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[RCU005]

Back when there weren't so many streaming platforms and Netflix hadn't started making their own TV shows, seasons had many more episodes and time between each season was at most 3 months for most of them.

They usually ran from Aug/Sep to May/June of each year.

Netflix began the binge watch craze as consequence of releasing every episode at the same time. Which is great when you are watching, but not so much when you are waiting for the next season.

However, this time around, many TV shows went back to weekly episodes because they figured out it was a way to have more viewer retention, therefore, more time being subscribed to the platform. Yet, nowadays, TV shows have like 8-10 episodes max, instead of the usual 20+ that it was used to. (Remember when a TV show that wasn't as successful would give them a 13 episode season?). But the wait! Why are they releasing some seasons 2 years in between! One whole year is already too much for EVERYONE to even remember what happened last season, two years it's practically not even remembering the show at all!

I just watched The Boys season 4 finale, and I read that the next one is going to be aired summer 2026! WTH?!

Another thing that makes this wait ridiculous, it's when the story is continuous, but the actor grows so much between seasons. I believed it happened with Game of Thrones and Stranger Things, to name a few examples. Then, some actresses become a man (thankfully the story is already so wack that it could be justified), but man, a lot of things can happen during TWO YEARS!!

This has to stop! If streaming platforms are already becoming the old cable, they need to bring back normally scheduled seasons again.

 

[BadBurger]

What a coincidence: I read this article earlier today:

Stop making us wait so long between seasons of shows… please?

What is the appropriate amount of time to wait for a new season of a television show? It's not three years, that's for sure!

ew.com

 

[eddie4]

I know, even when it comes to games, I'm still waiting for Half-Life 3. Been a while...

 

[dorkimoe]

100% Agree. Ill admit i watch too much content, but i shouldnt have to wait 2 years for a show to come back and then forget everything that happened.

Stranger things
1 July 15, 2016
2 October 27, 2017
3 July 4, 2019
4 May 27, 2022
4.5 July 1, 2022
5. 2025.

itll be 3 years between season 4 and 5 of stranger things.

 

[Jinzo Prime]

If I'm not mistaken, British television was always like this; it was American syndicated tv and the episodic model that led to so many episodes being produced. And of course, the cost of making a single episode today is far higher than it was years ago.

 

[Rockondevil]

I didn’t realise the boys was set for 2026. That makes me sad.
I also hate this and was just feeling it recently with severance season 2 as I barely remember season 1 now.

 

[BlackTron]

This is why I kinda just turn my brain off and don't think about something completely so time can pass. Picked it up from being a fan of games, now it applies to TV shows too.

I recently reconnected with a friend I had watched all of Cobra Kai with and asked what ever happened with the show. She said the next thing since we watched is in a few days. That lapse of time is insane and I was better forgetting it exists for two years. Even then, the new season's 15 eps are split in 3, with a 5 now, 5 in November, and final 5 next year.

As it is I already pretend a show/season with weekly dropped episodes doesn't exist until near completion to start watching. The piecemeal approach is tiring to me. Patience is commonly rewarded with a better experience which is unfortunately hype-killing for actual release dates. I appreciate one-off movies more than I used to for this very reason.

 

[bitbydeath]

I don’t know what The Boys excuse is, but covid and the writers strike caused a number of shows to be delayed.

Edit: The Boys coming later is probably cause of Gen V season 2 which just started filming.

 

[GloveSlap]

Yeah, it's out of hand. 2-3 year gaps between 8-10 episode seasons. Many times i'll think a show is going to release any time now and then i'll see a news story that they just started filming.

 

[March Climber]

I just watched The Boys season 4 finale, and I read that the next one is going to be aired summer 2026! WTH?!

I didn’t realise the boys was set for 2026. That makes me sad.

This is why:

• The Boys S1
• The Boys S2
• The Boys S3
• Gen V S1
• The Boys S4
• Gen V S2
• The Boys S5

Considering that two supes from Gen V S1 were in the Boys S4, I think there might be some missing context for those who don't tune in to Gen V S2 and just watch The Boys S5.

 

[KrakenIPA]

I thought this was gonna be a Halloween thread, dang it!

