Kia ora.
I’m a big TV fan. My wife and I watch a fair few shows between us, and one thing that’s become noticeable over the past 5-10 years is how much TV, and how it’s structured, has changed.
The advent of streaming services, better hardware quality, and improvements in CGI has resulted in big, movie-level budgets to deliver a “prestige-level” product; this increase in cost to film has also seen seasons grow shorter, with the desire to binge watch meaning less room for “filler” or “monster-of-the-week” (to use an X-Files term) episodes to pad out a 20+ episode season, with viewers often complaining about the insertion of such breaks from the main plot.
The really big change though has been the wait between seasons.
Gone are the days of surety surrounding the yearly September to May air window for network shows; instead, we sometimes see 2+ year waits as new seasons are prepared. The increased cost means studios are often reluctant to renew shows early without some quantification of show performance; there’s also increased time spent writing, the advent of film actors moving into TV (often meaning scheduling conflicts), and a longer post-production window to get shows looking sharp (as we’ve all come to expect).
This can actively harm shows as well, as long-running plot lines get forgotten, fans disconnect from the show, or people with busy lives start new shows and find they can’t really be bothered picking up another one again; Westworld was somewhat a victim of this (though it had other issues) with huge gaps between seasons.
I’ve honestly forgotten some of the shows on which I’m waiting; Severance Season 2 is a big one, airing early next year; the second season of Andor is another likely releasing around the same time. Stranger Things, Silo, For All Mankind, Fargo, The White Lotus... the list goes on. I guess you could say I’m impatient.
What about you? Do you prefer the longer wait for “higher quality” TV? Is there anything you’ve been waiting a long time to continue watching?
Matty’s track of the day: This Is Why (Live), by Paramore
And now for your links:
Ledley King & Ossie Ardiles have been hanging out in Japan with supporters
A K-League perspective on purported Spurs signing Yang Min-Hyuk’s rise to stardom
A fantastic video from The Extra Inch highlighting the problems with Spurs’ squad and how to potentially fix them (or not)