1.5 years between seasons is a pretty short time

I guess that's sadly true for the mid 2020s. I remember a time when seasons were one year apart and had 12 to 24 episodes. Everything takes a lot longer and costs a lot more in pretty much every single industry these days. All the while every industry relies on high tech a lot more too. It doesn't seem to help with productivity at all, though. Quite the opposite.