Hi,
The mini-series used to be a TV event - something that would get everyone watching TV for anything upto two weeks solid, night after night!
It used to be the case that a mini-series would run over a Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, in the USA, so three parts running to about 2 hours each would be made. Nowadays, because there are hundreds more channels to choose from, and with TV companies believing that viewers no longer have long attention spans, (which is obviously total bull, because films like "Schindler's List", "Saving Private Ryan", "Gladiator", "Troy", Das Boot", "Dances With Wolves", and "The Pianist" all stretch well over average movie-running-time), a mini-series is normally reduced down to just two two-hour parts, and shown over consecutive nights, at anytime of the week,
Mini-series are still being made, and "Dune" / "Children Of Dune" are classified as such, however they are not considered by the TV industry to be the same kind of big "event TV shows", that they used to be. Certainly not like "Roots", "The Winds Of War", "V", "The Bible" or some of the other true great TV mini-series'! And they do still turn up on UK TV. "Das Boot" was recently shown on BBC2 and BBC3. "Children Of Dune" has been on Hallmark. "The Count Of Monte Cristo" with Gerrard Depardieu, was shown over Christmas 2002/New Year 2003. They do get shown, but are simply not seen as series that everyone will want to watch. After all, why pay £2million to air a mini-series, when we can simply repeat so much older stuff of our own, for next to nothing, and probably get better ratings, TV execs ask?! I understand this thought, although I think it's led to severe dumbing down of TV schedules. If films like those I mentioned above, can buck the trend of the 90-minute movie, then why can't the same thing happen to TV. UK viewers will stay faithful to genuinely good shows, as has been proven with shows like "Murder One" or "24". (Shows which can't really be dipped-into on and off, whenever a viewer feels like it. They command our attention, right from the first episode, to the last!)
There's also the issue of money. US TV executives simply won't risk millions of dollars, in case the mini-series flops badly. "Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital" was a kind of mini-series, that was eventually extended into a full 13 episode season. However, it's pretty much bombed. When "Scarlett", a pseudo-sequel to "Gone With The Wind" was made, US executives thought it couldn't fail, and made it run 8 hours! (Four two-hour episodes!) It bombed miserably, not only due to wooden acting, but a lousy script, and the fact that it's so difficult to acheive the status of something like "Gone With The Wind" on the TV screen. PLus, I don't even think "Scarlett" was based on any original source material. Someone simply thought that a sequel to "GWTW" would make fantastic TV! Oh, how wrong they were!
Australia tends to do quite a lot of mini-series, often running to four or even five two-hour parts each! Five have shown some of them, and I have to say, they do tend to be edgy and intelligently written. Westerns, thrillers, crime mysteries. I can name several that have been genuinely great to watch. One of my favourites, though, was Nicole Kidman and Denholm Elliot in "Bangkok Hilton" (which is also out on a pricey double-DVD, from any half-decent UK region 2 retailer).
Stephen King's stuff is still made into mini-series, and the Hallmark Channels shows tons of mini-series'! Some are very impressive, whilst others are utter dross.
I can't think of the last mini-series that was given a UK airing, and was considered "must see TV". I guess "Stephen King's The Storm Of The Century" was good, when C4 first aired it, as was his TV adaption of "The Stand".
Lastly, HBO has done some mini-series, e.g. "Angels In America", but again, outside of the US, it's pretty much bombed. People have been served up so much dross, that requires the attention span of a gnat's backside, that anything running more than three hours causes viewers brains to explode, because they can't cope.
A shame really! Mini-series were often worthwhile watching!
Pooch