It is time to stop treating tv shows like movies. I’m serious, I’ve had enough of it. Why do we have to wait 2-3 years for the next season of a TV show? Remember when tv shows used to have seasons come out every year, and you actually remembered what happened in the previous season? Wow! What a glorious time that was. Is the delay in these new shows because of the streaming services? Maybe. But they have more than enough budget/material that these shows should release on time. Nowadays though, every show gets the Game of Thrones treatment.
THE GAME OF THRONES TREATMENT
What is the Game of Thrones treatment you ask? It’s quite simple, its shows making fans wait 2-3 years before a new season comes out, and then under delivering, leaving fans frustrated in some aspect of the show. The last season of Game of Thrones only had 6 episodes, and the first two were all filler with nothing happening… AFTER TWO YEARS! We’ll get into a Game of thrones review at another time, but think of any recent show off a streaming service; The Mandalorian (review coming soon,) Outer Banks (review coming soon,) Stranger things, House of the Dragon (review coming soon,) any MCU show, it all applies.
I watched the first two seasons of the Mandalorian two years after they came out (last year.) The new season just dropped and I couldn’t remember anything from the previous seasons. That should not be the case. And just think if I actually watched it on time?!?!? No chance I remember any detail in the slightest with that amount of time passing. Stranger things released Memorial Day of 2022, after a 3-year hiatus. Now we won’t see it again until 2024?!?!? Come on man! The fans deserve better. Same thing with House of the Dragon. It’s a known fact that attention spans don’t last as long these days (I have no idea if this is true,) so why would television shows harm their product by making us wait so long?) Also, I just thought of another show, Euphoria (I have never watched) but I know that show goes years without new seasons as well.
NOT EVERY EPISODE NEEDS TO BE AN HOUR AND A HALF
A television episode needs to be at MAX 53 minutes. There is no need for a television show to go longer than that, it is not a movie. Stranger Things final episode was 2 and a half hours… That is preposterous. All these new shows have budgets bigger than movies, have elongated episodes like a movie, and don’t even compare to some of the best 30-minute episode shows from the past. The Office, Friends (it’s a phenomenal show and I will not hear otherwise,) Entourage, SpongeBob! All got to the point in 22 minutes or less. IF I WANTED TO WATCH SOMETHING THAT IS OVER AN HOUR LONG, I WOULD GO TO THE FUCKING MOVIES!
HOW CAN WE AS FANS SAVE TELEVISION?
That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? Do we have to get rid of the option to binge watch? Not necessarily, I think when shows release episodes once a week it has more of a TV feel, but I don’t think binge watching is the problem. It’s a problem when you try to binge watch a show and each episode is over an hour long. 3 Episodes later your entire day is cooked, and I’m not talking Gordon Ramsey (lol.) Why is there a multi-million-dollar special effects budget, and terrible special effects? Is that problem relevant to what we’re talking about? Maybe not, but it’s an issue that also needs to be addressed!
Did Covid slow a lot of things up? Yes, absolutely. But we are now living in a post covid world, that should not be an excuse of holding shows up over a year any more. If you pose the point “Actors are doing more shows and movies, it conflicts their schedules and causes delays.” Okay, valid point that I can understand. Now let me raise you a counter point on why nothing should be held up that long due to scheduling:
If the Rock can release 3 movies a year, another 2 tv shows, while running a tequila company, as well as a new football league, then there is absolutely no reason to hold our shows up for 2 years at a time. (No counter is beating the rock, not even paper, HA!) But that settles it networks, the ball is now in your court. FIX THE TV SHOWS! Give us seasons once a year, and shorter episodes and all your problems will be solved. (If you think I’m wrong, or just an old man yelling at a cloud, well…)
