Patience is not only a virtue but a challenge as well. Many things can test one’s patience but none are quite like a wait for more episodes of your favorite television series. It can feel like ages between each season nowadays, but how far of an exaggeration is that?
For example, the hit show “Euphoria” began rolling out season one in June of 2019, and not until two and a half years later in January of 2022 viewers finally get season two. Or consider “Black Mirror,” with a staggering 1,471 days between seasons five and six. These remarkable gaps only appear to be getting longer, leaving viewers frustrated and disinterested.
This is a drastic change from broadcast television where it was rare to see a long break between seasons at all, so why the wait now?
The Rise of Streaming Services
There are currently so many streaming platforms that you can forget what you are even paying for. Their rise to popularity was brought forth by the convenience of both choosing what you want to watch and the rather affordable price. This upgrade quickly overcame cable television which was restricted to broadcast specific series and episodes all depending on ratings and release dates.
Network television’s strict schedule is because time slots need to be filled with new content each week or views and revenue would suffer. Breaks in the summer and a new season in the fall were the regular for many shows such as the famous sitcom “Friends” which took only 126 days between the season two finale and the season three premiere.
One major difference however between broadcast shows and current ones is production value. Since most new shows consist of multiple filming locations, elaborate costume design, and special effects, logically the gaps should be longer. Even though the production is more intense, these breaks are extreme and should be cut down to keep interest and relevance.
Streaming services create their own rules because they can. Cable is ad-supported and without big audiences, they lose valuable advertisement money. Subscriptions, however, do not care if you watch or not. They don’t get paid by views, they get paid by you renewing the service each month. This brilliant strategy preys on you falling in love with a show and then staying subscribed for when that long-awaited new release comes.
Time Does Not Stop For Anyone
These breaks affect storylines and the interest of an audience as well. By the time the new season gets released, it usually is a year or two since the previous episode. Viewers are left forgetting the plot and being thrown back into the show with a short one-minute recap. This not only loses watchers in the long run but can affect the overall experience itself.
Shows that follow children and teens such as “Stranger Things” which premiered in July of 2016, finally began production for its final season in January of 2024, nearly eight years later. Typically, the timeline hardly changes much in these fictional worlds but in real life, the actors who started playing their characters as children have grown up to be adults.
To make up for the passage of time “Stranger Things” will rely on using hair, makeup and any other tools available to try and rewind the clock. Simply filming the seasons closer together could have eliminated the need to depend so heavily on effects and costumes.
Streaming platforms have forever changed media and how it is released and enjoyed. Each new popular show seems better than the last creating classics before our eyes. With seemingly unlimited time and massive budgets, everything released is perfected, but the pressure of a deadline can still create something incredible without the wait.
How do you feel about long waits in between seasons? Let us know by tweeting us @VALLEYmag on X!
I couldn’t agree more. It’s so frustrating.