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Why Are TV Seasons Getting Shorter?

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If you’re like me, you love watching TV. In fact, you love it so much that you’re reading this article because you too, have noticed that TV seasons are getting shorter and shorter. What happened to shows like The Sopranos, Mad Men, and The Wire, who routinely aired at least a dozen episodes a season? Now shows like The Mandalorian and Watchmen, while awesome shows, are only giving us eight episodes…and we’re supposed to be okay with that??

This is a trend that has been shaping up for a few years now, and Business Insider wrote an article about it back in 2015. The reasons they thought shows have been getting shorter were:

  1. Star power.
  2. Storytelling can be more dramatic and focused.
  3. The syndication model has changed.
  4. Year-round programming.
  5. Shorter seasons help to prevent fatigue.

Star power. We have definitely seen more A-list actors such as Matthew McConaughey, Mahershala Ali, and Meryl Streep go back to TV, which is something well-established movie actors never used to do. That’s because we’re living in the golden age of television, and with HBO, Netflix, Prime, and Hulu, there are so many opportunities for good shows. Therefore, I can see why it’s appealing for these actors to go shoot some show for a couple months and get an Emmy out of it. But on the flip side, getting these A-list actors is the reason TV seasons are shorter. I feel like they think of TV as more of a hobby they can do in-between movies. And while it’s awesome to see these Hollywood stars in a hit show, they always leave us wanting more.

Storytelling can be more dramatic and focused. If you watched the last season of Game of Thrones, which ran for a measly six episodes, you’d know that shorter seasons don’t always make a show “more dramatic and focused”. In GOT‘s case, it just rushed everything and left the viewers confused…And that goes for the last two seasons of GOT. Even The Mandalorian, which just wrapped its eight-episode first season, really only gave us five episodes of plot. The middle of the season (episodes 4, 5, & 6) were just kind of random adventures with Mando and Baby Yoda that had nothing to do with the plot at the end of episode eight. Had they not wasted three episodes I might feel like I got more out of the first seasons, but the reality is that I felt cheated, despite a great finale episode.

The outlier for these shortened seasons, of course, is Watchmen, which did the best job I have ever seen at explaining a plot, despite only having eight episodes to do so. Every scene was important to the plot, which makes it the only show I can think of that made eight episodes feel like twelve.

The syndication model has changed. Now that shows don’t need to rely on re-runs because they can be streamed at all times, networks/streaming companies have shortened seasons. Maybe they think the viewers won’t mind shorter seasons because we can watch them whenever we want, but it still gets old watching the same episodes over and over?? I mean, I can only re-watch the same twenty episodes of Master of None so many times. I think it should be obvious that the more episodes of a show there are, the more dedicated a fan base you’ll have…why do you think shows like Friends, The Office and Grey’s Anatomy are some of Netflix’s most streamed shows?

Year-round programming. The Business Insider article uses the example of ABC airing “Marvel’s Agent Carter” during the hiatus of “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD”. These two shows play off each other extremely well because they’re both based in the Marvel universe, but most network/cable/streaming providers don’t have the same luxury ABC has with these shows. AMC has done something similar, creating the spin-off series Fear the Walking Dead, which I lost interest in after the first season tbh. But because almost no other provider does this, I’m spending 44/52 weeks out of the year without some of my favorite shows; as opposed to having roughly another month of TV with shows like The Sopranos routinely airing 12-13 episodes a season.

Last but not least: Shorter seasons help to prevent fatigue. GUNSMOKE RAN 24-39 EPISODES A SEASON FOR 20 STRAIGHT YEARS. I realize that’s the broadcast network formula, as ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC are still putting out shows that are this long (Grey’s Anatomy, Modern Family, NCIS, etc.), but if Grey’s can make over twenty episodes a season, why can’t these other shows make at least twelve?

