Is Peak TV slowly killing the work of TV critics?

Vanity Fair

The number of scripted primetime shows is expected to surpass 500 this year, according to FX boss John Landgraf, who has been compiling the numbers for years. That staggering number has become burdensome for TV critics. It's not just that there are more shows than ever, it's that shows are longer in the streaming era, and they come with more episodes to review. “If you watch a show for Netflix, it might be 102 minutes each, and if you get 10 of those, you need to see all 10 to be able to assess it," says Maureen Ryan, who is leaving her Variety TV critic job. "A lot of times, it’s not that good and you feel like, ‘O.K., for the sake of writing this review, I should probably watch 4 of the 10 episodes.’ That’s four solid 60-minute chunks of your life.” ALSO: TV criticism is now like book criticism -- you have to find the most interesting things to write about.