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

submitted 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks 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] 1 points 4 weeks ago

IMHO long ago pacing was better. You had 20-24 episodes with a pause mid season. Airing date would start in october and ends in april/may or something like that. You didn't have to wait more than 8 months to get next season.

Nowadays what would be ideal in my point of view would be :

8 to 12 episodes to allow for more development
release each weeks and not all at once (thankfully a lot of network still do that) so you can reflect and discuss about episodes. It makes tv shows more memorable. Back then it was nice when lost aired each week and you had plenty of theories flying around!
pretend season 1 and 2 are actually season 1 part 1 and 2 if it doesn't ends with first part. Release second part something like 3-4 months instead of at best a year later.
if show works and network is up to another season decide it before part 1 ends so there is a 10–12 months maximum wait after part 2 ends.

Yes basically not a lot different as before!
But Sadly it's unlikely as doing small season minimize risks if shows is not working.

this post was submitted on 28 May 2025

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