If having shorter seasons ensures I’m getting the best quality TV, then so be it. And granted, I’m not a screenwriter, actor, or director, but if some of the best shows ever (The Wire, The Sopranos, Mad Men) were able to pump out 12+ episodes a season, so can these new shows? And honestly, it’s not necessarily the season length I’m upset about, it’s the hiatus. Game of Thrones took an almost TWO-YEAR hiatus between seasons 7 and 8 (which is absurd) and gave us one of the most underwhelming finale seasons ever. I’d almost prefer a miniseries like Chernobyl, because at least I won’t have to dread the year (or longer) wait after the final episode of the season has concluded. Whether or not you agree with me, you can’t deny that shows in the early to mid-aughts proved that TV can still be extremely engaging at 12+ episodes a season. The prosecution rests.

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The Season 1 Finale of ‘The Mandalorian’ Reminds Us Why Baby Yoda Needs to Be Protected at All Costs

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Welp…the finale episode of season one of The Mandalorian was released today, marking the end of quality television for 2019. The Mandalorian was the last on-air show everyone was talking about, and now we are left with a void in our weekly television calendar until The Bachelor premiers in about a week and a half. And I just want to say that while I love being able to binge a show, I do love the hype surrounding each episode when they’re released weekly.

Now let’s get into the episode *Spoilers*

The episode opens with the storm troopers that killed Kuiil and captured Baby Yoda. They are riding toward the town to deliver Baby Yoda to Moff Gideon, who has Mando, Cara Dune, and Greef Karga trapped and surrounded by dozens of Storm Troopers. What I liked so much about this scene was that for the first time I can remember in the Star Wars franchise, we see the human element of the Storm Troopers. At times we forget that they’re people under there and they shoot the shit just like the rest of us. The one Storm Trooper was obsessed with seeing Baby Yoda, which would be an actual human reaction to this whole situation. However, I can’t seem to figure out why Baby Yoda didn’t choke their asses after they hit him in the head MULTIPLE times…stand up for yourself dude??!

Then we see our metal hero Bounty Droid approach from the distance like Pam Anderson along the California coastline, and at this point we know it’s over for those child-beater Storm Troopers.

He proceeds to fuck them up using his nursing/assassin capabilities, which only leaves me with one question: where was all this when they were hunting down Kuiil? You can’t tell me IG-11 (B̶o̶u̶n̶t̶y̶ ̶D̶r̶o̶i̶d̶ ̶  Nurse Droid) didn’t hear all that ruckus outside as Kuiil was riding up on the Blurrg + the Storm Trooper’s speeder noise. His ONE job was to be on the lookout, and because he was probably off WD-40-ing his rod (as bored men do) in the depths of the ship somewhere, Kuiil is killed, and Baby Yoda is almost delivered to Moff Gideon. In the words of Mando (paraphrasing)…”fucking droids, man”.

Sidenote: We find out Mando’s birth name is Din Djarin after Gideon shouts it from outside the building they are hiding out in. Mando realizes the man is Moff Gideon because he used to be a high ranking official on Mandalore, which is the only way he would know Mando’s real name. Mando abandoned his birth name after his parents were killed by an imperial droid fleet and he was saved and taken in by the Mandalorians. 

Now it’s time for IG-11 to fully redeem himself. In classic droid fashion he calls up Mando and notifies him that Kuiil is dead and provides no further details of what happened, leading Mando to freak the fuck out because he thinks IG-11 has gone rogue. However, we know he hasn’t, and he takes the Storm Trooper speeder and makes a beeline for town to, in the words of 21 Savage, go “savage on these hoes”. And that is exactly what he does. He rides into town like a bat outta hell and starts murkin’ Storm Troopers left and right.

Mando and the squad take advantage of IG-11’s fiery entrance and start fighting as well. But, this whole time, IG-11 has Baby Yoda on him like so, which made me extremely nervous:

I knew nothing would happen to him, but if the droid’s purpose is to keep Baby Yoda safe, in theory wouldn’t the best way to keep him out of harm’s way be to avoid an all-out battle with storm troopers?? One blast to the chest that the little guy is done for. Not really sound logic if you ask me, but I knew nothing was going to touch him.

