What's your ideal TV series length and style? (lemm.ee)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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A lot of people now are frustrated with contemporary series being much shorter than they used to be. Down from 20-24 episodes a season in the 90s and 00s to about 10-12 in the 10s and 6-10 now (varies somewhat by streaming service and country). People are also frustrated with the big gaps between seasons (The Last of Us, HOTD, Stranger Things) which I do completely agree with and think needs to change.

My ideal is about 10-12. I personally really dislike 20-24 episode long series, and dislike the "monster of the week" formula that many older series used to have. At least for dramatic shows. For sitcoms and adult animation it makes more sense due to much shorter episodes and a more flippant and less high-stakes style of writing (although I don't gravitate so-much to that type of show in the first place).

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[-] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

I think for me it's not so much the amount of episodes but how they are released. Most of my favorite shows have varying amount of episodes per season but they all were released weekly over several years or at least months. And I've come to the realization that the reason why I can't grow attached to modern shows the same way I could with 90s-00s and early 10s television is that binging 6-10 episodes over a couple of days once a year just isn't the same kind of experience and emotional investment as following a group of characters and a plot week by week over several seasons, literally growing up with them and the story.

I'm not saying today's model is all inherently bad but I personally often miss that kind of old-school television where reaching over a 100 episodes was almost the norm for even semi-popular shows. I wish they could coexist.

this post was submitted on 28 May 2025

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