Golden Globes in January, Mike White, showrunner on The White Lotus, hilariously called out the network execs and talent that passed on the show when he was trying to pull it together. It took absolutely eons to arrange everything – from finance to cast – but the schadenfreude of this show now winning everything in sight, being lauded as a pinnacle of televisual achievement and getting recommissioned season after season, is just delightful.