On paper, Peacock’s new show Twisted Metal seems like a can’t-miss kind of project. It’s based on one of the biggest first-wave 3D video games, it features a stacked cast led by Anthony Mackie and Stephanie Beatriz, Deadpool film scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick serve as EPs, and it’s a hilarious, action-packed joy ride from one end to the next. And while everyone’s mileage will vary (vehicular pun intended), I think most would readily agree that one of Twisted Metal’s biggest strengths is a secret weapon called “faithfully adhering to 30-minute runtimes.”
That may sound like a silly form of accolade to lay upon the show’s head along with a matching sash, but the value of hard-and-fast TV runtimes cannot be underestimated or ignored, especially in the current era of streaming platforms whose programming length isn’t automatically hindered by the need for commercial breaks. But Twisted Metal showrunner Michael Jonathan Smith & Co. have gloriously pulled out the old rulebook in breaking down its first season, and as far as I could tell when watching episodes made available for review, every episode clocked in at under 30 minutes without credits.
