Thread:Greenhatdigital/@comment-1037137-20140530005419

Hello Ms. Giles, I have more that I think is worth pointing out about the direction of Total Drama that is a pretty serious concern.

The show really seems trapped in a comfort zone that it is hesitant to get out of, which is really passing up opportunities for much better stories and much stronger character development. I mean I read that the producers pick the contestants based on the drama they can get out of them.

Well we all knew that was the logic behind it, but they always select the exact same people over and over again. Not that I hate most of these returnees, I don't. And the reasons why they are popular do for the most part make sense. But why always these guys and never anyone else as is regularly pointed out? It's not like the other former regulars had any less chance of becoming "the most dramatic" characters than these guys did, they just happen to be the choices the crew liked to exploit the most over the years among the original 24 and the newer 13 as time went on. That does not mean the others are devoid of good stories that can really deliver on both drama and the fun with the character development still plentiful as they go. And unfortunately bringing back the exact same people every season means a return of the same old plotlines that have been covered again and again since it really doesn't feel like the crew really wants to let those go and try something new with them. Which just gives this dreaded feeling of seeing more of the same, like we're just watching things in replay. A show needs to mix things up at least a little bit to stay fresh and interesting, and I don't see how that's possible if it's just to going to return to the same old plots again and again without introducing something new to the mix.

Case in point: Total Drama All-Stars, which looking at the season is just one long series of rehashes of old plotlines that either don't work or were played out worse than in the previous time they were done. Examples of what I mean?


 * Sierra's obsession with Cody, a character who was not even present this season.


 * Mike's multiple personality disorder with both Cameron and Zoey trying to help him, more or less played step by step exactly as before with Mal as the only twist, but taking way too long to amount to anything before it was over.


 * Alejandro and Heather's continued romantic rivalry, though granted this had a more defined outcome than the rest.


 * Duncan trying to prove he's not a nice guy but showing a soft side. That amounted to relatively little as well and contributed nothing to the rest of the plot.

The continued interactions of Zoey, Cameron, and Mike amongst themselves, to such an extent that they have been called by some critics the "friendship trio" since  they don't find the rather isolated interactions of these three as interesting as others, given that they interact more with each other than anyone else.

Gwen and Courtney's reviving friendship, which you guys were moving in the right direction with, it is a popular friendship and it was developing decently for the most part, only for it to be broken up in spectacular fashion again under circumstances even more contrived and uncalled for than the first time your studio did it after dedicated 80% of a season to it, even more than TDWT's 50%. Not cool, to be totally honest here.

Lightning and Jo's rivalry, but both were gone too soon for it to amount to anything.

Yeah, to be quite fair, TDAS felt too much like bad rehashes of old plotlines that were done in an even worse fashion or still failed to find fulfillment. So it feels like the studio just wanted to repeat the old plots almost identically to no real definitive outcome because it was all something that they had done before, so why change anything? At least that's the vibe I get from it. Problem is, none of it did find a real outcome, so it just boiled down to a shallow replay of what has already been done before. I don't know how a show is supposed to stay fresh if it's just going to repeat old plots and still not give them a clear resolution to. You can't invest so much of a season into one or more plots and have it all amount to nothing at the end. Otherwise, it is just more of the same. Either grant them a clear and meaningful resolution or do something different because eventually it's going to wear thin and lose its appeal for many. And a lot of people were disappointed at how many of the major arcs in TDAS ultimately amounted to nothing in the end for anybody.

Yeah, just some stuff I really wanted to point out, since I feel like the show is passing up too many great opportunities for intrigue and character development by basically doing things in replay as TDAS feels like it did, to no satisfactory outcome. And how it likely will not stay fresh or maintain its appeal if new things aren't done with it.

The problem is not that your show lacks drama. The problem is it does not do it well, and often at the cost of the other elements needed to keep the balance. If it's going to remain appealing to a broader audience, then there needs to be a balance restored and there needs to be a payoff for the majority rather than a minority. I mean almost everyone walked away from Island feeling fulfilled. I don't know that many who felt fulfilled watching All-Stars.

So just some observations I really wanted to point out that have been weighing on my mind for a bit. Felt it was good to put them out there if they help at all. 