At what point was the Average TV Season shorten below 30 Episodes? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

USATVFAN · 05-07-2012, 02:23 PM

in the 1950s and 1960s pretty much all TV Shows seasons(Typical Television Season) ran from September(or October) to June, and the average season had around 30-36 episodes. by around the mid 60's it's(Number of episodes per season)began to shrink and the TV season became shorten. No TV show in the 1970s for the most part had more then 26 Episodes(Average during the 70s was 24-26 Episodes) and the TV season usually ran from September to March or April and sometimes May.

What I am wondering is at what point during 1960s did they start to shorten the Average TV season? At what point did they start making less then 30 Episodes and the season started to end before June?

LUNCH · 05-07-2012, 03:07 PM

I'm not sure exactly,so I can't give you a direct answer. I know that quite a few shows made during the 1950s and early 1960s had an amazing 38 episodes or so per season,"Gunsmoke" being one example of many.Even during the late 1960s--the mid 1970s a lot of shows actually had over 30 episodes per season. During the 1980s is when they started really dramatically lowering the amount of episodes made every season.And from the 1990s-to present the amount seems to have kept going lower. Nowadays what do they throw at the viewing public, 15-20 episodes a year?

LUNCH · 05-07-2012, 03:14 PM

And of course the older shows ran about 12 minutes longer per hour than modern shows.So not only did they make so many more episodes a year but each episode ran a lot longer.

USATVFAN · 05-07-2012, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LUNCH

I'm not sure exactly,so I can't give you a direct answer. I know that quite a few shows made during the 1950s and early 1960s had an amazing 38 episodes or so per season,"Gunsmoke" being one example of many.Even during the late 1960s--the mid 1970s a lot of shows actually had over 30 episodes per season. During the 1980s is when they started really dramatically lowering the amount of episodes made every season.And from the 1990s-to present the amount seems to have kept going lower. Nowadays what do they throw at the viewing public, 15-20 episodes a year?

Nowadays they still do 22-24 Episodes in a average TV Season for a Show that runs from September-May, which it has been like that since the Late 90s-Early 2000'w. A mid-season show has 15-20 episodes

I wish we could back to when TV Sitcoms were 24-26 Minutes long and dramas were almost 50 minutes.

Regulus · 05-07-2012, 03:43 PM

There was once a time when if a Show only lasted 13 episodes it was considered a FAILURE. I once picked up three seasons of a recent TV Show and they all lasted 13 Episodes EACH!

It used to be when the season began in September you would get new episodes all the way to May or even June of the following year. The only Preemptions would usually occur during the Holiday Season of Thanksgiving to Christmas, New Years Day and maybe Easter, or whenever the President requested Airtime for a New Conference or Speech. Today a Typical Season will start off with a few new Episodes in September, Reruns and/or Specials in October. More new Episodes in November (It's a "Sweeps" Month) MAYBE a Holiday-Themed Episode in December, otherwise more reruns and specials through January. More new Episodes in February (Another Sweeps Month) then more reruns in March and April. During the last "Sweeps" of the Season in May you'll get the last New Episodes, then it's back to repeats until September. Yes the Shows are shorter as well, as more and more Commercials have been added per show. The Networks do not care about the Audience, all they want is the MONEY. Corporate Greed, pure and simple.

Of course back then we didn't have "Alternatives" to turn to (Such as DVDs) whenever there wasn't anything on the three Networks or the Independant Stations to tickle our fancy!

USATVFAN · 05-07-2012, 04:04 PM

I agree, The networks only care about MONEY and not their Viewers. Someone on the Modern Family IMDB board was just complaining about all the reruns that ABC has been showing of Modern Family and how the schedule was Unreliable over the last few weeks.

In the 1960s:
1. The Average Typical Television Season ran from September(Or October)to Mid June!.