 

[ManaByte]

If I'm not mistaken, British television was always like this; it was American syndicated tv and the episodic model that led to so many episodes being produced. And of course, the cost of making a single episode today is far higher than it was years ago.

This.

Jonathan Frakes talked about it a while ago when people were complaining about missing "filler" episodes of series. He explained how back in the 90s they'd get something like $35 million (and TNG was one of the most expensive shows on the air at the time) to use for 25-26 episodes in a season and they'd have to spread that out, which is why you'd get cheap "filler" episodes while they saved the budget for the big two-parters and season finale cliffhangers.

Shows aren't made like that anymore. They have a big budget and are made like a long movie and then broken up into episodic chunks.

 

[Hrk69]

Stop being so entitled.

This stuff just takes time.

 

[Jack Videogames]

Meanwhile anime fans : ah yes i have been waiting three years for the next sseason of my fave show. They recently confirmed it is in the works so only two more years to go! Can't wait to blitz through those 12 20 min episodes in an evening!

 

[jason10mm]

This.

Jonathan Frakes talked about it a while ago when people were complaining about missing "filler" episodes of series. He explained how back in the 90s they'd get something like $35 million (and TNG was one of the most expensive shows on the air at the time) to use for 25-26 episodes in a season and they'd have to spread that out, which is why you'd get cheap "filler" episodes while they saved the budget for the big two-parters and season finale cliffhangers.

Shows aren't made like that anymore. They have a big budget and are made like a long movie and then broken up into episodic chunks.

See, the problem is that the way these super-serialized shows are plotted out, it's really just 1 MOVIE of plot, now stretched out to 8-10 hours, so there is lots of "character development" which can easily be filler if the character isn't written well. What fans wanted was the same semi-serialized episodic format, but just the 8-10 GOOD eps of that type, rather than the 4 great eps, 6 good ones, 8 mediocre, and 4 outright terrible ones. But what this has evolved to are characters and actors that don't really work well together or have any chemistry stuck in often totally disconnected plots mashed together into long form stories with little forward movement, just the ILLUSION of movement because the characters have to constantly circle back to baseline.

 

[ManaByte]

What fans wanted was the same semi-serialized episodic format, but just the 8-10 GOOD eps of that type, rather than the 4 great eps, 6 good ones, 8 mediocre, and 4 outright terrible ones.

Star Trek Strange New Worlds is episodic like that.

 

[Dural]

For decades we got 20+ episodes a season from legacy media, now with streaming services it takes years to make one season with 10 episodes, it's freaking ridiculous!

 

[jason10mm]

Star Trek Strange New Worlds is episodic like that.

Yes, and its MUCH better for it. Despite me not liking how introspective it gets, it's nice that things like Una's court stuff is basically handled in 1 episode, pretty much every characters "tragic arc" is delt with in 1 ep (maybe La'ans stumbling romance with Kirk was stretched out a bit) and they have plenty of time to actually do their jobs. Hopefully in S3 they have moved past dealing with past trauma and we can look forward and have fun adventures with characters that are confident and competent, especially if the Gorn are the big bad. A little less obsession about everything Spock would be nice as well, I feel like Chapel is headed towards total amnesia to somehow tie her into TOS Chapel given the relationships they are forcing. I find it hard to believe that ANY woman would be attracted to Spock's personality.

 

[ReBurn]

I imagine special effects heavy shows can take longer because of the technical work required but for shows that don't require it I have no idea what the excuse is.

 

[jason10mm]

For decades we got 20+ episodes a season from legacy media, now with streaming services it takes years to make one season with 10 episodes, it's freaking ridiculous!

It's the effects and the actors. Plus the talent is just spread too thin with all these high dollar options. There are not enough competent writers and production teams to handle all these shows at the level of quality we are getting and getting big name actors to be in these shows makes timing a nightmare.

I started some old CW shows and the production quality is LAUGHABLE even if the writing is decent.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

There's a pretty good discussion here from people who work in TV/Film production:



It takes about 20 minutes, but is very illuminating.

 

[ManaByte]

I feel like Chapel is headed towards total amnesia to somehow tie her into TOS Chapel given the relationships they are forcing. I find it hard to believe that ANY woman would be attracted to Spock's personality.

