Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad
My only real disappointment recently is learning that Strange New Worlds has an anemic 10-episode first season...
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Speaking of which, that seems to be the going thing now. I remember, as a yoof, network fare - cop shows, sitcoms, hospital/medical dramas, etc. - being about 26 episodes a season. And it was understood that a "season" was the time between September-ish through about May or so, roughly eight months a year. They'd kinda allow for occasional pre-empting from sports, holiday programming and political/election horseshit, but you pretty much got a steady diet of
Starsky & Hutch,
Dallas and
M*A*S*H* from fall to spring (and then reruns all summer long, as you eagerly awaited the return of Huggy Bear, Enos and Mork.
Now a "season" is 7 episodes of something (which is why fairly recent
Thumb Wrestling with Network Has-Beens type of dreck can tout its upcoming "19th season" (despite having only premiered in 2017).
Better Call Saul,
The Walking Dead and all there other shows that have popped up and hit big since about 2010 are shorties...6-10 episodes a "season". Same with the Disney+ stuff.
I guess we're right on the cusp of that period where traditional network fare, with 20+ episodes a pop, will be fading away as more of these streaming shows - ostensibly with better writing and higher production value, so they're more interested in quality vs. quantity...10 episodes of something well-made vs. 26 of whatever McLean Stevenson or Judy Landers was showing up on at any given time - take over and entertain folks for no more than 2-3 months a year, and then go away for God-knows-how-long. 12 months? 18 months? 24+ months? When you factor in a pandemic and leading actor medical scares, it could be any length of time.
Not sure which I prefer...a constant, reliable nearly-year-round stream of mostly shit (entertaining or otherwise), or a quick in-and-out of halfway-decent show (and then marking the calendar for 11-26 months until another batch shows up).
