A blog about television by TIME’s TV critic James Poniewozik.

Seriously, Does 'Til Death Need More Than 2 1/2 Minutes?

Buried deep in the New York Times business section today, a report about a most curious Sony Pictures Television project: minisodes, or episodes of classic TV shows, cut down to five minutes or less to run on the Web. All the entertainment of your favorite camp classics, freed from the burden of narrative!

As Steve Mosko, the president of Sony Television, described it, “So in ‘Charlie Angels,’ they have a meeting, Charlie’s on the intercom telling them what the assignment is, there’s a couple of fights, and then a chase, and they catch the bad guy. Then they’re back home wrapping it up.”

The story cites Seven-Minute Sopranos as an influence, or at least a clue they were on to something, but maybe the more timely sign is Tivo, which in my household has reduced certain shows to cut-down versions of fast-forward efficiency. These days I can get through a 24 in ten, fifteen minutes. An American Idol results show? That's, like five minutes of solid entertainment, and only if I watch the Ford commercial.

Right now the project's focused on oldies like Charlie's Angels and T.J. Hooker, but I'm sure you can think of other shows you'd like to see minisoded. Who's going to give me a Nathan-Fillion-only minisoded version of Drive?

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  • 1

    I don't think this counts as a minisode, but maybe a miniarc--a person I knew spent a weekend cutting the first few seasons of Oz down to the Beecher/Keller relationship. Amazingly, not much was lost in the retelling, from my (thankfully) vague memories of the show as a whole.

  • 2

    I guess 30 Rock wasn't far off when Will Arnett's character made his mark by inventing the 10-second sitcom.

    Also, did you guys know that the Black Crusaders who targeted Tracy Jordan are not only real, but responsible for the end of the best sketch comedy show in a generation? Check it out, and watch your back: http://www.chappelletheory.com

  • 3

    I pretty much do this with "Smallville," which for some reason I still watch. My general rule of thumb is that any time Lana Lang appears on the screen, it's time to fast-forward.

  • 4

    Philosophical question: Would a 5 minute version of According to Jim still feel several hours long?

  • 5

    This is nothing new. Guys have fast forwarded thru the dialogue in porn ever since the invention of the fast forward button.......or so I've been told.

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