The mid-season hiatus

[Pariah]

when did this start in television? I don't remember shows taking a couple of months off right in the middle of the season...but I could have just not been paying that close of attention to the shows ten years ago (I don't think there were that many shows that I watched that were serial-type shows; now almost all of my favorites are...LOST, V, Fastforward...)

 

[jf-08]

I'm sure the Olympics have something to do with that.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I'm sure the Olympics have something to do with that.

that's absolutely the reason we're getting this in February... however, it doesn't explain the shows like V, Flashforward, Lie to Me type shows getting hiatuses. Networks these days are REALLY hedging their bets and not ordering full seasons as quickly and thus... eh, after working inside the system for the first time in my career on a show... god only knows why networks do what they do.

 

[Gaddabout]

that's absolutely the reason we're getting this in February... however, it doesn't explain the shows like V, Flashforward, Lie to Me type shows getting hiatuses. Networks these days are REALLY hedging their bets and not ordering full seasons as quickly and thus... eh, after working inside the system for the first time in my career on a show... god only knows why networks do what they do.

I was gonna say ... the big hour-long dramas aren't getting 22 episodes anymore. More like 16 to 18 if there's a real commitment. I still don't get the logic of breaking them up because Lost shows you lose audience that way. Just delay the start so you can show them in a row.

 

[Chaplin]

September is traditionally the month to start shows. It's the end of summer, school starts up, it makes sense.

May/June is when school gets out and the summer begins, so that is an obvious time for seasons to end.

So you have September to June and a show only produces 21-24 episodes per year. There's your reason.

Many people like the way that Lost and 24 have dealt with their shows, starting in January and going to June, pretty much straight through. The problem is, that leaves a good 6 months of nothing--bad for advertisers, especially in the months leading up to Christmas. It would be like having a 6 month summer, rather than only 3. Execs, advertisers and even a lot of fans of those shows would hate that if it was standard.

 

[Chaplin]

I was gonna say ... the big hour-long dramas aren't getting 22 episodes anymore. More like 16 to 18 if there's a real commitment. I still don't get the logic of breaking them up because Lost shows you lose audience that way. Just delay the start so you can show them in a row.

Thank you Writer's Strike!

 

[Pariah]

Thank you Writer's Strike!

That's what I was just going to bring up....seems like since then the season has had a first and second half with a break in between. I can't blame the olympics because it happened last year, too.

 

[Chaplin]

That's what I was just going to bring up....seems like since then the season has had a first and second half with a break in between. I can't blame the olympics because it happened last year, too.

It's always been like that. It's just before it was always disguised as "Christmas", but in reality very little aired in December and January.

 

[Pariah]

It's always been like that. It's just before it was always disguised as "Christmas", but in reality very little aired in December and January.

hmm.

Maybe it's more pronounced since more shows are taking a serial approach? That is, each episode relies heavily on the previous? I don't remember there being as many shows on TV like that as there are now.

 

[Chaplin]

hmm.

Maybe it's more pronounced since more shows are taking a serial approach? That is, each episode relies heavily on the previous? I don't remember there being as many shows on TV like that as there are now.

Oh that's definitely a factor. That's why sitcoms have yet to do anything like what Lost and 24 does.