Dave "Wear A Goddamn Mask" Cochran 6d ago
𝐿𝒶𝓃𝒶 "not yet begun to fight"
I feel like it's my duty as an elder to point out for those who don't remember or weren't alive yet, that a season of TV used to have upwards of 20 to 30 individual episodes in it. A typical television show would release a brand spanking new episode every single week from the fall all the way through to the following spring, without fail. This was real. This was normal. They stole this from you.
Jun 23 at 5:27pmWeb
Show thread✨pencilears✨6d ago
@Lana and those episodes were mostly filmed on a single set or in a few specific parks in California, we saw the same rocks over and over again and we liked it!
Show threadSome Guy6d ago
@Lana The good ole days before streaming when you had to dedicate time to sit down, be in the moment, and watch the show or else you missed it.
Show threadBishop6 (Ed Alan T.)6d ago
@someguy @Lana Or learn how to program the timer on the VCR! ;)
Show threadJTW6d ago
@someguy @Lana or plan ahead by setting the VCR, keeping track of your tapes to make sure you had one with enough continuous available space so you wouldn't tape over that really good episode/movie you decided to save...
Show threadUnnamed TNG skant beefcake6d ago
@Lana Also you didn't need to watch 2 seasons of backstory to enjoy an individual good episode; they were self-contained enough that you could get the premise of the show implicitly from a random one
Show threadBishop6 (Ed Alan T.)6d ago

@Lana Star Trek: The Next Generation: 25 episodes per season for 7 seasons.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: 10 episodes per season, ending after 5 seasons.

Lazy bastards.

ST:Discovery was where it went downhill. First season had 15 episodes; it went down every season until by season 5 they had dropped to 10.

So maybe the decline was because of inability to make as many new episodes during COVID and they just stuck with it? Or am I off base?

Show threadbluestarultor6d ago

@bishop6 @Lana Super Sentai had 48-52 episodes per season and that was still true during COVID.

Granted, some seasons the whole cast and crew would fit in a van, but this is very much a money question, not a COVID question.

Show thread✨pencilears✨6d ago
@bishop6 @Lana there's also the decline in revenue from re-runs. Studios aren't treating a season of TV like an investment that will pay itself back for years to come.
Show threadJTW6d ago
@bishop6 @Lana I think part of it was the switch to all-serial storytelling. Some (many) of those 26 episodes were standalone filler.
Show threadJTW6d ago
@Lana also, there was a new season starting every Fall (until it got cancelled). None of this waiting two years for the show to come back and trying to remember the plot and all the characters.