As the battle is raging on, Mando takes over a giant Imperial gun that the Storm Troopers were using and begins to wipe out dozens of them. Moff Gideon, who has been absent since IG-11 entered the town, appears and shoots the energy source for the weapon Mando is using, which promptly blasts him twenty feet away. He’s dead. Okay, he’s not dead thanks to all that Mandalorian armor, but he’s hurt bad. IG-11 drags him into the building they’re hiding out in, and it appears they are outmatched…

As Mando is writhed with pain, Cara attempts to take his helmet off but he doesn’t let her. He wants to go out a Mandalorian, and that can’t happen if he lets a person see his face. As all this is happening, IG-11 is lazering through a sewer grate that leads to an underground tunnel that the Mandalorians built. And as if they aren’t beaten up enough, a storm trooper with a flame thrower enters the picture and starts flaming the room they’re in through a then slit in the wall! Flame Thrower Trooper makes his way over to the door to finish the job. Mando, Baby Yoda, Cara, Greef, and IG-11 are all about to burnt toast. That is until Baby Fucking Yoda joins the party! As the trooper begins to flame the room, Baby Yoda steps up and fights the flames back with the force…eventually knocking the fire back on the trooper and promptly blowing him to smithereens. Basically went something like this:

Baby Yoda has saved the day…for now. Cara insists that Mando come with them…but he can’t…he simply doesn’t have the strength. He makes them go without him, and to my surprise, IG-11 stays behind with Mando.

IG-11 has now turned his attention on saving Mando, but that requires him to take off his helmet. Remember when I said that he is no longer a Mandalorian if he lets a person see his face? Well that just became very important. In what could go down as the most anticipated scene of the season, Mando lets IG-11 take off his helmet to reveal the face of….MUSTACHE-LESS Pedro Pascal.

I knew we’d see his face eventually, and I think this was a great way for them to do it. For him to survive, they took off his helmet for a couple minutes just to verify that it is indeed Pascal under there. 

Then boom…IG-11 sprays some healing spray on his head and they go on to meet up with the rest of the group, who assumed he was going to die.

In the tunnels they come across the blacksmith Mandalorian who makes Mando’s beskar steel armor back in the earlier episodes. She is rounding up spare helmets/parts of Mandalorian armor that is down there, revealing that many Mandalorians were killed and/or fled due to rogue Imperial insurgents. Mando is devastated and tries to stay with the blacksmith, but she does not let him. She tells him that it is his duty to get the child (Baby Yoda) to safety. However, she does point them in the right direction, and they head toward a lava river that will bring them to *safety*.

One thing that irritated me about this whole scene in the blacksmith’s lair was that they were acting like there wasn’t an army of storm troopers trying to kill them. Like, right after the flame thrower guy blew up, the rest of the brigade would’ve stormed the room to get them all. And they were just taking their sweet ass time to figure out a plan and just debating too much for my liking.

Nonetheless, they head toward the lava river and as they’re riding this ferry, Mando spots a clan of Storm Troopers waiting for them outside the tunnel. To complete his redemption arc, IG-11 realizes what he must do – blow himself up to save the group. He walks in the lava river to the outside of the tunnel and initiates his self-destruct setting and wipes out the entire group of Storm Troopers. What a selfless act…it could bring a tear to my eye.

But of course, the battle is not over. Moff Gideon shows up flying his TIE fighter and begins shooting at the group but misses of course. Mando was gifted a jetback by the blacksmith back in the tunnels and realizes it’s time to use it. He straps it on and flies toward Gideon, hooking himself on the vehicle and manages to stick a bomb on it and blow it out of the sky. Mando lands safely and for some reason they don’t investigate the crash?? They just assume he’s dead, which if any TV/movie has shown me, it’s that the bad guy isn’t dead until you literally see him die. If they just allude to the bad guy being dead, they’re never dead. So, if you can see where I’m going with this, the last scene of the episode is of Gideon managing to get out of the TIE fighter with only minor injuries. Looks like he’ll be back for season two!!