2. The Average TV Season had 32-36 Episodes and some season as much as 39!

3. The Average Episodes was 25-27 Minutes long. A Drama was close to 51 Minutes

NOW:
1. The season runs from September to Mid May

2. The Average TV Season has 21-23 Episodes and some Seasons still has 24 or 25 but rarely. Some seasons of TV Shows now have 19 or 20 Episodes over 9 months!

3.The Average Episodes is 19-21 Minutes long today. A drama today is 38 -40 Minutes.

FanofRetroTV · 05-07-2012, 04:38 PM

The actors today make even more then back then. Less work for more money

ajgenard · 05-09-2012, 06:08 PM

I'm not a writer, but have heard from several vets like Ken Levine that it's actually more difficult to write for 20 minutes instead of 25 like it used to be. This is because they are trying to get across a complete story in a shorter amount of time. MORE stuff has to be condensed. So not only are actors getting paid more for working less, writers are actually working harder. What a screwy business.

Mr. Television · 05-09-2012, 08:04 PM

The primetime Soaps in the 1980's had around 30 episodes a season. They didn't rerun them at all after the first few years. That's probably why I was so addicted. lol

EmoJoe · 05-10-2012, 01:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajgenard

I'm not a writer, but have heard from several vets like Ken Levine that it's actually more difficult to write for 20 minutes instead of 25 like it used to be. This is because they are trying to get across a complete story in a shorter amount of time. MORE stuff has to be condensed. So not only are actors getting paid more for working less, writers are actually working harder. What a screwy business.

It is definitely more difficult. I'm an aspiring comedy writer and it's really hard to condense your stuff to 21-22 minutes length. Things always wind up on the cutting room floor.

I can understand not airing stuff during holiday seasons and ending the season before June because I assume ratings were probably pretty low during those times. But there are definitely far too many repeats these days. The cable model of shorter but repeat-free seasons might be the way to go. Networks are starting to test it out and I think it'd probably be better for ratings and honestly, it would probably make the content easier to digest, even if it meant less time on the air.

James28 · 09-11-2013, 04:38 PM

Nowadays, the numbers of episodes per season for a scripted series on a broadcast network (if it airs during both halves of the television season) should be between 20 and 24. Most have an average of 22 per season.

Mace Dolex · 09-11-2013, 07:25 PM

What's worse is when cable dramas consider having 10 episodes a season or now the networks have stopped showing reruns during the Summer on some of their shows.

Hannibal for instance which is a promising show could use that extra viewership if only NBC would bother to repeat their episodes to catch up for the 2nd season, yeah I know they you can probably watch episodes online but not everybody is tech savvy to watch on a computer.

Regulus · 09-11-2013, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mace Dolex

What's worse is when cable dramas consider having 10 episodes a season or now the networks have stopped showing reruns during the Summer on some of their shows.

Hannibal for instance which is a promising show could use that extra viewership if only NBC would bother to repeat their episodes to catch up for the 2nd season, yeah I know they you can probably watch episodes online but not everybody is tech savvy to watch on a computer.

Then when the second season comes on they can't figure out why the rating are failing. People think the show has been cancelled, and they find something else to watch, and when the show returns, they are so engaged in whatever they are watching they don't realize the other show has returned. Frequent pre-emptions and or Hiatuses have been the death of many a show.

Ryan Chamberlain · 09-12-2013, 01:49 AM

This right here is one of my TV pet peeves.

Less show. More commercials. Less eps per season. Less seasons. I mean. This is one of the main reasons why I don't even bother watching most new stuff on TV.

Coffeecup · 09-14-2013, 06:07 PM

When you think about, the shows in the 1950's had many show that had 39 episodes. Leave to Beaver, Honeymooners came to mind. They ran 39 weeks, 13 weeks through out the season was reserved for the President's address, Xmas specials, Olympics, and other odd ball things. So when think of it, you really had to be avid tv watcher for the chance of seeing the same episode in the same year was slim.
With cable of the last 20 years you can catch the same episode for it is run half dozen time during the week. The actors must have worked a lot harder too. Some one wrote Hugh Beaumont commuted from Minnesota while shooting the series.

