Why do we have seasons?

[Scarface32]

Japanese TV shows typically don't have seasons, they run consecutively until a series ends (with preemptive breaks in between for sports and other special events). In the US we have "seasons." Want to see what happens next on Show X? Too bad, wait until next year.

The UK is even worse about this than we are, their seasons (or series as they call it) are even shorter! Around six episodes is an average season on the BBC.

Why can't we all just have consecutive episodes like they do in Japan?

[Todd Tomorrow]

From what I know in Japan evening dramas last for one season between 9 and 11 episodes and then they are done. Sometimes when one was very successful there will be spin-offs but usually that's all you get. So basically they only do what's known in the US and Europe as a mini-series. Daytime dramas are more like US daytime soaps. Low quality and they crank them out daily. Having been to Japan and doing some channel surfing, Japanese TV didn't strike me as particularly high quality, even the "quality" evening shows looked cheap, because they do so many of them. With a show that runs longer like US shows, it's worth investing more in the production.

I prefer being able to revisit a good show every year. I don't think Breaking Bad, The Wire, Game of Thrones or Mad Men would be considered the quality shows they are had they finished after one season.

I live in the UK and find that just as with US cable dramas, shorter seasons generally result in better quality. I just watched The Honourable Woman, 8 episodes and each was brilliant with no filler.

There now is the model of the anthology drama in the US where one season tells a self-contained story which does not get contiuned. True Detective, Fargo and American Horror Story do that. Maybe you should stick to those if you hate ongoing shows with seasons.

[Jett Rink]

It would be cool if these networks would adopt the Netflix policy. Release a season/series all at once. I for one am sick of having to wait a week between shows and I abhor commercials.

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by Jett Rink

It would be cool if these networks would adopt the Netflix policy. Release a season/series all at once. I for one am sick of having to wait a week between shows and I abhor commercials.

I record every episode of a season and watch the whole thing when it is about to finish. That does exactly what you want.

[L.J.]

I can't imagine Lost being one season. Do like the shows that do a whole story in one season like A.H.S. because if you don't like this season you will get something different next year. Like a godd quality show with breaks between the seasons like S.O.A. and The Walking Dead. Currently half way through Luther so am enjoying it.

[Foggy]

UK is not worse for having short series, the fact is they don't get funded by massive conglomerates, so they just don't have the budget for "big" season. I think the only reason something like a Doctor Who is able to exists is because of it's American success but also because the UK industry is so limiting, a lot of huge tech teams rarely have a chance to work on something because the opportunity rarely arises.

Plus the compact structure lead to less filler and all killer.

[Jett Rink]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

I record every episode of a season and watch the whole thing when it is about to finish. That does exactly what you want.

I don't have cable/DVR, so I am out of luck there. But that is a good idea.

[Scarface32]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

From what I know in Japan evening dramas last for one season between 9 and 11 episodes and then they are done. Sometimes when one was very successful there will be spin-offs but usually that's all you get. So basically they only do what's known in the US and Europe as a mini-series. Daytime dramas are more like US daytime soaps. Low quality and they crank them out daily. Having been to Japan and doing some channel surfing, Japanese TV didn't strike me as particularly high quality, even the "quality" evening shows looked cheap, because they do so many of them. With a show that runs longer like US shows, it's worth investing more in the production.

I prefer being able to revisit a good show every year. I don't think Breaking Bad, The Wire, Game of Thrones or Mad Men would be considered the quality shows they are had they finished after one season.

I live in the UK and find that just as with US cable dramas, shorter seasons generally result in better quality. I just watched The Honourable Woman, 8 episodes and each was brilliant with no filler.

There now is the model of the anthology drama in the US where one season tells a self-contained story which does not get contiuned. True Detective, Fargo and American Horror Story do that. Maybe you should stick to those if you hate ongoing shows with seasons.

All 200 episodes of Sailor Moon ran consecutively in Japan, that's just one example of a really long show.

There are lots of shows with a minimum of 70 episodes that ran consecutively, and haven't suffered from a loss of quality.

Originally Posted by Foggy

UK is not worse for having short series, the fact is they don't get funded by massive conglomerates, so they just don't have the budget for "big" season. I think the only reason something like a Doctor Who is able to exists is because of it's American success but also because the UK industry is so limiting, a lot of huge tech teams rarely have a chance to work on something because the opportunity rarely arises.

Plus the compact structure lead to less filler and all killer.

Besides having short seasons, a lot of times a UK show ends wth no conclusion. An example of this is Mulberry. Two short seasons, and no conclusion. Does he take her, doesn't he? No one knows, the show just ends!

[djgeneral]

I love seasons. Would never want it to change.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Scarface32

Why can't we all just have consecutive episodes like they do in Japan?

There are soap-operas and other shows that run continuously in the US but I don't think it's possible with the larger shows, either financially or logistically. The markets are completely different too. I had a book on Anime and it listed all the content up to it's publication and you'd be amazed by how many series' were just abandoned after a few episodes, they just have a completely different way of doing things in Japan.

It would be possible to make the show continuously but the costs would be astronomical and you'd basically be asking the cast and crew to give up their entire lives for the duration of the show.

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by Scarface32

All 200 episodes of Sailor Moon ran consecutively in Japan, that's just one example of a really long show.

There are lots of shows with a minimum of 70 episodes that ran consecutively, and haven't suffered from a loss of quality.

