I haven't actually seen enough of Starsky & Hutch or Deadwood to comment specifically on those particular pieces of fine art.
Padding is obviously a part of the soap opera / serial structure. There are many chapters of Dickens where nothing happens too. I think I'd still take a serial where not very much happens in some (non-sweeps) episodes over a "traditional" show where the formula of the show forbids anything lasting from happening, ever. As I say, I haven't actually seen much Hutch, but I wonder if you aren't romanticizing the past a little? The 70s and 80s cop/action shows I do remember are, from today's p.o.v., as slow as molasses and as banal as a board to the head. If it wasn't for how-do-I-get-this-car-out-of-second-gear car chases in underground parking garages, they'd barely fill a half hour, let alone 45 minutes.
The panther v. Jack's daughter was the very first episode of 24 I saw. Seeing it out of context like that it actually had a crazed zen bliss to it, like the Perils of Pauline. But that feeling passed pretty quickly.
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Padding is obviously a part of the soap opera / serial structure. There are many chapters of Dickens where nothing happens too. I think I'd still take a serial where not very much happens in some (non-sweeps) episodes over a "traditional" show where the formula of the show forbids anything lasting from happening, ever. As I say, I haven't actually seen much Hutch, but I wonder if you aren't romanticizing the past a little? The 70s and 80s cop/action shows I do remember are, from today's p.o.v., as slow as molasses and as banal as a board to the head. If it wasn't for how-do-I-get-this-car-out-of-second-gear car chases in underground parking garages, they'd barely fill a half hour, let alone 45 minutes.
The panther v. Jack's daughter was the very first episode of 24 I saw. Seeing it out of context like that it actually had a crazed zen bliss to it, like the Perils of Pauline. But that feeling passed pretty quickly.