Recently during a family get together the subject of television came up. My uncle said he hated shows that have two romantic leads that fight all the time, and how you spend the whole show hoping they will get together but they never do (Of course he also likes westerns sooo). I almost lost it because I LOVE these kind of shows. My favorite television shows are the ones that have sexual tension. I am a sucker for the whole will they wont they, they cant but maybe they can, scenario. I can’t get enough of it frankly. All my favorite shows have this key dramatic ingredient. In fact I would argue that most of the best shows ever made have had this key ingredient.
What else do I love, BANTER. I am a huge old movie fan and my favorite old movies all have that quick witty, sarcastic banter that seems to be sorely missing in modern day cinema. Myrna Loy and William Powel as Nick and Nora from The Thin Man, most Carey Grant and Rosalind Russell movies– His Girl Friday being my favorite of course. There is nothing better then that quick and smart back and forth. It is what I aspire too in life and in my own writing. I always say if I could write the perfect novel it would read like an old movie.
I think this is why Castle on ABC is currently one of the shows I most look forward to during the week. Just in case you arn’t familiar with it check out the Starter Kit. Alright so Caste has all these key ingredients great banter, but most of all sexual tension. But sexual tension, while the key to successful show, is a difficult thing to keep up.
Let us consider the phenomenon of fan fiction. I am not a fan of fan fiction. Now I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but a lot of fan fiction deeply sucks. Bad writing or masturbatory story lines aside the main problem with fan fiction is that most of these fans writing it dont really understand the dynamics of what makes a show work. They are fans not television writers, its only natural. They don’t understand that careful balance that must be maintained. It is the same if you youtube just about any television show out there and watch those kinda cheesy but sweet music videos people make for shows. I recently saw this youtube clip of a scene from Castle and someone commented on it “they need to just get married already and start making babies.” I had a good laugh about that one. Here is a prime example of where fans get it wrong. Okay yes Castle fans, that is what we all secretly want but it wouldn’t make us happy because then the show would be over. It is rule numero uno, they cannot get together. It is what I call The Moonlighting Rule. NOOOO not the vampire show, Moonlighting a la Cybil Shepherd and Bruce Willis.
Here is a show I have actually never seen mainly because it aired the year I was born. I really should watch it though. But I know all to well the Moonlighting Rule. Moonlighting was a very popular series that revolved around the sexual tension between Cybil Shepherd and Bruce Willis’ characters. What is not to love? Cybil Shepherd is a great comedic actress and Bruce Willis has always been my older guy crush ever since Harrison Ford crossed over from silver fox to just old. In Moonlighting they argued and tossed around witty banter to the pleasure of audiences until…. THEY DID IT…. Oh yes finally the writers gave audiences what they really wanted, they consummated that relationship hardcore. Only to find that it wasn’t what audience really wanted, it might have been what they thought they wanted but it wasn’t what they wanted. It was a sexual tension suicide. They finally did it, and now there was nothing to look forward to. There was no more ,will they wont they because now they did. The sexual tension was gone and therefore audiences didn’t really care anymore. And the only thing left for Moonlighting was CANCELLATION!
Sexual tension is a balancing act. There is a very delicate give and take that has to go on. We need to think of sexual tension in physical terms, it is all about the build up but there has to be some release, or else you explode. Let’s take a favorite of mine Bones for example.
I am constantly amazed by the writers of Bones. They do that thing they do so well. The key to Bones five successful seasons of anthropology, murder, and Booth and Bones tension is all in the give and take the writers weave into the lead characters’ relationship. The writers know how to push the characters together and slightly pull them a part again. They know how to toss us a bone every now and then (No pun intended). Take the first kiss for example, which audiences didn’t get until season three. It didn’t come in a dream sequence, which is often writers way around the Moonlighting Rule, no it actually did happen but it was part of a deal between Bones and the reoccurring prosecutor who is feeling “puckish” and agrees to let Bones have a special Christmas with her family in exchange for giving Booth a long wet one under the mistletoe. It gave audiences a taste of what they wanted but not in the context they want it, therefore keeping the sexual tension safe and sound on our television screen where it belongs. (They did finally have sex in a dream sequence episode where Booth is in a coma and dreaming that Bones and him are married, it was a travesty of a season finale if I do say so myself) There are countless little instances like that, moments that bring them together. Then there are moments that slightly bring them apart. Both have dated other people, at one point Booth arrested Bones’ father, recently Booth realized he is in love with Bones but was advised not to take action yet because things must take their natural course.
