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Originally Posted by kane
I think ad revenue has something to do with it, but I don't think it is the only reason. The Walking Dead brings in around 14 million viewers per week. It is the top show on cable TV and in the Top 5 every week overall yet they only make 16 episodes. They could easily churn out 22-24 episodes a season with those kinds of ratings and still make a ton of money. I think networks like AMC would rather give people 10-15 quality episodes and have them keep coming back and telling their friends than try to make a show that does okay and they can crank out 24 episodes a year of which half of them will suck. Right now we are in a golden age of television and it is being led by cable TV shows. These cable channels seem to understand that sometimes less is more.
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Mash, Frasier, All In The Family and dozens of other shows put together seasons twice as long without any filler. The money was there to support it. AMC stretched the final season of BB into two mini seasons at the last minute as a cash grab. Writers and actors can churn out many more quality episodes in the same amount of time... But it's more profitable not to do so these days. If you think ten or twelve episodes a year is the most a show can produce, you think less of the writers and crew than I do. There is no financial incentive unfortunately.