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:
- Star power.
- Storytelling can be more dramatic and focused.
- The syndication model has changed.
- Year-round programming.
- 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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