Creators of the immensely popular local drama series Pittsburgh Steelers recently released brand-new content for the program despite identifying its episode last Sunday as the season finale.
“Wow, the writers just keep churning out new material,” said fan Don Castillo, who considered the drama’s latest season to be its best thus far. “First, you have that crazy Le’Veon Bell saga, and then the whole season boils down to one game, between the shows classic villains Cleveland and Baltimore no less. Now, they’re hitting us with this Antonio Brown dark passenger arc as a way to stay hooked until next season. That’s some incredible creative foresight.”
Other long-time fans of the show have spoken critically of its increased reliance on dramatic plot twists and off-season promotions.
“I remember when this program didn’t have to be so flashy and gimmicky to stay interesting,” said fan Rick Bader, who has followed the show since 1975. “Every episode you knew they were going to run the damn ball and when the season was done, you had laughed some, loved some, cheered some, and likely thrown a couple beers in anger. This new junk they add to the story in the off-season is too much. I can’t keep up.”
Some critics of these changes believe that show’s organizers need to take back creative control from the actors to restore its former appeal.
“[Executive producer] Art Rooney II and even [showrunner] Kevin Colbert have to get the show back to the basics,” said Shelia McDevitt. “I understand that the actors work very hard and want to see their character stay in the spotlight, but they should have boundaries, too. I heard it will cost the production a lot of money to cut ties with the Antonio Brown character, but maybe if they hadn’t introduced the Tomlin character in 2007, the show would never have strayed so far from its roots to begin with.”
McDevitt plans to stick to a spin-off series, Pittsburgh Pirates, to hold her over until the new Steelers season begins proper late next summer.
“The Pirates show isn’t nearly as exciting as watching the Steelers,” she admitted, “but at least it’s predictable.”
