Quote:
Originally Posted by Relentless
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.
|
I would say most of those mentioned shows had filler. Lots of toss away episodes in their seasons. The current big dog is Big Bang Theory, and I'd say only half of their episodes this season haven been anywhere near good quality. Same as the past couple seasons really. You could do 24 episodes a season, but the number of seasons you could have pure good quality episodes is very limited, before it gets stale. IMO.
There are too many shows, networks and avenues for writers to hone their craft, and you just don't get them all pooled together on a handful of shows at a network anymore.
13 episodes seems to be the sweet spot for pacing and quality.