I miss tv shows that had 25-30 episodes per season and 40 mins episodes, amirite?

It depends. The shows with more episodes were often "crisis of the week" types with a loose back story. But 8 -12 hours is a good amount to tell a compelling story without gumph. I never did get to find out if the Mentalist caught Red John because it got so repetitive and fed you the main story piecemeal, so I got bored long before it was able to develop.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Go pick up the mentalist please. You missed out on the best bits.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Yeah. Like, I think CSI had like 30 episodes a season but they were loosely related to each other. You'd have a crisis of the week A plot and then weak B and C plots that sometimes carried between episodes.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

This is the difference between shows like CSI or Law and Order and a show like the Wire or True Detective lol. Nothing necessarily better or worse about either. Just different styles.

by alizewalsh 1 month ago

it wasnt an early 2000s "era" thing. thats how tv was in the 80s & 90s too. maybe 70s?

by Anonymous 1 month ago

No show had 30 episodes in that era. 23 max

by sporeraisha 1 month ago

Basically every network had their fall lineups and spring lineups with this set up. It wasn't until the early 2010s where it started deviating.

by alizewalsh 1 month ago

Not true. There are old shows like the twilight zone that have a lot of episodes per season but i dare you to come up with one show with 30 episode seasons after 1960s

by sporeraisha 1 month ago

i agree 1000%

by Anonymous 1 month ago

The best shows tend to be 10-13 episode seasons with episodes at 40 min to 1 hr each. The Wire, The Sopranos, Game of Thrones (the good seasons), Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, etc. I don't think I ever watched a show that was a 40-60 min series with 25-30 episodes per season. That seems long winded. I remember shows like 30 Rock had ~23 episodes per season, but those shows tended to be episodic with an episode runtime of ~23-30 min.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

This format made it a SLOG to get through Supernatural. Just tooooo much filler to get at the good stuff.

by Remote_Ask_1765 1 month ago

No thank you. I don't like the episodic format. Most episodes were skippable as they didn't advance the overarching plot.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

what are you even talking about?

by Anonymous 1 month ago

I disagree with the OP?

by Anonymous 1 month ago

give an example of what you're referring to. some shows don't have an overarching plot, or don't have much of one... like the office. but you don't watch shows like the office for the overarching plot, you watch it because each episode is a self contained comedy. other shows, like breaking bad, are completely plot driven, so if you skip an episode you'll have missed something very important. name a plot driven show where you can skip episodes

by Anonymous 1 month ago

There is a difference between a series that is episodic and serialized. Episodic shows typically have standalone episodes, which is what the person you're replying to is talking about. Like I can watch NCIS, and cut out a number of episodes that has nothing to do with the season's main storyline. Breaking Bad would be considered a serialized show.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

yeah, but most of those are dramatic sitcoms. you don't need to have any idea of what's going on in an overarching plot to enjoy an episode of boston legal or CSI or law and order

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Right, but I'm saying I don't care for episodic drama shows where there's a thin overarching plot.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

The only benefit for me was that you did stay longer with characters which is great. Instead of staying with them for 10 episodes in 1 month or whatever, you stayed with them for 25 episodes for 8 months, and you cared about them and their deaths etc actually made an impact. That's how Greys Anatomy hooked me from Season 1 to Season 6 for instance. It was loooong. Cristina and Georgie every week. But the story lines were stretched so thin it didn't make any sense after a while. And lots of episodes that didn't progress anything. Writers running out of ideas and copy pasting a character's story line into another character etc etc. And good luck getting younger generations to commit to something longer than 8-10 episodes.

by HelpZealousideal 1 month ago

I feel like back in the days most people had one favorite tv show,that they watched once a week, it was easier to captivate someone for 1 hour every week, now you can literally stream your favorite show, I think k it's a big part of why you kept being invested in Grey's anatomy fir 6 seasons

by Individual-Wish-9827 1 month ago

BSG for the most part, was serialised though.

by Anonymous 1 month ago