What the hell are you talking about? TOS Chapel was always in love with Spock. That's where that comes from in this.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Its why I've given up watching new shows. Unless its done, I aint touching that shit. Some take 3 years.

 

[jason10mm]

What the hell are you talking about? TOS Chapel was always in love with Spock. That's where that comes from in this.

I feel like they are WAAAAAY past the casual (and one sided) crush of TOS. I don't really care if SNW forces some kind of smooth transition into ep1 of TOS but that particular relationship just feels out of place to me.

 

[Mossybrew]

Yeah I hear ya OP. I've definitely experienced that feeling of forgetting wtf even happened when a new season comes out like 2 years later or some shit.

 

[GymWolf]

Well depends, i would gladly wait another 5 years for another season of the acolytes.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Wanting 24 episode seasons of hour long television. Yeah because I wanna waste my fucking life energy getting through commitments like that. 10 episode seasons are the way forward.

 

[balls of snow]

Try being a Stranger Things fan.

 

[Esca]

It's one of the reasons I won't even watch a show till it's over now. I have memory problems so I have to rewatch previous seasons just to know what is going on due to the large gaps between releases

 

[RCU005]

Wanting 24 episode seasons of hour long television. Yeah because I wanna waste my fucking life energy getting through commitments like that. 10 episode seasons are the way forward.

It doesn't matter how many episodes a season has. The issue is that they want us to wait 2 or 3 years for the next season.

 

[Kabelly]

I've recently been watching a show from the 2000s that is around 20 episodes per season. There's just so much more room for character development. Imagine Game of Thrones with 20 episodes. I think it could have worked until the books ended. (Disregarding budget)

 

[EverydayBeast]

No major complaint here, side characters are getting attention, shows like better call Saul are deeply personal. I think people are adjusting to weekly episodes to netflix binging.

 

[West Texas CEO]

Episodic content.

 

[Ballthyrm]

I am gladly waiting for Arcane Season 2 if that means the second season is as good as the first one.
Heck I will wait for as long as it takes if it means it's somehow better.

There is so much good content out there, why consume fast garbage.
More is not better, fast is not better, they tried 2 times to make something as good as Band of Brothers, even taking their time and putting the work, still they aren't even close.

If we can live in a world where people who make quality content can take their time, I would rather live in that world than one where they are pressure by time to make trash.

 

[Punished Miku]

I'm still waiting for Outlaw Star season 2.

 

[TGO]

Wanting 24 episode seasons of hour long television. Yeah because I wanna waste my fucking life energy getting through commitments like that. 10 episode seasons are the way forward.

I actually prefer the 24 episode seasons, I tend to watch 2 episodes a night, those 10 episodes seasons way too short.

 

[AJUMP23]

The longest season feels like summer because of all the heat. I appreciate the arrival of fall.

 

[SlimySnake]

Yeah. I remember when we would get 24 episodes per season and even HBO would do 13 episode seasons every single year.

Nowadays its just nonsense. I dont know who to blame. It shouldnt take you 2+ years to shoot a tv show with 8 episodes. The writing team needs to have everything written by the time a season debuts so they can start shooting right away.

I was reading an article on Euphoria. Their last season was released 2.5 years ago, and they still dont have the next season written. Like wtf is going on? Nolan writes and directs an entire movie in 3 years by himself.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

I was reading an article on Euphoria. Their last season was released 2.5 years ago, and they still dont have the next season written. Like wtf is going on? Nolan writes and directs an entire movie in 3 years by himself.

Writers strike then the cast blew the fuck up on that one. It's like with Atlanta, cast blew up and they didn't do S4 for AGES.

 

[Punished Miku]

Stuff like Game of Thrones is basically an 8 hour movie, which would take most directors 8+ years to make four 2 hour movies.

 

[Bloobs]

Me watching Attack on Titan

 

[a multicultural team of v]

Well depends, i would gladly wait another 5 years for another season of the acolytes.

Hell I'd even wait 10, 20, even 50 years!