The writers of Bones have been so good at this balancing act. They find key moments to give us just a taste of what we want, but they keep us wanting more. HOWEVER, this comes at a cost. I would argue that now in Season Five we are seeing the downfall of this game. The writers have kept us tagging along thus far but we are starting to get a bit tired. Think of it this way: If you play tug-a-war with a dog and never let them win, eventually that dog won’t want to play tug-a-war anymore. While so far I would be hard pressed to find anything wrong with the current season, I find myself slightly ambivalent. We’ve seen it all before and it is time for a little something new. The writers of Bones need to shake it up a little.
There are countless other examples of sexual tension. Growing up the underrated series The Pretender was one of my favorites. Here the two main leads rarely are in the same scene together. You can probably count their face to face interactions over the course of four seasons and two made-for-television movies on your hand. But still we all secretly wanted Jarod and Ms. Parker to shut up and hook up. Another really interesting example would be the show I love to hate Prison Break.
OO Prison Break OO Prison Break, you broke my heart one to many times. As I have time and time again stated on this blog I started out a huge Prison Break fan. By season 3 though, I wanted to have the writers hanged. Prison Break started out as a show I tuned in to watch because I didn’t believe it could be done. No way, I thought, can they base a whole series off breaking out of a singular prison (and in many ways I was right). BUT it started off looking as though they could. While the prison antics were compelling, the brotherly relationship sweet, the two male leads very sexy, it was the unexpected sexual tension between main character Michael and the prison’s female doctor Sara that really got me hooked. Probably half of the devoted Prison Break fans will tell you it was that relationship that made Prison Break. I am not sure how intentional it was, in the beginning Sara seems more like a background character but she slowly developed into a show favorite. It was more than a will they wont they, it was a they can’t situation. A can’t situation with a glimmer of: but maybe they can. The first season, Prison Break writers were experts at giving us little moments of MiSA (as fans call them). Bread crumbs if you will, then finally they would give us something to really sink our teeth in, something really satisfying to keep us going. Then they would bust them a part and we would wonder: will Sara ever forgive Michael? Will Michael ever see Sara again? It was great fun.
Then season 2 happened. The prison break finally happened and we got less and less of Michael and Sara together. But we kept watching because we were hoping they would eventually find each other and that she would forgive him for using her to break out of prison. And the writers still gave us enough to string us along without letting the tension break. Then the dark period we know as Season 3 happened and it was all down hill from there. Season 3, lead actress Sarah Wayne Callies got pregnant and execs decided to work around it by cutting her from half of the season. Callies apparently wasn’t happy with that and gave the ultimatum either I am in the show or I am not. For some reason the execs chose not. So they beheaded her character. Not those particular studio execs finest moment. Yes Fox, shame on you for that one. After a terrible season and fan outrage they resigned Callies and did the whole alive again story line. Too little too late and frankly those alive again story lines don’t even work on scifi shows.
Like the good Dr. Sara the sexual tension was beheaded. And in a moment of what I can only describe as terrible writing they finally had the “THEY DID IT” moment, except viewers weren’t really sure they did it because they dont show ANYTHING and they never say they did it but then she is suddenly pregnant so obviously they had at one time, it was just awkward and sad. Which really sums up the end of what was once my favorite show, awkward and sad.
Awkward and Sad would be the worst case scenario for how sexual tension can end, possibly worse than breaking the Moonlighting Rule. Of course like all rules, we have this uncontrollable itch to break the Moonlighting Rule. It is just asking to for it. But if television writers want to protect their show and keep their jobs, they must tread lightly. Play as close to the edge as possible without going off. Break the rule, and the chances your show will be canceled are just too high. In fact I am not sure there is a chance a show could survive after the sexual tension is broken. But it would be great to be proven wrong. The writers of Bones had done a fabulous job so far, perhaps one day they will break the Moonlighting Rule and still be able to keep the show going. But I wouldn’t hold my breath.
