What are some of the longest hiatuses between seasons of a TV show?

[TMC]

Keep in mind that incidences where the original show was cancelled and then revived later on to be given another season doesn't count. It has to be a show that is still classified as being "in production" but none the less, contains a long production and/or release gap in-between seasons.

[RetroGuy2000]

Carnival Row Season 1 ended in August 2019. Season 2 is projected to be released in early 2022, a two and a half year gap.

Stranger Things will likely have an even longer gap: July 2019 to sometime in 2022.

[JamesG]

I thought of HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm”.

The gap between the launches of Seasons 8 and 9 were July 2011 - October 2017 (6 years).

[JamesG]

The Fox/Hulu series "The Orville" has a gap between Seasons 2 and 3.

Season 2 launched December 2018 and Season 3 will launch March 2022 (a little over 3 years).

[JamesG]

The BBC One series “Luther” had a gap between Series 4 and 5. (They refer to it as series, not seasons)

Series 4 launched December 2015 and Series 5 launched January 2019 (4 years).

[JamesG]

The syndicated series "Acapulco H.E.A.T." aired its first season 1993-94 and the second 1998-99 in the U.S.

* M6, a French network, took over production for Season 2 and it first aired in France during 1997. The U.S. did not get it until 1998.

[JamesG]

“Scream” had a 3 year gap between Seasons 2-3.

Season 2 aired in 2016 and Season 3 aired in 2019 after it moved from MTV to VH1.

[JamesG]

There was a 4 year gap between Seasons 2 and 3 of the Netflix series “Master of None”.

(May 2017 - May 2021)

[JamesG]

A current show that is on hiatus is CBS' "Blood & Treasure". It was renewed for a second season in June 2019.

It hasn't been announced when (or if) it is coming back.


* Update: Paramount+ aired the 2nd Season in 2022.

The gap between Seasons 1-2 was 3 years.

[stevea]

Sell This House (A&E) - S9 2010, S10 - 2020.

[JamesG]

A show that is still not officially cancelled is the BBC One/FX series "Taboo", starring Tom Hardy.

It was renewed for a 2nd season in March 2017 and the creator revealed that he has plans for 3 more seasons. FX Chairman John Landgraf mentioned in August 2019 that the ball was pretty much in Tom Hardy's court if he wants to continue with "Taboo". He also said that plans for future seasons have been "discussed".

I'd say it's very unlikely to come back, but it has not been officially cancelled.

[TMC]

In defense of TV shows taking a long hiatus between seasons

Next week, Better Call Saul and Russian Doll return for new seasons after two and three years off, respectively. This spring, several other acclaimed shows are returning or have returned after a long break due to the pandemic, including Atlanta (after four years), Barry and Stranger Things (both after three years). "Maybe it sounds frustrating, having to wait so long for ice cream to melt that you forget about the anxiety it symbolizes," says Judy Berman. "Yet refreshing your memory of a favorite series can also be a pleasure, like catching up with an old friend. It’s customary to gripe about long hiatuses between seasons, but the truth is: I like when a show gives me time to miss it." But, as Berman notes, long hiatuses existed before the pandemic since cable and streaming shows aren't bound to American TV schedules. "Increasingly ambitious TV productions, shot in multiple countries and with elaborate special effects (like Apple’s Foundation), can also increase the time required to create a season," says Berman. "Such elasticity in scheduling can be great for creators, the most distinguished of whom might now make a new season of their show whenever—and no sooner than—inspiration strikes. Larry David let six years pass between Seasons 8 and 9 of Curb Your Enthusiasm. This kind of leeway is essential for high-concept series like Atlanta and Russian Doll, which swerve between reality and surrealism, propelled by heady ideas about identity, history, and time, and would be doomed by an imperative to churn."

[JamesG]

"Inside Amy Schumer" had a six-year gap between Paramount+ bringing it back after it aired on Comedy Central.

(June 2016 - October 2022)

[TVSCREEN2015]

HBO's Euphoria

Season 1 aired during the Summer of 2019

Season 2 premiered in January 2022

[TMC]

Shows With Hiatuses That Lasted Two Years Or More

BY CHRIS HODGES/FEB. 9, 2023 7:09 AM EST

TV seasons used to follow a fairly consistent schedule. Premieres were in the fall, then there were fairly short breaks for holidays, then the season ended around May or June of the following year to take the summer off, and then it returned again that fall. Once shows started coming to cable channels, that all changed, as they were no longer beholden to the typical network television structure. Being able to have seasons of varying lengths followed by hiatuses that often lasted much longer than the standard 2-3 months also allowed for more expensive and more ambitious productions, not to mention a higher caliber of actor who wouldn't normally have done television because of how much it limited their access to also do films and other projects.

The increased success of cable shows reinforced that the flexibility worked. A similarly loose production schedule extended to shows on streaming services once those became a thing. Now, we basically expect to always wait at least a year between seasons of our favorite cable or streaming shows. Sometimes shows take multiple years between seasons, whether because of factors like COVID-19 or just because the creative forces behind that show want to take their time and aren't being forced to pump out new seasons before they are ready.

With that in mind, here are some of the longest hiatuses that have ever been seen between seasons of shows, not counting ones that were canceled or otherwise officially ended — such as "Roseanne," "Family Guy," "Arrested Development," etc. — only to be revived later on.