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Mini-series were, at the time they were more common, the only means of getting long-form television programming. Most other television programming, at the time, was driven to tell stories that could be introduced, exposed, and conclude within 45 minutes. Mini-series recognized that no substantial stories could legitimately be told in such a short period of time. Hill Street Blues made it clear that long-form television programming didn't have to be constrained to the mini-series form - that instead long-form television programming could tell stories over the course of a number of episodes, eventually leading to programming such as Babylon 5 and Mad Men and such, deliberately designed to tell a cohesive story over the course of about a hundred episodes.
Mini-series were, at the time they were more common, the only means of getting long-form television programming. Most other television programming, at the time, was driven to tell stories that could be introduced, exposed, and conclude within 45 minutes. Mini-series recognized that no substantial stories could legitimately be told in such a short period of time. Hill Street Blues made it clear that long-form television programming didn't have to be constrained to the mini-series form - that instead long-form television programming could tell stories over the course of a number of episodes, eventually leading to programming such as Babylon 5 and Mad Men and such, deliberately designed to tell a cohesive story over the course of about a hundred episodes.
There were serialized television before, such as The Fugitive. There were min-series before the 1970s, such as The Prisoner. And stories weren't 45 minutes long in the 1970s. They were 52 minutes in the 1980s, longer before that. There would be single longer commercial, not a group of 20 second spots, but commercials that lasted a full minute or so.
Didn't miss any points. You stated that their purpose was to provide a longer form of story telling than 45 minute episodes. True. But episodes back then were longer than 45 minutes and had more content. And episodic TV series and long-form story telling were around before Hill Street Blues, as well as the heyday of the mini-series during the 70s and 80s.
I don't see how you can compare 52 minutes to 100 hours but it doesn't seem to be worth the bother to try to explain it further.
I made that minor correction to your original post, not to conflict with what you were trying to say (which I agreed with). It's just a minor correction, no biggie.
Not mentioned yet is the best one that was made, "Masada" in 1981 with Peter O' Toole delivering one of the finest performances of his career.
I really liked the mini series format, it allowed story development that you did not get in the 30 or 60 minute constraints of standard tv. Roots, Rich Man/Poor Man, Shogun, Lonesome Dove...all top notch entertainment. Some were not that great, I could never remember which was which...The Blue and the Grey or The North and the South..neither was especially memorable except that in one of them it was incredibly annoying how they kept having these two guys keep winding up facing one another across battlefields.
Before Roots, you either had a series that you could watch any week or not watch some weeks and not miss anything. You could enjoy each episode on its own merits. Or you had a series that, if you missed one episode, you have a hole in the plot that you had to ask someone else about, because they had hopefully seen it.
With the miniseries, starting with Roots, you knew you had a finite number of shows to set time aside to watch. I don't remember if anyone ever did a study, but I am willing to bet that when Roots was first broadcast, the restaurants and bars had a significant drop in business.
Now, with DVRs and such there is no need to stay home to watch a series like True Detective. I will probably keep watching the second version of TD, whether I like the show or not, because the first was so good, and I know they will have a final ending at the end of the season.
When I researched this topic before starting the thread, I was surprised to learn there was a North and South, Book Three, which aired in the mid-1990s. I remember the first two, which starred Patrick Swayze. Swayze was not in the third N&S, however. By then he was well-established as a big-screen leading man.
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Well, I remember when a miniseries was a miniseries , and not a two-part movie.
