Why don't people want more TV shows and movies with better character development and incisive humor instead of shows with bad scripts, good looking people, great special effects, and formulaic comedy?

OF COURSE people want more character development and good, original humor. You know what people don't want? To invest riskily. Producers are a lot more likely to invest in projects with good looking actors and formulaic humor. It's guaranteed money. So it gets bankrolled a lot easier. It's the same reason almost every Broadway play has a major celebrity in the cast. It minimizes the financial risk.

They want it more now than they have in a long time. I remember watching TV in the eighties. It felt like almost every TV sitcom was an incredibly attractive family hugging at the end of every episode. They were usually followed by episodes of the A-Team or Night Rider which had the same plot every single week. Seriously every single episode of the A team featured them getting locked in a barn that was full of things they could turn into weapons. Not weapons that actually killed people but weapons that blew up stunt men and made them fly around in slow motion and then walk away feeling dazed. Granted there was Garry Shandling, Twin Peaks and a few exceptions but generally it was pretty dire. Recently we've had Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, The Wire,  Breaking Bad Six Feet Under, Arrested Development, Parks and Recreation,  etc etc. TV is better now than it has been for a long time. I like to use Batman movies as a point of comparison. The latest Christian Bale Batman movies were long, complicated and had a real depth to them. They expected the audience to engage with them critically and had some richly detailed characters. Even Alfred was a great character and not just an English butler stereotype. The Batman franchise movies started by were Tim Burton loud, flashy and full of good looking people in a fairly simple good guys v Bad guys scenario.  The first one was fun but wasn't really taxing on the mind and they quickly went downhill from there. If anyone says Hollywood is dumbing down lately I ask them to watch The Dark Knight Rises after Batman and Robin and tell them to revise their opinion.

The very simple reason for this behavior, according to me, is that people don't want to THINK while watching something which is meant to provide entertainment. Usually people watch TV and movies for fun or to spend some quality time with their friends and family. They already have a lot to think and judge in their day to day life and in the form of TV shows and movies they are just looking for an escape from that hectic and monotonous life.

Because people have never wanted it. Not from television. In the 1950s and early 1960s there were programs like Playhouse 90, The Alcoa Hour and The Kaiser Aluminum Hour which broadcast first run plays and drama to American audiences. Many of these stories were written by some of the best writers at the time (Rod Serling Paddy Chayefsky,etc) and all of them received low ratings or lasted a single season. You know what did last? Gunsmoke - 20 years Bonanza - 18 years The Donna Reed Show - 8 years The Beverly Hillbillies - 9 years Silly,escapist entertainment which didn't challenge the thought process is what most people wanted. They still want the same things today; and the networks make certain that they receive it While there have been some outstanding programs on television, including: Masterpiece Theater The Rockford Files (many episodes) The Wire Breaking Bad The Office (The UK version) Most are either on public access television, cable television or only had short runs. While the critics and many thinking people liked them, they were either too dull or too dry for most to be entertained. If the show isn't entertaining them, then it isn't doing its primary job which is to attract advertisers People watch TV for entertainment. Networks make television programs to attract viewers and through them, advertising dollars. Unless, and until, interesting and compelling television can be translated into "profitable" television, the primary type of programming (escapist fluff) will remain the preferred content provided by the networks.

Most people don't have time to get invested in good character development and ongoing story driven series. They have jobs and lives and watching things in order on TV can be taxing. DVRs have made it easier, but formulaic shows can be put away and then picked back up at any time. So they are an easy watch. If you look at movies, however, I don't think your thesis holds true. Let's look at the top 20 movies in all time box office. 11 of the top 20 movies have good - great scripts and acting and character development to go along with their amazing special effects. 4 of the remaining 9 have Johnny Depp playing a truly fascinating character that is far more developed than the scripts he plays them in. The rest had extenuating circumstances leading to their success. Nostalgia, teen love angst at just the right time, franchise opening stories, or George Lucas phoning it in. Had Michael Bay or George Lucas actually focused on story as well, I imagine they'd be higher up in the top 20. Is the top 20 mostly franchises? Yea, that's because it's a safe bet. Have some guys managed to buck that and make original things? Yes. Is there a lot of TV that sucks? Totally. But there's also a TON of richly developed and thoughtful writing on television in niches all over the TV. , , , , , , and a billion others people should mention in the comments. There's a ton of meat out there, it just requires a more niche audience that has time to eat and sleep and not work 24-7, which isn't most people.

