end of the "tv season" already !! ??

[bb]

Both Sex and the City and OZ has had their final shows for the season already shown and with Chris Issak, Queer as Folk, and Soul Food's season to end in weeks. Had me thinking...

I know that on the broadcast netwroks the tv season runs from September/October til at least May. How long is a season for the HBO/Showtime shows? When does it start and end?

Must not be very long as I believe only 5 or 6 new OZ shows were seen since the so-called "season opener". Same with Sex in the City.

[TJL]

Most of the cable shows average about 12 episodes a season.
This year, Sex In The City split their season, showing six episodes at the end of 2001 and a few new ones this Spring.

HBO and the other networks tend not to follow the broadcast networks' scheduling. They can pretty much premire a show whenever they want.
The big Nets use the outdated method of scheduling their programs around "sweeps" periods (Nov, Feb, May), so they can make money with the advertising. The cable channels have no advertising, so their schedule is flexible.

I wish the Networks would experiment more with this type of scheduling. That way we could have new programming all year round, as opposed to just Sept. - May.

The problem with the short HBO schedules is you have to wait a lot longer for new episodes. Fans of the Sopranos have to wait more than a year for a new season to begin.

I don't know which scheduling system is better, but there is no reason anymore why we can't have new programming 12 months out of the year. Here endith my rant.

[winkwilliams]

"Sex and the City" did 18 episodes this year, "Oz" 8 and "The Sopranos" has done 13 each year. "Sex" aired 12 this summer
and 6 this winter.
Is it any wonder the best shows on the air on cable? The commercial networks, especially CBS, ABC and NBC still operate like it's 1972 and front load the schedule during sweeps, rerun all summer, insist on traditional last minute 13/9 series orders, and have been hemorrhaging viewers. ABC's post fading "Millionaire" has left the network's numbers looking more like UPN or WB's: minuscule. CBS and NBC are not far behind.
HBO started premiering original programming in the summer several years ago and has now established itself as a destination channel, not just a movie network. An amazing rebranding. Allowing for smaller series episode orders allows for more time to be spent on each episode, makes it easier to get top talent to commit, along with the lack of traditional restrictions, and those are keys to the high quality level.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tvrefyusepile/
the home of those shocking, hilariously bad, rip offs (Working Girl starring Sandra Bullock), spin offs (The Ropers), and reworkings (After Mash).

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stinkaroo/
Bad movie lovers unite!

http://winkwilliams.blogspot.com/
The celebrity wanna be hangs with his pals like Ron Popeil, shares the dirt on his gal pal Anna Nicole Smith and reveals the intimate details of his long marriage to Ruth Buzzi. Read his daily journal here.

[TJL]

Thanks for clearing up my numbers, I knew I was way off with my estimates.
HBO is lucky they have so much freedom with their programming.
It must be great for the writers to only have to worry about 13 episodes as opposed to 22.
Do you think the Networks would allow David Chase and his guys to film the entire season before showing a single episode? Yeah, right.
The downside of course, is having to wait so long for new episodes. I don't think they can let that happen with the next season of The Sopranos without some kind of backlash from the viewing public. That is, if there is going to be another season of The Sopranos after this new one...

[Jordan]

Originally posted by TJL
Most of the cable shows average about 12 episodes a season.

Well maybe, but last season, Queer as Folk went 22 episodes. Oh well, I guess it's different this season!