05-07-2012, 02:23 PM	#1
USATVFAN Member Senior Member Join Date: Jan 31, 2007 Location: Kalispell, USA Posts: 1,742	At what point was the Average TV Season shorten below 30 Episodes? in the 1950s and 1960s pretty much all TV Shows seasons(Typical Television Season) ran from September(or October) to June, and the average season had around 30-36 episodes. by around the mid 60's it's(Number of episodes per season)began to shrink and the TV season became shorten. No TV show in the 1970s for the most part had more then 26 Episodes(Average during the 70s was 24-26 Episodes) and the TV season usually ran from September to March or April and sometimes May. What I am wondering is at what point during 1960s did they start to shorten the Average TV season? At what point did they start making less then 30 Episodes and the season started to end before June?
	__________________ Love watching 1960's-1990's TV Classics! 1970-2004: The best Years of Televsion

05-07-2012, 03:07 PM	#2
LUNCH Member Senior Member Join Date: Oct 23, 2010 Location: New York State Posts: 1,304	I'm not sure exactly,so I can't give you a direct answer. I know that quite a few shows made during the 1950s and early 1960s had an amazing 38 episodes or so per season,"Gunsmoke" being one example of many.Even during the late 1960s--the mid 1970s a lot of shows actually had over 30 episodes per season. During the 1980s is when they started really dramatically lowering the amount of episodes made every season.And from the 1990s-to present the amount seems to have kept going lower. Nowadays what do they throw at the viewing public, 15-20 episodes a year?
	Last edited by LUNCH; 05-07-2012 at 03:39 PM.

05-07-2012, 03:43 PM	#5
Regulus Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 07, 2011 Location: Port Orange, Florida Avatar - Poiuyt Posts: 3,374	There was once a time when if a Show only lasted 13 episodes it was considered a FAILURE. I once picked up three seasons of a recent TV Show and they all lasted 13 Episodes EACH! It used to be when the season began in September you would get new episodes all the way to May or even June of the following year. The only Preemptions would usually occur during the Holiday Season of Thanksgiving to Christmas, New Years Day and maybe Easter, or whenever the President requested Airtime for a New Conference or Speech. Today a Typical Season will start off with a few new Episodes in September, Reruns and/or Specials in October. More new Episodes in November (It's a "Sweeps" Month) MAYBE a Holiday-Themed Episode in December, otherwise more reruns and specials through January. More new Episodes in February (Another Sweeps Month) then more reruns in March and April. During the last "Sweeps" of the Season in May you'll get the last New Episodes, then it's back to repeats until September. Yes the Shows are shorter as well, as more and more Commercials have been added per show. The Networks do not care about the Audience, all they want is the MONEY. Corporate Greed, pure and simple. Of course back then we didn't have "Alternatives" to turn to (Such as DVDs) whenever there wasn't anything on the three Networks or the Independant Stations to tickle our fancy!
	__________________ Grail Shows: *Doc Elliot, Owen Marshall-Counselor of Law, Here's Boomer, Three for the Road, Holmes and YoYo* Bucket List Shows: *Hot Wheels, Skyhawks, Run Joe Run, Westwood* Last edited by Regulus; 05-07-2012 at 03:59 PM.

05-09-2012, 08:04 PM	#9
Mr. Television 23 Years at Sitcoms Online Forum Icon Join Date: Jun 06, 2003 Location: Somewhere you're Not Posts: 62,132	The primetime Soaps in the 1980's had around 30 episodes a season. They didn't rerun them at all after the first few years. That's probably why I was so addicted. lol
	__________________ Sonny

09-11-2013, 04:38 PM	#11
James28 Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Apr 14, 2007 Posts: 3,981	Nowadays, the numbers of episodes per season for a scripted series on a broadcast network (if it airs during both halves of the television season) should be between 20 and 24. Most have an average of 22 per season.
	__________________ "When the run of a network TV show has ended, some go out with a bang, some with a whimper, but all are...Future Endeavored." "Stay Safe"? More like "Stay Sad". #2020Hurts Last edited by James28; 03-05-2014 at 01:55 AM. Reason: I meant "both halves of the television season", not "both episodes".

