There are advantages and disadvantages to a Myth Arc. Ask any writer and they will tell you that the difficulty level of script writing goes [ half hour > hour long > feature length ]. That is because when you have more room to move you can throw in a lot of filler and padding to stretch out a story that wasn't build for it and that is a lot easier than stripping a story to absolute bare bones to fit it within a time frame (Kill Bill started as one movie but Tarantino and crew was having so much fun they practically doubled the script length just to keep on filming, he is one of the few people in Hollywood who could get away with that).
The one main advantage to a Myth Arc is that it rewards viewers who watch every episode in order, it makes you feel involved and attentive to the world that is created. The one main advantage to standalone stories is that you avoid Continuity Lockout and can enjoy a story in one simple sitting and don't have to sit down for what turns out to be a really long movie.
I see the advantages, but this is becoming ridiculous...there a certain shows in which the "previously on" is sometimes up to five minutes long.
Myth Arcs can be fun but often they leave in some inconsistencies where this event during the last one. In Buffy Season Glory has been in Sunnydale for the past 30 years yet the Mayor hasn't mentioned or noticed that she has existed. Also, I would like if the writers were more or organized in their Myth Arcs and Seasonal Arcs, it seems for almost half Buffy Saeson 7 the writers didn't where going with the arc.
edited 3rd Aug '13 1:44:33 AM by GAP
"Analay, an original fan character from a 2006 non canon comic. Do not steal!"