Because at the end of the day, movie making is business. Producers are investing in a movie so that they could harness some profit from that. Nobody will be willing to spent 100 million dollars and expect 0 dollars as return. And what is the best way to gain profit? To walk on the same road with same time tested winning formula- good looking protagonists, comedy, some over the top action/fight scenes and some graphics. As pointed out by others, people are diverse. Some watch movie for quality, some for entertainment, some for time pass, so on and so forth. So there are people out there who will watch your film no matter what the genre is. But there is always a thing called majority- for instance majority of people in US wanted Obama as president, so he became one. Just similar to that, there is this "what the majority loves thing" in movie industry also- which over time has been comedy,fight and romance. So if you combine all these elements in the right proportion, it has been established that you will get your returns. That's what the producers have been doing. Though this has been the scenario, there are still a handful of people out there who want to break the cliché and make something meaningful and they are getting their rewards also. Hope they inspire more and the number increases in future. I am  not seeing a change in this pattern in a foreseeable future. So until the audience starts treating these films like the way it should be treated and choose quality over quantity, this thing is here to stay.

Thanks for the A2A. No offense but asking "Why don't people want?" kind of a question is pointless right. I really can't see why someone would say "there are no good movies/TV series" because trust me - no matter what your taste is, there are a LOT of super movies/TV series in your preferred genre, but I understand the essence of your question. I will write my views. All the same, there are a LOT of sh*tty movies too. Why do people make them? Because if everybody wants to become Martin Scorcese or Speilberg, it is bound to happen. TV Series: Consider drama - Sopranos, Breaking Bad, The Wire, Oz, Game of Thrones and many more. All these have very good character development, excellent teleplay and perfect casting. I don't think actors' glamor played any role in the way these shows were received. Shows like Supernatural, 24 and Prison Break are formulaic right. But in all these cases, they started as really good shows but because of fan demand and various commercial aspects, they became formulaic. Coming to sitcoms/comedy movies, if you watch shows like Big Bang Theory, How I met your mother etc., you might feel it is formulaic humor but I suggest you watch sitcoms like Seinfeld and Arrested Development. Also, FRIENDS had formulaic humor but most people tend to relate to such things - so it is likeable! Movies:      I would rather not answer it directly. I will list some benchmarks in different genres - The Godfather, LOTR, 300, Pulp Fiction, Sin City, The Prestige, 12 Angry Men, Oldboy, Indiana Jones, Home Alone, Truman Show, Rocky, Toy Story, Changeling, Big Fish, Primer, The Shining, 2001: A Space odyssey, ..... the list is indefinite. You will realise there are just as many great movies as there are dumb movies.

I would like to quote a favorite song of mine here: "I don't want somebody to love me Just give me sex whenever I want it Cause all I ask for is instant pleasure" Instant Pleasure - Rufus Wainwright In today's world, most people are moving towards quick thrills and easy entertainment. The whole "YOLO" thing is also a result of this way of thinking. People just don't want to invest their time and money in something that will give them a good feeling in the long run. So, instead of having the same cast play the same people for 10 years, we see a popular TV series hyping up a character through 9 episodes only to get someone behead him on the series finale. Have you seen the movie "Shawshank Redemption" or "Fight Club" or "The Godfather"? When was the last time someone made a contemporary, and yet epic film like that? People in general have become impatient, and they want to look at a TV Show as "30 minutes of entertainment" and movies to be "2 hour entertainment". If the director takes too long to build the characters, there will be too little time for a climax. So what happens is that people like MIchael Bay makes a movie where from the very first minute huge robots engage in mindless wreckage and explosions. After you walk out the movie, you remember seeing the fights, but you tend to forget who was fighting for what purpose, and what happened at the end. And before you can think much, you hear a sequel will hit the theaters very soon! I love The Spiderman trilogy. Here, we see a gifted boy turning in to a responsible super hero. The transformation happened over 3 movies, and there were ups and downs, and some unexpected incidents, too. But what happened in "Amazing Spiderman", the new movie with the new actor? I don't remember much, but I thought Peter was an annoying kid, and he spent most of the time in this movie getting pummeled by the villain Lizard and bullied by his girl friend's dad. I guess character development and incisive humor has become risky investment.

It all comes down to what you want to get from a TV show. As mentioned, most people just want to unwind. They don't want to ponder over diverse ideas and various philosophies. That is left for the big screen, for the Inception's and the Avatar's. They just want to connect to a bunch of imaginary people and have a few quick laughs. In that regard, the shows with formulaic comedy and good quality sound and video effects come to the forefront. But, at the same time, we have shows like Breaking Bad, Prison Break and Game of Thrones which have phenomenal scripts and huge fan followings. So don't worry. Such shows are not extinct. In fact, the general trend seems to be shifting to shows with good scripts. Once you finish watching Friends and HIMYM, you don't really feel like starting a new sitcom. That's when you start searching for something new, something different, something unique. So don't lose hope! Thanks for the A2A!