Advocating For 22 Episodes
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Scranton chapter.
Recently, I started watching a television series called “Revenge” (2011-2015). “Revenge” ran for four seasons, adapting the novel “The Count of Monte Cristo” for a modern audience. It follows the story of Emily Thorne, “a young woman posing as a new resident, who returns to the Hamptons in order to seek revenge on the families that wronged her 20 years earlier. In the midst of her plan, she uncovers secrets, lies, and affairs, and finds herself in multiple dangerous situations as she tries to ensure justice is doled out” (ABC). While the show is a twisty one, filled with complicated plotting, characters, and revenge, as I watched I realized it was more complex than the usual show I watch. So, I decided to watch another show, “How To Get Away With Murder,” and also preferred that series over some of the other ones I’ve watched. While occasionally these shows can be overdramatic, the larger episode amount allows things to be teased for later in the season and leaves more room to flesh out the story.
When I thought about why these series might be more appealing to me than some more recently made, I realized that it was because the episode count was made for television, with 22 episodes each season instead of the ten for the usual Netflix show. While some people may argue that there is a lot more “filler,” I think having more episodes is nice for a lot of television shows because it allows for a greater exploration of characters, adding more depth to a show than can often be found in ten episodes. While certain favorite shows of mine like “Little Fires Everywhere,” “Inventing Anna,” “Spinning Out,” “Hollywood,” or “Tiny Pretty Things” have had about ten episodes, I do believe these were incredibly well-written and standouts in the usual poorly written, half-baked television shows that a multitude of streaming platforms have a tendency to churn out of production.
Imagine if a show like the fan-favorite “Bridgerton” had twenty-two episodes instead of six? My friends have forced me to watch this show, and I cannot believe the crazy number of plots that appear and disappear due to a lack of focus on character development. It seems that there has been a severe decline in quality from the first to third season, which in part seems to be due to the overabundance of character plots being crammed into an episode, which detract from the main story. If there was a greater number of episodes, characters like the Mondriches, Lady Danbury, Cressida Calpur, Violet Bridgerton, Penelope and Colin would have better development, even in a raunchy period piece. When we apply this to other shows like “Stranger Things,” “Wednesday,” “Heartstopper” or “Yellowjackets,” all of which have been on the top of Netflix’s streaming list in the U.S., the creatives behind these works could have played more with the storylines as it unfolded, be it for a love story or mystery, respectively. More episodes would also keep audiences happy when there is a longer wait between seasons, such as the excruciating two to three years I have to wait for the third season of Amazon Prime’s “The Summer I Turned Pretty” (sorry, it’s my comfort show).
Of course, additional episodes lead to an increase in production costs for these beloved television shows. However, net income at Netflix is on the rise; in the past year, Netflix has seen 79% growth from $1.3 billion to $2.3 billion from 2023 to 2024’s first quarters, with similar profit margins for other streaming services. The increase in revenue is hopefully (even if this seems unlikely) from increased users, not cut production value, and should allow the company and other streaming services such as HBO MAX, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Disney Plus to develop both longer and more experimental works that push the boundaries of film and television. If they do not, and choose to pocket these profits, it would only demonstrate an immense corporate greed, something that seems all too common with streaming services’ willingness to churn out generic shows.
If networks can’t get behind a 22 episode season because of cost, they might benefit from doing at least fifteen or sixteen episode seasons like those found in the television show “Lucifer” or “Outer Banks;” these episode counts are not as long as television shows that ran in the mid to late 2010s, but are a happy medium that would allow for quality and quantity while respecting the cost that these productions require.
Works Cited
https://www.fool.com/data-news/2024/04/24/netflixs-q1-2024-earnings-net-income-soars/#:~:text=Revenue%20was%20up%2015%25%20year-over-year%20to%20%249.4%20billion,after%20all%20expenses%20have%20been%20deducted%20from%20revenues.?msockid=103fae3fcaec63860ddfbfcbcb446201
<p>The post Advocating For 22 Episodes first appeared on Her Campus.</p>
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