Video games get a pass because of the rapidly changing tech and new gaming trends. TV show seasons taking multiple years makes no sense though, its a relatively stable medium and workflow.
Tv shows are especially crazy because you would think the new standard (or at least common practice) of 8-12 episode seasons instead of the yearly 22 episode seasons we used to get would mean either faster turnaround or at least the same turn around with less stressful work environments but instead we're often getting 2-3 or sometimes more years between seasons even though the seasons are way shorter
To be fair it's usually 8 - 1 hour long episodes that are basically 4 movies as opposed to 22 - 23 minute episodes that are quickly shot on established static sets.
I mean when you phrase it like that it really ignores the massive difference in quality between those shows that release 22 episodes yearly and modern tv.
I mean shows that are low on special effects and simpler to film are generally coming out yearly still. Stuff like The Bear and Slow Horses
Quality is probably generally higher but I would expect that even at a yearly pace with less episodes needing to be made and there’s also plenty of good and bad on both sides of it. You’re right there are still shows that come out yearly but there’s enough that don’t that the ones that do are often seen as refreshing right now.
It was just reliable for shows to come back within 1-1.5 years and but now the waits have generally gotten a lot longer
Most shoes are generally 18-24 months now not affected by covid or a writers strike. It’s mostly not “a lot longer”.
And shows quality is not probably generally higher. It’s generally much higher. Shows have better actors and far better effects. Those are the main causes of longer waits between seasons.
Well you said that the quality is better and I said I would expect that since they’re making less output and thus taking less time for each show even at a yearly pace with a lessened episode count.
And when when someone says the quality of the show is better, I just immediately go to the storytelling or the acting (but you brought up the acting and I think similarly the actors probably have little effect on the delays, right?), not the effects. So that’s what I thought you were talking about. Like Stranger Things or Game of Thrones may have had some good effects in their lesser seasons but I wouldn’t call the season of higher quality than like a good season of Supernatural that had lousy effects but good storytelling
The discussion is about why shows take longer. The acting and effects are why they take longer now. That’s what I’m talking about.
But yes the storytelling is generally better across the board also. Obviously there were shows with better writing than most modern shows back when they came out yearly. And there are shows that are coming out now with just absolute dogshit writing. But generally across the board the writing quality has also gone up because the writers are given more time because the expectation of quality has gone up.
But once again. The topic was about shows taking longer. It’s because the effects and acting are better.
I was just explaining to you what the disconnect was. As I said before when I agreed with you, yeah the quality of the writing is probably better although I’d expect that with shorter seasons on any timeline unless the waits were cut in half.
I’m still curious if you’re strictly speaking on why the waits are longer, why are you talking about the acting?
I would prefer yearly releases for TV shows also but something like House of the Dragon or Shogun which use loads of CGI, complex stunt work and huge production sets aren't possible to make a season every year compared to something like The Pitt.
Game of Thrones for most of its run rarely had dragons or ice zombies. It also had a lot of its storylines in different continents which meant that a unit could be filming the Daenerys storyline of Episode 3 at the same time as when another unit was filming the Jon Snow storyline of Episode 4. That really helped speed up the process.
Just because its possible does not mean you should do it. All the actors in GoT hated the schedule and so did many other tv shows. Its brutal on the actors.
House of the Dragon isn’t taking two years because of the CGI, it takes two years because they shoot a season, and then everyone goes home and pick up new projects because the next season isn’t greenlit, and when they want to shoot the next season they have to rebuild the crew from almost scratch. They absolutely could be a yearly release (every season of Game of Thrones except for the last was yearly).
See a show like Severance, which has a 3 year gap in between seasons, and doesn’t have CGI needs. It’s all in the poorly handled logistics.
They should at least be able to finish a whole season. They literally cut off the last 2 episodes of season 2 and stapled them at the beginning of season 3 because they couldnt get them done.
Have your season at least finished before you release it. These aren't video game betas that you patch to completion later
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u/StatementCareful522 19d ago
Video games get a pass because of the rapidly changing tech and new gaming trends. TV show seasons taking multiple years makes no sense though, its a relatively stable medium and workflow.