So few episodes - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Will and Grace Fanatic · 08-05-2003, 10:36 PM

I was reading about the Americanized version of "Coupling" and they mentioned the original only had 22 episodes in 3 seasons. When 22 episodes is the average amount of episodes American sitcoms do in one season. Is there a reason British shows have so few episodes a season?

Mickey · 08-07-2003, 05:30 AM

British shows tend to be written by just one person, or two. Not a whole team like American sitcoms. They can't necessarily manage a whole run of 22 episodes on their own. Also a British TV channel is generally very unwilling to allocate that amount of time to a home grown show. Buying a foreign one is much cheaper!

Tourmaline · 08-23-2003, 01:52 PM

There are other reasons which come into play -

- UK television stations don't have the astronomic financial resources that many US stations have (remember, the BBC is funded by the licence fee, not advertisement revenue), so committing to a long run of a new show would present too big a financial risk to gamble on.

08-05-2003, 10:36 PM	#1
Will and Grace Fanatic be happy Senior Member Join Date: Feb 15, 2002 Location: seattle, washington Posts: 2,746	So few episodes I was reading about the Americanized version of "Coupling" and they mentioned the original only had 22 episodes in 3 seasons. When 22 episodes is the average amount of episodes American sitcoms do in one season. Is there a reason British shows have so few episodes a season?
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08-07-2003, 05:30 AM	#2
Mickey Ranger Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 12, 2002 Location: The UK, and still finding Desi funnier than Lucy Posts: 960	British shows tend to be written by just one person, or two. Not a whole team like American sitcoms. They can't necessarily manage a whole run of 22 episodes on their own. Also a British TV channel is generally very unwilling to allocate that amount of time to a home grown show. Buying a foreign one is much cheaper!

08-23-2003, 01:52 PM	#3
Tourmaline Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Mar 10, 2002 Location: West Midlands, UK Posts: 71	There are other reasons which come into play - - UK television stations don't have the astronomic financial resources that many US stations have (remember, the BBC is funded by the licence fee, not advertisement revenue), so committing to a long run of a new show would present too big a financial risk to gamble on.