In virtually every episode of "The Offer" on Paramount+ there is a moment when the action pauses so one character or another can deliver a paean to the power of movies.
As "The Offer" follows the epic journey of "The Godfather" from book to movie screen, this makes narrative sense. But the fact that these moments occur during a limited series infuses each monologue with what initially feels like irony and increasingly becomes something like schadenfreude.
Aided by the quasi-permanence and personal control offered by streaming services, television has sucked so much talent, viewership and money from the film industry that it's all but impossible to imagine how the "The Godfather" would get made today. At least as a film. And even for the small-screen devout, a 10-part adaptation of Mario Puzo's bestselling book is almost too dreadful to contemplate.