So getting back to Castle. This little show has quite the battle before it. For the most part it is doing really well. Still Castle walks this thin line between comedy and drama. It is after all a “cop” show so too heavy on the comedy and it comes off unrealistic and maybe a bit insensitive. But part of Castle’s charm is that it is funny. We have a charming but boyish crime writer who is basing his newest character on a no nonsense female NYPD detective. The first season started out cute, but I didn’t believe it would last, because usually anything I like is doomed to fail. However the writers surprised me and the show started getting better and better. The same can be said of the second season, the first few episodes were lack luster but the last three or four episodes have been fantastic.
Writers be wary though, keeping this show going is going to be a tight rope walk. The show straddles the thin line between screwball and cheese. We like screwball, but too much cheese and audiences might choose to go to bed instead. Fillion essentially plays himself, and is adorable as always. Now in the second season I can tell the writers are attempting growth with Katic’s character by utilizing her comedic abilities. However, Katic was set up as the straight man to Fillion’s character. Her character is refreshing because she somehow is able to take that tough, focused, no nonsense female cop we so commonly see on television and make her slightly more human by giving her a sense of humor, she isn’t afraid to look a little silly, and she can be a little flirtatious now and then. However she is still the straight man, they need to remember that. Aside from the comedy there is a good amount of heart in the show. Unlike so many cop shows now days there is hardly any gore on Castle, it is lighthearted and just plain nice. You get a lot of the shows heart through Fillion’s character’s family, his daughter and mother, but also in Katic’s Detective Beckett who is dedicated in helping the victim’s families find closure. Get to cheesy and we loose this heart, we loose the drama.
Tension is key to the charm of Castle. Once again the writers need to be careful. The whole basis of this tension is the fact that Det. Beckett is less the thrilled to have writer Richard Castle following her around and fictionalizing her life, unfortunately her boss and the mayor have basically ordered her to comply. She is frustrated by him. They cannot become too friendly. Once again, like Bones, they need to give and take away. Let them get closer and then pull them a part. For instance, at the beginning of the season Beckett was barely on speaking terms with Castle after he abused her trust by looking into her mother’s murder after she asked him to drop it. Give and take, just when we think our leads are cozying up something disrupts them and throws them off track.
We’ve got tension. We’ve got a really layered will they wont they situation. We have got witty back and forth to rival the best old movies. All these key ingredients for a great show. However, that all leads to a lot of pressure to perform. As long as Castle writers can avoid dropping the ball and can keep up this balancing act, I am thinking we might get a season three. Of course then it is up to the networks not to screw up and frankly their decisions rarely make sense to me.
4 Comments
November 4, 2009 at 6:06 pm
LOL Wow you sure do love your TV. I agree with your Bones analysis, though. I LOVE their relationship. Also especially because it’s NOT sexual tension in the typical way — how could it be with Brennan the way she is? (If it were me, I would have THROWN MYSELF at Booth. Lol.)
If it makes you feel better, David Boreanaz CLAIMS that Season 5 will finally begin to scratch that particular itch.
November 5, 2009 at 6:47 pm
I will believe it when I see it. They always ask those questions in interviews and the stars have to give some kind of intriguing answer. Boreanaz cant be like, “Nope. We will never get together because it would ruin the show.” Fans dont want to hear that even if it is true. It would be interesting to see if the writers can hook them up and keep the show afloat. Like I said it’s getting a bit tired they need to mix things up, I’d hate to see the show fail but I’d love to see them try and break the rules.
November 5, 2009 at 6:49 pm
I did think of one show that broke the Moonlighting Rule and went on to do more seasons afterward. Farscape. However, after they broke the rule I stopped watching not because they broke the sexual tension but because they did an alive again plot line and started adding all these new uninteresting characters. Also I got tired of the whole “Scorpius in my brain thing”
November 9, 2009 at 7:14 am
You forgot x-files! That was a good scenario with the will-they-won’t-they theme. I’m with your uncle, though. I can’t stand the suspense. I like romance, I hate westerns, but I can’t deal with the -to me- unnecessary drama that they use. Most of the time, I’m not paying attention to the tension, I’m just saying: “Oh god just kiss her already!” Another bad part of this scenario is that once the tv series jumps in bed/ the scenario is sort of played out/ they FINALLY get together… it leaves the rest of the show in blahsville. I think that’s a major thing that made me not want to watch House anymore….too much tension, done in a bad way.