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Minisode Network Condenses TV Shows to Under Six Minutes

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the readers-digest-television dept.

CNN is reporting on a (relatively) new website called the Minisode Network that allows users to watch popular television shows that have been strategically condensed down to somewhere between four and six minutes. "Don't think of the Minisode Network as a brand-new Web site. Think of it as a long-overdue public service. That is, who among us hasn't felt the double-edged sword of our media age: So much video from TV, DVDs, the Internet and even cell phones ... but too little time to watch it all? The Minisode Network has a solution. Launched in June as a broadband channel on the MySpace site, it offers, for our streaming pleasure, episodes of vintage Sony Pictures Television series like 'Silver Spoons,' 'Starsky & Hutch,' 'Diff'rent Strokes' and even Ricki Lake's talk show."

9 of 160 comments (clear)

  1. hmm by Winckle · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Is this a rather sad reflection of today's culture?

    Or am I just being outmoded and stubborn?

    1. Re:hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If you want a sad reflection on todays culture, consider that most Hollywood movies would benefit from being cut down to 6 minutes.

    2. Re:hmm by g0dsp33d · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Back in my day we used to have to pay attention for 30 minutes...

      That's it. I'm investing all my money in ADD medicines.

      --
      lol: You see no door there!
    3. Re:hmm by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "Is this a rather sad reflection of today's culture?"

      Maybe. Or maybe it's a reflection of how hard (or easy) it is to squeeze a story into exactly 22 minutes.

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

  2. Been there shun that by Tablizer · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I've noticed they've been compressing Trek reruns by dropping occassional frames. It creates jerky motions that are annoying, such as when a ship glides by. It also seems to occasionally scramble a word or two. I think I would rather have a human decide where to cut than randomly drop frames, although both suck.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  3. Blipverts! by geoff+lane · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm more and more convinced that TV companies think that Max Headroom is a model to copy rather than a warning.

  4. You don't have to watch everything by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "...a long-overdue public service... So much video from TV, DVDs, the Internet and even cell phones ... but too little time to watch it all?"

    I don't think it's a service to the public. Nobody needs to watch everything. Sometimes it's better if you don't - if you don't have the time or don't want to put in an effort. Just because you have read the 40-pages condensed version, don't think that you have actually read the novel or play. You have not. The creation of half-informed population does not help to face the ever increasing complexity of issues that the society needs to address.

  5. Contentless programmes? by jareth-0205 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think by far the scariest thing about this site is how the episodes don't seem to have lost anything in the edit.

  6. Ray Bradbury must be proud by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Fahrenheit 451 has truly arrived.

    Release the Hounds!