ShareThisEarlier this month a viewer e-mailed to ask if a miniseries like "Roots" could ever get made today, a thought-provoking question.
The realistic answer: Not on a broadcast network like ABC, which debuted the groundbreaking "Roots" in 1977.
The miniseries is largely a dead genre on the broadcast networks these days, although that might seem to contradict what we've seen on TV this summer: ABC has aired "Diamonds" and "Impact" while NBC had "Meteor" and Sunday at 9 p.m. EDT debuts part one of "The Storm." But it's important to note that the networks that aired these minis did not commission them. All were produced independently and picked up by the networks for a song -- cheap, new summer programming.
And let's face it: Few of these are smart, character-driven, socially relevant miniseries like "Roots." "Impact" and "Meteor" were about asteroids menacing Earth and attempts to stop them, and "The Storm" stars James Van der Beek ("Dawson's Creek") as a scientist trying to stop a billionaire (Treat Williams) and his weather-creation machine that wreaks climatic havoc. ("Diamonds" was less of a special-effects bonanza as it explored a web of plots connected to the blood-diamond trade.)
So what happened to the miniseries?
For broadcast networks, it's mostly a matter of cost and priorities. In the past 10 years, the networks have decided to focus marketing resources on regular weekly series. They're not interested in spending money to produce and then promote miniseries; they'd rather use the promotional energy on series that will be around for more than a few nights. It's an overall strategic shift.
That's not to say we'll never see a sophisticated miniseries again. There are just fewer of them and they're more likely to be found on cable channels.
Just last week, BBC America premiered the five-part "Torchwood: Children of Earth." Yes, it was an extension of a cult sci-fi series, but it offered a stand-alone, edge-of-your-seat story that wasn't dependent on having seen previous "Torchwood" seasons. More importantly, it dealt with issues of human morality and the sometimes-steep cost of doing what is right.
Next year HBO offers up "The Pacific," a 10-hour miniseries that follows U.S. Marines in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II. It's from the same producers responsible for HBO's acclaimed "Band of Brothers," set in WWII Europe.
(Contact TV editor Rob Owen at rowen(at)post-gazette.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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