All they had to do was go over to the wreck and MAKE SURE he was dead. But I guess that never occurred to them. We find out that Mando is going to try and find the Yoda species and reunite Baby Yoda with them. Karga and Dune look like they’re staying on the planet to make a life for themselves as bounty hunters. If the last scene showing Gideon’s survival is any indication, season two will continue the storyline that he is after Baby Yoda, which I much prefer to the Space Western we were seeing in episodes 4, 5, and 6.

We were also gifted with some of the cutest Baby Yoda moments in the show so far:

 

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‘The Mandalorian’ Episode 5 Confirms It Is Just a Space Western

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After the first three episodes of The Mandalorian, I wasn’t quite sure what angle they were going to take as the show progressed. After watching the fourth and fifth (which dropped today) episodes, it’s clear that this show is a western. And that is FINE with me.

This show doesn’t have a whole lot of depth, and that is okay. Does every show have to have some huge underlying plot that leads to a huge reveal like Watchmen likely will? No. But, the The Mandalorian does give us a bunch of badass action scenes from an intergalactic bounty hunter….plus Baby Yoda.

The fifth episode was the first where we saw Baby Yoda in real danger at the hands of Toro Calican (Jake Cannavale). We all knew this whole episode that Toro was gonna do something stupid, but threaten Mando with Baby Yoda? Even I thought he was smarter than that.

And that’s exactly where the western elements start to play in. This whole show is basically just Mando jumping from planet to planet doing bounty hunter-y things…like you would see in a classic Western.  For example, tell me if this plot sounds familiar: an outlaw comes across an quaint little town and finds that there’s trouble brewing. He feels it is his duty to rid the town of the evil that is corrupting the area. That’s more or less the plot of The Lone Ranger. Point proven. Additionally, there isn’t an ensemble cast – it’s basically just Mando and Baby Yoda, with Greef Carga (Carl Weathers) making the occasional appearance.

Episode 5

Mando and Toro (honestly kind of a badass bounty hunter team name) go to hunt down Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen), who is an absolute master with that rifle of hers. And they make Toro out to look like this young punk who has clearly bitten off more than he can chew, but continues to act like he knows better than Mando.

When Shand gives Toro the information that killing Mando would make him a legend, he stupidly kills her and goes to capture Baby Yoda. Mando eventually gets back to the hangar where Baby Yoda and his ship are. Of course Mando kills Toro and Baby Yoda is saved, but the whole point to this rant is that there’s not much substance behind each individual episode – which like I said, is fine.

Of course they gave us a nice little cliffhanger at the end of the episode where we see the legs of someone whom we don’t know walking toward Shand’s lifeless body. Now THAT’S what I’m talking about! Give me a character that’s gonna hunt down Mando. I’m hoping this creates a little more continuity besides just the Baby Yoda storyline.

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‘The Mandalorian’ Episode 4 – Introducing Cara Dune

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The fourth episode of The Mandalorian dropped on Disney+ today and it did not disappoint. It opens with a group of savages on an unknown planet pillaging a peaceful town of farmers. We’ll get back to them later. After the credits, we see Baby Yoda (BY) annoying Mando by flicking the switches on and off in his ship. Seriously, what is it with babies that they always try to annoy you? As someone currently raising a puppy, I feel your pain Mando. Anyway, they are heading to Sorgan, the planet we were introduced to in the opening scene. They’re heading there to lay low for a while until the heat from the events that unfolded last episode die down.

Once they arrive on Sorgan, Mando encounters Cara Dune (Gina Carano), a former rebel alliance trooper at a diner of sorts. Mando knows something is up with this chick and asks the server when she arrived, but the server is not sure. After Dune disappears from the diner, Mando goes outside to confront her, as he definitely knows she is a problem. He is able to track her steps with his high tech helmet, but is still caught off guard when she attacks him. They go on to exchange a few blows (she lowkey kicked his ass) and when they eventually draw their blasters on each other, they call it quits.