 

[Audiophile]

Severance is somehow costing $20mil per episode; for a show primarily shot in some office rooms, even with 'invisible cgi', a strong cast and Stiller running it, I can't begin to grasp how it costs that much.

Probably just laundering it at this point or using it to write off tax.

 

[Spyxos]

Back when there weren't so many streaming platforms and Netflix hadn't started making their own TV shows, seasons had many more episodes and time between each season was at most 3 months for most of them.

They usually ran from Aug/Sep to May/June of each year.

Netflix began the binge watch craze as consequence of releasing every episode at the same time. Which is great when you are watching, but not so much when you are waiting for the next season.

However, this time around, many TV shows went back to weekly episodes because they figured out it was a way to have more viewer retention, therefore, more time being subscribed to the platform. Yet, nowadays, TV shows have like 8-10 episodes max, instead of the usual 20+ that it was used to. (Remember when a TV show that wasn't as successful would give them a 13 episode season?). But the wait! Why are they releasing some seasons 2 years in between! One whole year is already too much for EVERYONE to even remember what happened last season, two years it's practically not even remembering the show at all!

I just watched The Boys season 4 finale, and I read that the next one is going to be aired summer 2026! WTH?!

Another thing that makes this wait ridiculous, it's when the story is continuous, but the actor grows so much between seasons. I believed it happened with Game of Thrones and Stranger Things, to name a few examples. Then, some actresses become a man (thankfully the story is already so wack that it could be justified), but man, a lot of things can happen during TWO YEARS!!

This has to stop! If streaming platforms are already becoming the old cable, they need to bring back normally scheduled seasons again.

I think that with 8-10 episodes you have a much higher quality - clearly not in every series, but it's noticeable. There was far too much garbage/filler in 20+ episodes.

 

[jason10mm]

Severance is somehow costing $20mil per episode; for a show primarily shot in some office rooms, even with 'invisible cgi', a strong cast and Stiller running it, I can't begin to grasp how it costs that much.

Probably just laundering it at this point or using it to write off tax.

I agree, it seems ludicrous. Even with twice as long to shoot and great cinematography, the cost just doesn't add up. Nor is it justified. Severance is a show that could be shot for 100k an episode in a garage and a few back alleys, it doesn't need the lavish sets and opulent feel.

Good on Stiller for extracting wealth from Apple, but good grief people, at some point get some receipts for those checks!

 

[Trilobit]

Oh, I thought this thread was going to be about other kinds of seasons.

I agree to both, but especially yearly seasons. Where I used to live winter was like 1/3 of the year.

It's a bit rough to get like just 8-10 episodes per season and then having to wait over a year or more. I get that they're more like movies nowadays, but still.

 

[Grildon Tundy]

I watched The Boys S4, too, and felt like the short S3 recap before episode 1 did a good enough job to hit the major plot beats that were necessary to follow what was happening in S4.

Although Hughie and Newman in S4 being good friends to the point of being like family was weird. Did that actually happen in S3 and I just totally forgot?

 

[jason10mm]

I watched The Boys S4, too, and felt like the short S3 recap before episode 1 did a good enough job to hit the major plot beats that were necessary to follow what was happening in S4.

Although Hughie and Newman in S4 being good friends to the point of being like family was weird. Did that actually happen in S3 and I just totally forgot?

Well, the Hughie and Victoria actors are dating in real life, so maybe the showrunners realized that they have 100x more chemistry than hughie and starlight so wrote more scenes for them.

But hughie and Vicroria worked together in s3 for the Bureau of superhuman affairs, presumably they became real friendly during that time.

 

[Yerd]

Good god, I read the thread title legit thinking you were complaining about weather.

I was probably gonna make some fun jokes, but you ruined it with all this TV bullshit.

 

[Putonahappyface]

100% Agree. Ill admit i watch too much content, but i shouldnt have to wait 2 years for a show to come back and then forget everything that happened.

Stranger things
1 July 15, 2016
2 October 27, 2017
3 July 4, 2019
4 May 27, 2022
4.5 July 1, 2022
5. 2025.

itll be 3 years between season 4 and 5 of stranger things.

They should've had hormone blockers made compulsory in their contracts. They'll be adults by the time the final season airs.