Are you reading this article on your phone while "watching" your favourite TV show? No judgment; you're far from the only one.
The “second screen” phenomenon tells us that TV bosses – those in charge of streamers like Netflix in particular – are more than aware that we are scrolling social media or perusing articles while consuming their content. A recent study found that 94% of 25–34-year-olds scroll while watching TV, with 1 in 3 admitting they 'always' do it. 91% of those aged between 35 and 44 agreed.
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So our top TV shows are now being made under the assumption that we may not be paying attention to them 100% of the time. And it shows.
This isn't a brand new phenomenon persé, but it does seem to be getting increasingly common. As someone who is a big fan of “background noise” as I work, I've often whacked on a sitcom I've seen thousands of times while I write. But it feels like some of the biggest releases of recent weeks and months have been made with the same somewhat “ambient” nature in mind.
During a recent appearance on The Romesh Ranganathan Show, Jameela Jamil opened up about how writers are being told to “dumb down” the content we watch to ensure it still holds our attention while we doomscroll.
“It's a directive that's being handed out by big studios to filmmakers,” she said. "You have to acknowledge that people are on their phones the whole time they're watching telly. [Writers] have to simplify the plot so that [audiences will] be able to follow along while they're browsing on their phone.
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"In TV shows, even with good actors, they're saying really obvious things about what's happening. They're laying out the entire plotline and all of their emotions and motivations… The language has become really bait and on the nose, and that's because writers are being told that they have to write in a way that someone can carry on doomscrolling or shopping online while following it in the background.
“So nothing can be too complex, nothing can be too high end. We are purposefully dumbing down content, and that is leading to a less nuanced, less interesting, less thoughtful society.”
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My winter watching really has just hit me over the head with “second screen” style writing and, well, laziness. I first noticed this when I watched the TV movie adaptation of Emily Henry's YA novel People We Meet On Vacation, a stellar romcom for our cold January hearts.
But I couldn't help but notice that the plot and speed of the movie – which basically consisted of our two protagonists “best friends” denying their feelings for each other in different locations around the world – seemed to have been slowed down and broken down, for the benefit of fans who love a romcom but also love to scroll through their phone simultaneously. So the development of any big plot points were laboured upon, to make space for if we missed any big twists because we were distracted by X (formerly known as Twitter).
As cinematic (and disappointing, in my opinion) as the final season of Stranger Things was, I noticed signs of the “second screen” cultural impact on the TV series throughout. Now, I know the plot was kind of convoluted at times and the episodes were long, but it feels like we had Maya Hawke's Robin recap what was going on SO many times – again, just in case were spending too long on our phones to follow.
The latest Harlan Coben novel adaptation Run Away felt similar to me. Though the series had an absolutely stellar cast, including Gavin and Stacey star and creator Ruth Jones, Minnie Driver and James Nesbitt just to name a few, each episode was once again peppered with unnecessary plot recapping from certain characters.
This trend of making room for “second screening” has been around for a while. In a 2023 podcast interview with The Hollywood Reporter, filmmaker Justine Bateman (sister of Jason Bateman and vocal advocate for an entertainment industry without the interference of AI) spoke out about the ways in which TV bosses are catering to their shows being the “second screen” we're looking at.
“I’ve heard from showrunners who are given notes from the streamers that ‘This isn’t second screen enough,” she said. "Meaning, the viewer’s primary screen is their phone and the laptop and they don’t want anything on your show to distract them from their primary screen because if they get distracted, they might look up, be confused, and go turn it off. I heard somebody use this term before: they want a 'visual muzak.'
“When showrunners are getting notes like that, are they able to do their best work?”
In my opinion, no they're definitely not. What it leads to is a definite erosion of the immediacy and addictive nature of telly. It causes disjointed dialogue, as well as plot catch-ups and summaries that shouldn't be necessary, but are added in case audiences aren't completely focused on what's going on because they're otherwise engaged with a different screen during a crucial plot point. In case they're also swiping right on a dating app or perusing a Reddit thread at the same time.
So is this how we are set to experience comfort TV now? A series of unsophisticated, spoonfed events? While I can understand certain TV shows and sitcoms being considered as “background noise” rewatch fodder, having the most popular, brand new TV offerings being written with “dual screening” or “second screening” in mind brings many questions to mind about what our entertainment will look like in the future, and how complex and creative the writing will be, and what this will do to our brains and how they consume said entertainment.
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