I understand that. The thing is, this is an overall trend in TV. Not just 1 show taking a long time. These days 18 mo between seasons would seem fast for most shows. 2 yrs seems standard. 3 yrs not uncommon. Streamers have abdicated the idea that they have to resell the show to us, their *customers* - ThreadSky

moryan.bsky.social • 39 days ago

I understand that. The thing is, this is an overall trend in TV. Not just 1 show taking a long time. These days 18 mo between seasons would seem fast for most shows. 2 yrs seems standard. 3 yrs not uncommon. Streamers have abdicated the idea that they have to resell the show to us, their *customers*

Reposted from Toneloaf

Tbf, they had the first 7 episodes done and then the strike hit, causing a huge delay and the last 3 episodes to take much longer than they would have if they occurred after the first 7.

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janetmorris.bsky.social•39 days ago

To be perfectly honest it will have to be good storytelling for me to follow for three or more seasons no matter the delay. Of late, Slow Horses has sufficed. Previously No Offence (2015–2018) with its three seasons of ~20 episodes per season held my interest.

beetlefella103.bsky.social•39 days ago

Time was you’d get 20 or more episodes a year, every year for however long. Nowadays you’re lucky to get 8 episodes every two years assuming the show isn’t cancelled after the first season isn’t seen by literally everyone on earth in the first weekend

writelarrywrite.lawrenceallanwrites.com•39 days ago

There's been more than a few shows that have come back after a long break that I simply never went back to. Either I didn't really remember where the show left off or I just didn't care; my interest in the show was gone.

sophiahelix.bsky.social•39 days ago

I almost never finish watching a show's full run anymore for this reason. Without the regular fall "my shows are back!" season I usually just forget, and there are always other things to watch

What scares me is I don't think studios care! Without the ads/viewers metric as the sole income maker now

writelarrywrite.lawrenceallanwrites.com•39 days ago

I get that. I finish the shows that I *really* love... but the rest...?

Before streaming I was super loyal. A show would have to take a real turn for the worst before I would drop it. Now, it's easier.

I'm less of a TV watcher now, if I'm being honest.

sophiahelix.bsky.social•39 days ago

yes it feels very chaotic and like all anybody cares about is keeping my subscription dollars flowing

wndlb.bsky.social•39 days ago

The bane of a viewer’s existence is the show that is a 72 on Metacritic, and like 79 on Rotten Tomatoes

danielmontgomery.bsky.social•39 days ago

These days I'm of the mind that TV shows are like relationships. It's really hard to sustain one when you only get to see each other for eight hours every three years. I formed my closest bonds with TV shows that I got to spend extended time with. We went on dates every week for most of the year.

brosenfeld.bsky.social•39 days ago

Every day for most of the year, and year after year. The characters — especially on a quality show like my favorite, Hill St. Blues — became old friends that you caught up with every week.

secretoriginz.bsky.social•39 days ago

22 eps with only a 3 month hiatus made these shows a consistent presence. The shorter seasons just aren't designed to get people invested.

moryan.bsky.social•39 days ago

same!

cadonahue.bsky.social•39 days ago

Meanwhile Abbott Elementary premiered 37 months ago, is in the midst of season 4, and has aired over 50 episodes. There’s something to be said for a “traditional” schedule.

bigchaunc64.bsky.social•39 days ago

They assume they can hook you on another new show immediately and you won't notice the wait.

toneloaf.bsky.social•39 days ago

But why put a show with a specific production issue(a major strike) as the cover image and in the title? Because it just came out? That just didn't feel right so I added context

davethomer.bsky.social•39 days ago

You can’t recreate the scarcity of the world before on-demand, and we probably don’t want to. But losing the sense of urgency and the rituals that were part of that world has a downside. And no one seems to have the discipline or influence to build new structures to replace the old.

unclesean.bsky.social•39 days ago

Waiting 2-3 years for less than 10 episodes is increasingly annoying.

aih.bsky.social•39 days ago

I mean, that's hardly uncommon around the world, though.

Take Doc Martin: ten seasons, 79 episodes over 20 years. Sherlock had two and then three years between seasons. Morse had 33 episodes over 13 years.

aih.bsky.social•39 days ago

Obviously the UK TV industry is more constrained in budgets and personnel than the US's is due to the smaller market and talent pool, but I feel like at some point the explosion of streaming projects has to push the US's to those same limits.

aih.bsky.social•39 days ago

There are only so many talented crew, writers, directors, and actors, and up to a point you can produce more shows by hiring previously-untapped talent, but that's not infinite. If production volume grows faster than population, you run out of people who can do the work at an acceptable level.

aih.bsky.social•39 days ago

At some point, if someone wants to produce another show, they have to find people who are already working on an existing show and want to take on a second project! But then those people can only be on one set at a time, so you have to work around that hard baseline constraint of reality.

aih.bsky.social•39 days ago

So I wonder if we're seeing American productions adapt to these constraints in the same way serials elsewhere have long had to: fewer but higher-quality episodes, produced and released at irregular intervals to accommodate the increasingly complex schedules of everyone involved.

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