Options
Do you prefer shorter seasons for US shows (10-12 episodes)
Nailz
Posts: 3,054 Forum Member
✭✭✭
I actually prefer watching shows that have a shorter number per series (eg 10 shows). Things like Spartacus,Sons of Anarchy,Hell On Wheels as opposed to 24 episode series.
I see the new Dallas show on TNT has 10 episodes in Season 1 and wondered if this is the way more shows will start to be. Maybe it is cheaper and less of a risk to the studios, and increases the chance of renewal if it does well.
Maybe a few cult shows would have lasted longer this way.
I see the new Dallas show on TNT has 10 episodes in Season 1 and wondered if this is the way more shows will start to be. Maybe it is cheaper and less of a risk to the studios, and increases the chance of renewal if it does well.
Maybe a few cult shows would have lasted longer this way.
0
Comments
Some of the 22 episode shows (both comedy and drama) tend to meander around a bit mid season, neither advancing the plot or adding anything new to the characters.
However I also find the common British template of 6 Episodes (or sometimes even 3) to be too short.
Ten to twelve seems about right.
Star Trek was terrible at structuring its seasons. You'd have one great episode followed by 5 slow budget saving bores. Even the great B5 had its fair share of misses.
It also allows the exposition to be done at a more sedate, considered pace. Instead of having to spend the first episode explaining all the back-story and reasons why things are the way they are, more episodes (and we're talking full-length; 40 minutes PLUS here) let this happen naturally without the feeling that you missed something if you look away for a few seconds and getting bored with the "brain dump" when what you want is entertainment - not the feeling you're revising for an exam.
The key is to have good writers and plenty of them. Not just the one lone scribbler who answers to nobody - that british shows tend to have. They need to be treated as a production team - part of the whole programme making function and not as some sort of genius (they're not) prima-donna (they are) who's every whim, oddity, mistake and failure has to be seen through into the final programme as there's nobody else to provide an alternative, or take the pressure off.
Good writers: long series runs: excellent TV.
Sitcoms work fine at 20-24 episodes and I think so do most teen/soapy dramas. Though sitcoms are afraid of adding characters too - HIMYM has bcome the Barney and Robin melodrama because they've run out of steam fr the others, adding a new character (a friend not a romance) will freshen tthe dynamic.
I think one of the biggest problems the shows have is not knowing when to let a character go. For instance Grey's signing all of the original cast for two more years...why? Get some new blood in. You need to keep it fresh if you're going to sustain it.
Trouble is most audiences don't like change, and after the Scrubs fiasco at ABC, I doubt they're willing to risk it either. (For what it's worth, I think Scrubs was a lot funnier once they ditched JD)
An hourlong drama is about 40 minutes of programme time, so one 22-24 episode season clocks in at around 15 hours... that's the equivalent (for instance) of all three Lord Of The Rings films plus all three Matrix movies, and frankly, most series just don't have the storylines to justify that kind of running time.
I far prefer the cable model (around 9 hours total runtime) which is more manageable, and less of a commitment!
It's really sad when a show whic has been great and full of fresh ideas starts getting slated by viewers who feel it's had it's day, but it seems to happen with so many American shows and I'm sure it has a lot to do with the writers being under pressure to churn out so many episodes, season after season.
Some 10/12 episode seasons tend to run 50 to 60 minutes of actual programme.
So say, a 12 episodes season with an average run time of 55 minutes. That works out at around 11 hours.
A 20 episode season with an episode run time of 40 minutes works out at just over 13 hours.
Not that much of difference is there? Yet with the (slightly) shorter season we get tend to get tighter writing and consistent quality.
As people have said the shorter season work well for the heavy arc shows like Dexter. Dragging out these stories is frustrating.
But shows like NCIS or The Mentalist work fine with longer seasons as their arc tend to be background most of the time and usually only pop up at key moments like season finales.
Some shows managed to do longer season with arcs. 24 managed it (mostly) although it usually had to have elaborately contrived plot devices to stretch it out for 24 episodes. Generally by having 3 arcs per season a couple of mini bosses and an end of level boss.
Buffy did quite well with each season having a big bad and monster of the week stories mixed in.
These days though a lot of people have no patience for monter of the week episodes. Shame as they often develop characters and allow a background arc to build naturally.
Fringe got a lot of criticism for having monster of the week episodes even though in most of these we learnt more about the characters or the overall story arc.
Cable shows work with a 10-13 episode season because simply put cost. They don't have the backing of large networks. Even HBO and Showtime. But this has actually worked out for cable shows. Theres more concentrated storyline allowing for better characterisation and development of themes because to put it simply there is no dilution of plot or character by "filler" episodes. This is certainly a bonus for us TV boxset junkies watching The Sopranos or Mad Men. And we can determine this theory by one cable show Battlestar Galattica, it recieved more episodes in later seasons and as a result filler episodes were introduced.
However network television in primetime has 30-40 weeks to screen programmes and so require seasons to run 20-25 episodes a year. And as its previously been said that sitcoms and procedurals(cops, doctors, lawyers) usually work to this model and they can do loads of filler episodes with character arcs and plots in the background bringing it forward a few times a season. However other types of show fare badly or don't sustain there audience because they have to fill out there show with filler episodes because they can't stretch there story far enough, look at Lost and Heroes They have the story just it would work better in a smaller episode frame (which is why Lost got considerably better in seasons 5 and 6 because the story was more concentrated and there was no filler like seasons 2 and 3.
I think Networks need to learn from cable that perhaps commision some shows on a 10-13 episode basis. Allowing for showrunners to develop the ideas they had at the start of the series and not allowing for making up stuff as the go along. Not saying this for all shows Sitcoms and Procedurals can still operate this way but some shows which are perhaps and edgier and out of the box should get a smaller order. We've seen this work already this year with Scandal (ABC) and Smash (NBC) and well even scifi shows such as Terra Nova and Alcatraz (both FOX) failing this but that raises the quality of production, writing and direction as well as audience figures (and that there high concept ideas, like Lost, Fringe, Heroes, Flashforward ect.)
Lastly, the type of show, idea of the show, where the show is on won't matter, as long as the showrunners, writers, directors and producers keep the shows quality consistant will have no effect on how many episodes are needed, Cable shows Dexter and True Blood are decline in Nature whereas Fringe, The Big Bang Theory, The Vampire Diaries and NCIS continue to get better as each season continues due to a consistancy behind the camera and thats probably what matters more.
Wot he said - you can see this by comparing something like Game of Thrones - which is tightly written and sustains itself through a season and say FlashForward - or even Alcatraz. Homeland benefitted form a shorter (12) number of episodes.
That said it depends; if you are talking about a series then they can last a 'full' season of 20-24 episodes - but series works better as a shorter season.