Poll of the Day > Why the fuck are TV seasons only 10 episodes or less now?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Remember when South Park seasons were like 20 episode long?

Fuck off with this lazy shit
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(Looks at long history of British TV series)

When a season is 7 episodes long, we're very shocked.

Average show is supposed to have 6 or under episodes!

(Fumbles with my false teeth) Shows were better back when you had to whack the box to make the picture come in, not with your fancy razzle dazzle ultra 4k crystal clear pictures!

We were happy as long as there was a man playing the piano in time, it could be anything, even a fish flopping around in a bucket and we'd be crying and cheering for it to succeed!

Fewer episodes generally means better writing

Shows with 8-12 episode seasons tend to be much better and have better production value compared to shows that have an extra dozen filler episodes each season
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Mead posted...

Fewer episodes generally means better writing

Shows with 8-12 episode seasons tend to be much better and have better production value compared to shows that have an extra dozen filler episodes each season

Also depending on the type of a show.

If a show is purely driven by a single story, individual episodes tend to be less memorable and each one just serves to have a big finale.

If it's more episodic with a self contained story with elements of an overarching plot, it can add to the overall story, while also standing out and being enjoyable in their own right.

Whereas for the first type, it often have hooks like cliff hangers to make you want to watch to see what happens next, but despite being 30 to 60 minutes long, very little of it actually matters and the entire episode could be summarised entirely in a 40 second "Last time on (Show)..." at the start of the very next episode.

For a show like that, you could skip every episode except the first and last one, and get the gist from the recaps and none of the fluff.

So for a show that is entirely story driven like that, if it's a shorter one, they need to get the story focused without using filler or other scenes that take away from it.

So while they can also spend more time on the actual plot and writing of each episode, they're forced to make each episode meaningful, which can turn a mediocre show into an outstanding show depending on how the rest of it is handled.

Because look at the CW with their shows dragging on to 22 or 23 episodes, everything loses traction and becomes filler. Just make 10-13 episodes and be good.

Hell, The Walking Dead suffers from horrible bottle episodes and it's only 16 episodes. This recent Mid-Season-Finale would have been a great ending for this season.
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Mead posted...

Fewer episodes generally means better writing

Shows with 8-12 episode seasons tend to be much better and have better production value compared to shows that have an extra dozen filler episodes each season

This

It's a simple matter of quality > quantity

The best shows are on premium cable, like HBO, Showtime, etc, and they're all around 12-13 episodes at most.

Conversely, network TV is complete trash filled with 20+ episode seasons. Very little on network TV is actually worth watching.

InhumaneRaider posted...

Hell, The Walking Dead suffers from horrible bottle episodes and it's only 16 episodes. This recent Mid-Season-Finale would have been a great ending for this season.

In addition to seasons being too long with filler episodes, shows like TWD have just gone on too long period. It's on what, nine seasons now? Shows tend to run out of ideas and start to decline in quality after four or five seasons. TWD has been pretty bad for years now because it has been going on too long. I lost interest in it long ago. I finally dropped it this season Rick being replaced by Judith. Judith is as annoying as Carl, in my opinion, and I just couldn't stand watching this trainwreck of a show anymore.

So basically the ideal show will have 12 episodes seasons and only last for 5 seasons at most. Any more than that, and quality suffers as you have too much filler crap and start to run out ideas.

rogerskg1979 posted...

InhumaneRaider posted...

Hell, The Walking Dead suffers from horrible bottle episodes and it's only 16 episodes. This recent Mid-Season-Finale would have been a great ending for this season.

In addition to seasons being too long with filler episodes, shows like TWD have just gone on too long period. It's on what, nine seasons now? Shows tend to run out of ideas and start to decline in quality after four or five seasons. TWD has been pretty bad for years now because it has been going on too long. I lost interest in it long ago. I finally dropped it this season Rick being replaced by Judith. Judith is as annoying as Carl, in my opinion, and I just couldn't stand watching this trainwreck of a show anymore.

So basically the ideal show will have 12 episodes seasons and only last for 5 seasons at most. Any more than that, and quality suffers as you have too much filler crap and start to run out ideas.

Well, I think with the show being able to adapt material from the Comic book it's based on, it can stand on it's legs a bit longer than most shows. The problem with it, is they have to stretch that material out over 16 episodes, and with that being done, the material has filler thrown in to it and detracts from the actual story.

Ever since the introduction of Negan, things have just begun to slow down. All Out War was adapted horribly, it's not meant to be covered in 16 episodes, it should have been covered in 10-12. Season 5 ended things perfectly and set-up for the Alexandria storyline.

Season 6 should have been 10 episodes, had the whole conspiracy against Alexandria and end with the No Way Out finale. Rick begs Carl to wake up and experience the New World.

Season 7 should have thrown us forward into future and the beginning interactions with the Hilltop and Saviors. End episode 9 with the beating of Glenn and Abraham, episode 10 has them capture Dwight and proceed into Season 8 with All Out War

Season 8 is All out War, with only 10 episodes.

Season 9 is The beginning of the Whisperers. End the Season with Jesus' death by Whisperer.
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Mead posted...

Fewer episodes generally means better writing

This. TV is already way too long anyway.
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DirtBasedSoap posted...

Remember when South Park seasons were like 20 episode long?

Fuck off with this lazy shit

Star Trek TNG seasons were like 20-25 episodes long. I miss that stuff.

Mostly though it seems like everything wants to be this great big serialized nonesense, so to them I guess they see it as one huge 10 hour episode. The problem is it's hard to just watch a random piece of it afterwards.
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rogerskg1979 posted...

In addition to seasons being too long with filler episodes, shows like TWD have just gone on too long period. It's on what, nine seasons now? Shows tend to run out of ideas and start to decline in quality after four or five seasons. TWD has been pretty bad for years now because it has been going on too long. I lost interest in it long ago. I finally dropped it this season Rick being replaced by Judith. Judith is as annoying as Carl, in my opinion, and I just couldn't stand watching this trainwreck of a show anymore.

Judith didn't replace Rick. She was only in the one episode after he left. From what I've read Daryl is meant to be the new big shot after Rick. Him and Carol. Regardless, I totally understand why you'd be burned out on the show at this point.
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less filler
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Anime works well with 24 episodes as the story tends to be trailing so the filler episodes are fleshing out the characters further and making you invest in the plot more.
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Welcome to what Anime watchers have to deal with, Common length is 12-13, there'll be some shows that go on to 24-26, and very rarely way past that like SAO Alicization is said to be around 50, but the standard is 12, it's so annoying, I'd be much happier if 24 was the common instead of 12.....12 just feels so.....short....
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Compare writing a short story to writing a novel. Either way it's hard to write a good piece of fiction, but it only gets harder when you have to write more, more, more to fill a certain page quota.

I get wishing a good show was longer, but as someone who's watched every episode of 24 and Lost...give me quality over quantity every time. The best season of 24 by far (IMO) was the one that was only 12 episodes.
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Hell if I had my way all shows wouldn't only get 40 episodes tops.
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starslight posted...

The best season of 24 by far (IMO) was the one that was only 12 episodes.

Season 1 was best in my opinion, but even season 1 had a lot of crappy filler with Kim being chased by a cougar and the whole amnesia subplot.

Quality over quantity.
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