05-07-2012, 03:14 PM	#3
LUNCH Member Senior Member Join Date: Oct 23, 2010 Location: New York State Posts: 1,304	And of course the older shows ran about 12 minutes longer per hour than modern shows.So not only did they make so many more episodes a year but each episode ran a lot longer.

05-07-2012, 04:04 PM	#6
USATVFAN Member Senior Member Join Date: Jan 31, 2007 Location: Kalispell, USA Posts: 1,742	I agree, The networks only care about MONEY and not their Viewers. Someone on the Modern Family IMDB board was just complaining about all the reruns that ABC has been showing of Modern Family and how the schedule was Unreliable over the last few weeks. In the 1960s: 1. The Average Typical Television Season ran from September(Or October)to Mid June!. 2. The Average TV Season had 32-36 Episodes and some season as much as 39! 3. The Average Episodes was 25-27 Minutes long. A Drama was close to 51 Minutes NOW: 1. The season runs from September to Mid May 2. The Average TV Season has 21-23 Episodes and some Seasons still has 24 or 25 but rarely. Some seasons of TV Shows now have 19 or 20 Episodes over 9 months! 3.The Average Episodes is 19-21 Minutes long today. A drama today is 38 -40 Minutes.

05-07-2012, 04:38 PM	#7
FanofRetroTV Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 15, 2008 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 292	The actors today make even more then back then. Less work for more money

05-09-2012, 06:08 PM	#8
ajgenard Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jul 09, 2011 Location: PA Posts: 369	I'm not a writer, but have heard from several vets like Ken Levine that it's actually more difficult to write for 20 minutes instead of 25 like it used to be. This is because they are trying to get across a complete story in a shorter amount of time. MORE stuff has to be condensed. So not only are actors getting paid more for working less, writers are actually working harder. What a screwy business.

09-11-2013, 07:25 PM	#12
Mace Dolex Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 12, 2013 Posts: 2,669	What's worse is when cable dramas consider having 10 episodes a season or now the networks have stopped showing reruns during the Summer on some of their shows. Hannibal for instance which is a promising show could use that extra viewership if only NBC would bother to repeat their episodes to catch up for the 2nd season, yeah I know they you can probably watch episodes online but not everybody is tech savvy to watch on a computer.

09-12-2013, 01:49 AM	#14
Ryan Chamberlain Return Of The Silverburg 2018! Forum Regular Join Date: Mar 10, 2011 Location: Still hiding in Miles Silverburg's closet. Posts: 663	This right here is one of my TV pet peeves. Less show. More commercials. Less eps per season. Less seasons. I mean. This is one of the main reasons why I don't even bother watching most new stuff on TV.
	__________________ *Despite my username. I am a chick. I go chirp. But, what does the fox say?* Night Court, The Simpsons, Pre-Cartini General Hospital, Step By Step, Murphy Brown, Three's Company and Perfect Strangers fan forever! "You can't put a porcupine in a barn, set it on fire, and expect to make licorice" -Dana Carvey *You robbed an international house of pancakes. How waffle-Harry T. Stone. <3* Goodnight, sweet prince. Harry Anderson 1952-2018

09-14-2013, 06:07 PM	#15
Coffeecup coffeecup. Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 17, 2003 Location: snoozeville Posts: 3,183	When you think about, the shows in the 1950's had many show that had 39 episodes. Leave to Beaver, Honeymooners came to mind. They ran 39 weeks, 13 weeks through out the season was reserved for the President's address, Xmas specials, Olympics, and other odd ball things. So when think of it, you really had to be avid tv watcher for the chance of seeing the same episode in the same year was slim. With cable of the last 20 years you can catch the same episode for it is run half dozen time during the week. The actors must have worked a lot harder too. Some one wrote Hugh Beaumont commuted from Minnesota while shooting the series.