That night, Mando is working on his ship when he is approached by a couple farmers from that village that was attacked in the opening scene. They want his help (given his expertise in kicking ass) to fight off the savages that attacked their village. He declines at first, but later agrees because it’ll be a quiet place to lay low and he persuades Dune to join him.

After some travel they end up at the village and they are immediately loved because they are supposed to be their saviors! Plus the kids in the village (like everyone watching the show) lovesss BY. I mean how could you not love that little guy?? The only thing I miss is his floating crib, because he mostly walked everywhere in this episode which was still adorable, but that crib was awesome. Like how did it stay on pace with Mando without a rope or anything pulling it? Is there some magnetic force attached to him that kept  it by his side? These are the questions that need answering.

Like I was saying, everyone in the village loves them, but don’t forget they’re there to take out a bunch of savages. After doing some recon, Mando and Dune realize that it’s not just the savages they have to worry about – although hidden from view in the opening scene we could see they had a huge weapon of some sort. After seeing it’s tracks, they learn that what they have is an Imperial AT-ST.

Knowing that this is going to be tougher than they had anticipated, they plead with the villagers to leave. After they refuse, Mando and Dune begin to train them for battle, knowing that it will take more than just the two of them to take these savages + the AT-ST down.

Throughout the episode we are introduced to a love interest of sorts – Omera, who has her eye on Mando even though she has absolutely no idea what he looks like. I’m sure she’s just tired of that weak farmer dick. She definitely makes it clear that she likes him and would probably do anything to keep him there….

We do, however, get some insight as to why he can’t take his helmet off in front of other people (he can take it off in private). His Mandalorian code says that if he were to expose his face to another person, he would not be allowed to put his helmet back on. So that basically rules out any romantic companionship for life smh. Honestly though, I don’t see him making it through even this entire season before he takes that helmet off. Doesn’t it make him stand out more? Everyone knows the Mandalorian armor so it makes it tough to keep a low-profile. We also learn that his parents died when he was very young and the Mandalorians took him in, which is why he is so loyal to them.

After training every able bodied adult to fight, it’s finally time to take down the savages, who we learn are called Klatooiinian Raiders. Mando and Dune go to their camp in the woods and proceed to take down several of them, but are followed by probably a couple dozen more plus the motherfucking AT-ST. The villagers had dug a huge watery hole to try and get the AT-ST to fall in, as they don’t have the machinery to take it down themselves. As everyone is fighting, the AT-ST doesn’t take the bait, and Dune is forced to get savage wit it. She takes Mando’s vaporizing gun (it literally vaporizes anyone he shoots….so badass) and she continuously shoots at the glass to try and subdue the operator.

During this time, the villagers are holding their own against the Raiders, as Mando just happened to have a bunch of weapons in his ship apparently, so they’re landing shots left and right. Dune finally lands a shot that breaks the glass, and the AT-ST falls forward into the water hole, and the Raiders run scamper back to the forest – battle won!

Time then jumps forward a few weeks after the battle, and Mando reveals to Dune that he plans to leave BY in the village, as he will have a good life there. Mando then goes to Omera (love interest) with plans to tell her of his decision, but she turns it on him and tries to get him to stay. Things get real steamy when she tries to take his helmet off, but NOT TODAY woman! Mando isn’t gonna give up years of dedication to his Mandalorian brethren for some random lady on a forest planet fuck outta hereee.

During their convo, we see a sniper in the forest taking aim first on Mando, before turning it to BY. As they’re about to pull the trigger..BAM..Dune blasts them from behind, and saves BY. Realizing that nowhere is safe for Mando or BY where there are people, because everyone talks, and a Mandalorian with a little green kid is going to draw attention. Realizing they have to stay on the move, Mando leaves with BY in search for another planet. End scene.

Now, even though Omera is probably pissed, I’m glad that sniper showed up because I would’ve rioted if they left BY on that loser planet. He has the power of the Force and needs to be in a place where he can really use it for good.

I’m just stoked to see where they go next, and knowing that Dune will be in another couple episodes (I might’ve peaked at the IMDb page), I hope they team up for some other badass fights together.

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