So you are comparing an anime series with very limited animation to a live action ensemble drama like The Wire or a costly period drama like Mad Men ? Do you really think these shows would retain their quality and be as acclaimed as they are if they were cranking out 70s episodes in a row ?

What are these quality Japanese shows running for 70 episodes which do compare in quality to the shows mentioned or the likes of Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, etc. ?

[CouncilSpectre]

In terms of live-action shows, how many of them have 12/16 hour + daily shooting schedules?

If they had to do that all-year around then people would be burnt out.

[detective392]

Actors, writers and other staff need breaks. In Japan its mostly anime that runs straight for 100+ episodes which is a lot easier to do than a live action series.

IMO the UK is better for having shorter seasons. The UK delivers the best shows in any genre and part of that is the short episode order and telling the story without fillers.

Not saying the UK doesn't have fillers but it's so much better than US shows where we get around 4 episodes of the actual plot and the rest are filler/procedural.

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by detective392

Actors, writers and other staff need breaks. In Japan its mostly anime that runs straight for 100+ episodes which is a lot easier to do than a live action series.

IMO the UK is better for having shorter seasons. The UK delivers the best shows in any genre and part of that is the short episode order and telling the story without fillers.

Not saying the UK doesn't have fillers but it's so much better than US shows where we get around 4 episodes of the actual plot and the rest are filler/procedural.

I live in the UK and you only get the good stuff. There are a lot of bad shows here. I don't think even the best UK shows exceed the best of US cable dramas like The Wire, Breaking Bad, Mad Men or The Sopranos.

[detective392]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

I live in the UK and you only get the good stuff. There are a lot of bad shows here. I don't think even the best UK shows exceed the best of US cable dramas like The Wire, Breaking Bad, Mad Men or The Sopranos.

Guess we are opposite than. I'd take these shows over the ones you listed any day.

Downton Abbey
Broadchurch
Endeavour
Midsomer Murders
Doctor Who
Torchwood
Robin Hood
Merlin

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by detective392

Guess we are opposite than. I'd take these shows over the ones you listed any day.

Downton Abbey
Broadchurch
Endeavour
Midsomer Murders
Doctor Who
Torchwood
Robin Hood
Merlin

Whoah, we have very different tastes indeed. I'm can't stand Dr Who and all the other British kids sci-fi and fantasy shows you listed in the second half. The soapy, laughably historically inaccurate Downton Abbey scrapes through as a guilty pleasure at best for me.

The only show on there which I liked was Broadchurch and that was a knock off of the Scandinavian whodunnits which are hugely popular in the UK and which get remade in the US (The Bridge, The Killing).

[detective392]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

Whoah, we have very different tastes indeed. I'm can't stand Dr Who and all the other British kids sci-fi and fantasy shows you listed in the second half. The soapy, laughably historically inaccurate Downton Abbey scrapes through as a guilty pleasure at best for me.

The only show on there which I liked was Broadchurch and that was a knock off of the Scandinavian whodunnits which are hugely popular in the UK and which get remade in the US (The Bridge, The Killing).

Yeah, I agree shows like Merlin and Robin Hood aren't exactly the best UK TV has to offer. Also forgot Sherlock which is just amazing I think and leagues better than Elementary.

Seems are tastes are pretty different. I do like Breaking Bad but I'll take a UK mystery any day.

[Booker Dewitt]

You do know a lot of Japanese shows are split into cours right, roughly thirteen episodes in each cour, lot of anime being two cour series.

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by detective392

Yeah, I agree shows like Merlin and Robin Hood aren't exactly the best UK TV has to offer. Also forgot Sherlock which is just amazing I think and leagues better than Elementary.

Seems are tastes are pretty different. I do like Breaking Bad but I'll take a UK mystery any day.

Maybe it's the exoticism of the British accents and locations for you.

I even find Sherlock a little overrated. I haven't watched the third season but the first two seasons consisted of one great, one ok and one bad episode each. And as they are feature length episodes, if one of them is bad, like the terrible Hound of the Baskervilles episode, you've wasted a whole 90s minutes and that's a third of a season.

I've seen three British dramas this year which I liked, one great two very good. The Honourable Woman was a political thriller about the Arab-Israeli conflict which was as good as any TV drama I've ever seen. Happy Valley was an excellent crime show, which floundered a little towards the end and In the Flesh did something genuinely original with zombies, even if it was a little hit and miss. I'm looking forward to season 2 of The Fall, which is compelling thanks to Gillian Anderson.

[detective392]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

Maybe it's the exoticism of the British accents and locations for you.

I even find Sherlock a little overrated. I haven't watched the third season but the first two seasons consisted of one great, one ok and one bad episode each. And as they are feature length episodes, if one of them is bad, like the terrible Hound of the Baskervilles episode, you've wasted a whole 90s minutes and that's a third of a season.

I've seen three British dramas this year which I liked, one great two very good. The Honourable Woman was a political thriller about the Arab-Israeli conflict which was as good as any TV drama I've ever seen. Happy Valley was an excellent crime show, which floundered a little towards the end and In the Flesh did something genuinely original with zombies, even if it was a little hit and miss. I'm looking forward to season 2 of The Fall, which is compelling thanks to Gillian Anderson.

The locations does have something to do with it for me. Midsomer Murders gives me my villages and country side.

I think another part is no technology. Like Midsomer Murders, Broadchurch, Endeavour, Wallander. They'll mostly use there brains to solve the case and clues with little technology help. US shows really rely on technology to solve a case like CSI. Not that I hate CSI as I love that show.