IS THERE A SHIFT IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY?

Talking about actors and their thoughts on the industry shifts.

Like any given week, part of our week goes to scanning headlines. Through this we seek out stories and look for things that seem interesting. Part of this is to feature in our weekly roundup of pop culture stories as well as for inspiration for things to write opinion pieces on. One of the latest things I’m seeing trending in the world of pop culture is a kind of shift in the entertainment industry from people in the industry.

Quite a while back, through X (aka Twitter), we saw a survey story about how Gen Z is looking for a different kind of entertainment. One where there’s more varied relationships in the TV shows or stories in the world. That was also something we wrote about asking if viewers were really looking for less smut in their fictional narratives. The more recent entertainment trends I’m seeing is actors and producers discussing the shift in the industry, and how much it’s affecting their work as the people bringing characters to life.

irst there was Hallmark leading man Ryan Paevey who stirred some controversy when he put out a Tweet discussing (which we cannot link because the actor has disabled or deleted his account) that he was planning to step back from acting and that he had no work currently with Hallmark. He recently clarified his comments saying that part of the reason he’s taking this step back is personal, but too he’s “disillusioned” with the industry.

In the past weeks, popular CW headline star Jared Padalecki too echoes these thoughts through a similar statement he made in the wake of his four season run of Walker, a CW show in which he starred as the titular character and produced as well.

In an interview with Variety, Padalecki said that the CW is focused on “cheap” content versus (the supposition being) something that’s worth remembering. His opinion is that they put out an hour of TV they want you to watch, but it doesn’t inspire thought beyond this. He reflects that this CW is a very different network in comparison to the one he has been a part of for 24 years (first with Gilmore Girls then Supernatural, and the past four, Walker).

This, he says is going to ask him to do “a lot of thinking” and that he doesn’t foresee himself becoming part of another TV show. He further went on to say, in this separate from the Variety interview, that he’s “a little disillusioned about the state of the industry that I’ve loved and been employed with for 24 years.”

In a similar fashion, I also read interviews with actresses (yes I still use this word because to me it’s a compliment) Emma Thompson and Kate Hudson, who in separate remarks talked about the state of rom-coms. Thompson remarked on the fact that a truly good rom-com is hard to come by (which we also wrote about) and Hudson was talking about the fact that no actor wants to star in romcoms leading one to assume that she would be up to star in another after finding success with her string of 2000s romcoms. Even Emma Roberts chimed in with similar comments saying that without social media, the world of movies would look very different, her perspective being entertainment would be just that, entertaining.

I think these observations from actors and producers, the people behind the scenes, are understandable and fair. As viewers, we too feel a shift and change, and for some of us, it’s disappointing.

I think it’s fair to acknowledge that some of the shifts is because how we consume content is quite different. But I think it’s also okay to say that the storytelling just isn’t the same, and in many regards it’s worse. I remember talking with people back when BBC’s Sherlock was famous how disappointing it was to receive only 3-4 ninety minute episodes. Of course I’d love more of a favorite series as well, however if limiting episodes is what it takes to have stories this good, well, I’m all for it.

Stories when we look at them collectively just aren’t as good as they were ten or twenty years ago. Whether or not this will shift or stories will return to the type of stories that made us love TV shows in the first place, well, that remains to be seen.

If we as a viewer feel something missing in the mediums of storytelling, it’s fair for some of our favorite TV stars like Jared Padalecki and Ryan Paevey to also feel disappointment.