I love AbFab, Keeping Up Appearances, Are Your Being Served, Bean, Black Adder and others, but why on earth are there only 6 shows per season??? Can someone from Britain tell me? I mean 18 episodes of AbFab over 3 years, then they go off. Over here, a SINGLE typical season is 22 episodes! We're used to 22 NEW episodes of shows a year. Only now are there enough AbFab episodes to make a single American TV season. Anyway, I just want to know why? Is there a reason?
I also noticed this with all the other British shows I see on BBC America, it seems like there are only 6 (?) episodes in a season of, say, Monarch of The Glen (which I love), Hamish Macbeth, Ballykissangel etc, etc.
And that Red Dwarf, I don't get it at all...

It's mainly down to one thing - MONEY.

There just isn't the kind of finance in British TV that there is in the States. Sitcoms usually just run to six or eight episodes in a series/season.

There are occasional exceptions but the above is almost always the case. Sad, in some ways but good in others. There is a danger of a sitcom going stale when it runs to too many episodes per season. I think 'Frasier' is a good recent example of this myself.

Also, I notice that many of the American shows employ many writers thereby increasing the volume of episodes with ease. Britcoms are usually written by one or two people at most and these individuals are very protective of their work and no doubt reluctant to allow anyone else to dabble with the characters etc.

OK, that's my ten cents worth! http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/lookaround.gif

...oh and 'Red Dwarf' is VERY British!
I hear it has a good following in the States though.

That was a great question. I've often wondered that myself... Thanks for supplying an answer as well!

- Jaye
Los Angeles, CA, USA

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Visit me at http://www.golittlerecords.com

I think that its good that britcom seasons are short, when i lived there, if there was a series you like, you don't have to sit and watch it every time for half a year, just a few weeks. it gives you a chance for more of a social life

One of the things I like about Britcoms is that they are written by only one or two people. One writer, one vision.
Many American sitcoms have a very disjointed feel to them from week to week, moslty because there usually is a different writer who can change the nuance of a character because he-she has a different style.

Also, shorter season mean cheaper DVDs to collect.

;)

so you are sayng that what the dvd calls a series, is what we would call a season?

Yes :)

i was wondring that as i was in BEST BUY the other week and saw series was on a few of them. thanks.

Personally, I am glad American shows have a greater quanitity of episodes. Its always fun when a show breaks the 100, 200, or even 300 barrier. :)

Originally posted by ClassicComedyFan2
Personally, I am glad American shows have a greater quanitity of episodes. Its always fun when a show breaks the 100, 200, or even 300 barrier. :)

Let's not get carried away....'Friends' springs to mind!

*shudder*

:p ;)

The good thing about britcoms they leave u wanting more :lol:

What Britcoms lack in quantity they more than make up for in quality. What american sitcoms lack in quality they attempt to make up for with quantity. Thats the major difference between American and British T.V. By the way, as a Canadian, I'd like to say I love Red Dwarf!!!!! :wave:

Hold on a sec... Has anyone tried looking at this from the writer's view here?

Let's take the most hillarious sitcom ever created: Blackadder. This had four series, each with six episodes. And each series was a different story. Yet it still remains the most hillarious sitcom in the universe, and I think that's partly due to it being short. For one, to write funny stuff, the writer has to completely love what they're doing. and after writing about the same thing for six episodes, it get's a little boring. The writers know they can't write good stuff without even liking it, and so they decide to stop. Then they have a fresh new series to write about. Also, there's a limit to what can be written about with one series. Instead of dragging it on, they realise that there is nothing more to say, and so end the series.

That is (partly) why Blackadder is the greatest sitcom in the world.

I hate shows that go farther than 6 seasons. Some such as...

Cheers (11)
Gunsmoke (20)
Friends (10)
Frasier (11)
Bonanza (14)
The Beverly Hillbillies (9)
Dallas (13)
Dynasty (8)
My Three Sons (12)
All in the family (9)
The Mary Tyler Moore Show (7)
The Andy Griffith Show (8)
Bewitched (8)
The Carol Burnett Show (11)
Petticoat junction (7)

I don't know if Australia has their own sitcoms, but if so, those and the dramas usually pump out an average of 20-25 episodes a season, and I believe their TV season starts in the early part of the calendar year as opposed to starting in September. (Feel free to make any necessary corrections.)

--

Mike

I know that I wouldn't mind haveing a few more episodes of my favorite british shows.

Also, shorter season mean cheaper DVDs to collect.

;)


not for the britcoms!

They are TOO EXPENSIVE to buy in the states.

I much rather to buy the USA sitcoms instead.

The good thing about britcoms they leave u wanting more :lol:


quite true!

I am still hoping for new episode of Keeping Up Appearances!

lol

now, it have been very ten long years!

I hate shows that go farther than 6 seasons. Some such as...

All in the family (9)


I am with u on All In The Family.

They should have ended the show when Mike and Gloria moved to California.

Then, it morphed into Archie Bunker's Place.

I didn't like Archie Bunker's Place.