We hear the Wilderness, and It hears us.

[rogueslayer452]

++ Yellowjackets has been renewed for a fourth season. \O/

++ Craig Mazin confirms that The Last Of Us will be a four-season plan. I remember him bringing this up some months ago, but it's good to get further confirmation especially since the show was renewed for season three already. And it makes sense, because the second game is quite long with so much happening that it would be impossible to wrap everything up in just a short amount of time.

With that being said, it makes me wish even more for 22-episode seasons again. When you look at the way these streaming platforms have shortened the number of episodes per season for shows, it's honestly not enough. You can literally combine at least two or three of those seasons would actually be considered one full-length season of what shows used to be, and that's kinda sad. While not every show needs 22+ episodes a season, a lot of them could really benefit from it, and I cannot help but wonder how the above shows would be like if they had gotten the full-length season treatment that I believe they should've gotten.

Comments

[verdande_mi]

I very much agree! I miss the days of longer seasons as well. There's too little time to flesh out both characters and stories these days.

[delphi]

I totally agree, and it's doubly frustrating given that so much of what's being made for TV right now doesn't have to fit in a weekly airing schedule—which should make for more flexibility in giving shows longer runs, not less. Instead of shows having time to find their feet or just breathe, it feels like most of them are put into the position of having to earn their continued existence a quarter-season at a time.

[rogueslayer452]

Plus having too long of a wait in between seasons has hurt a lot of shows that have potential. I mean really, six episodes and then waiting years for another six just isn't worth it. And a lot of these shows end up getting cancelled anyway, adding more salt on the wound of these shows that need more time to properly develop.

Even shows that do well you cannot help but wonder how they would've been even better with a full episode order.

[elizalavelle]

Yay! I need to watch season three but good to know it's going to keep going. I also need to watch The Last of Us season 2 (waiting for it to finish) but I like knowing there's a plan for the story. I think having an end point really helps with telling a story in a tv series format.

I agree about the seasons. Not every show needs 22 episodes but now that they're holding a lot of them at 10 or fewer episodes I think there's room for some more growth. There's a happy medium between half of the season being filler and having to write so tightly that the plot never gets a moment to breathe.

[rogueslayer452]

Exactly. It makes no sense why they're being limited episodes per season rather than allowing them to extend them as much time as they need. It makes even less sense with the wait time between seasons, having only six episodes a season with years to wait just doesn't seem worth it, let alone not enough time for the story or characters to properly develop and grow to keep the attention of the audience. Plus, while it does depend on the writer, I find that the structure of these shows tends to not follow the same formula or narrative beats we're used to with television shows because of the shortened seasons (idk if this is true across the board since every show is different and there are various ways of telling a story, but iirc one of the problems people had is that a lot of streaming shows are being done like they're movies rather than television shows). There are just so many factors that go into it. I don't know when this trend started and why it's become mandatory, but it's a flawed system that needs to be changed because this is doing nobody any favors.

It's frustrating when shows get cancelled immediately -- something that has always happened in television but it's gotten worse with streaming -- however it's definitely more frustrating when a show continues on and is good, but the shortened seasons prevent it from being great and showing its true potential.

[delphi]

I'm guessing it has something to do with the fact that streaming isn't apparently profitable the way VC wants it to be, so there's that need to always be bringing in new subscribers in a way that disincentivizes "wasting" money on longer seasons, but it still really bites.

It's not that there was any more interest in making something great when TV operated fully under the advertising-funded model, but I think it was sometimes easier for moments of greatness to happen when the opportunity was there to keep going. Sort of like the old chestnut about how you can't schedule quality time—you need a quantity of time for it to happen organically in.

[silverusagi]

I haven't finished the current season of The Last of Us, but I was surprised that it only had 7 episodes. I do hate things being so drawn out. Surely two 10 or 12 episode seasons for the second game would have worked, instead of three (I'm assuming) really short seasons.

[rogueslayer452]

I also hate things being drawn out this way too, even knowing what happens we'll have to wait some years before the story is completed in the show which is one of the biggest downsides to this particular streaming model. Shorter seasons, longer waits, less time for development, loses the momentum of the story as well as the audience's attention. It really should have been three seasons total: S1 for the first game, and S2 and S3 for the second, all of them full-length seasons rather than just less than ten episodes.

[rogueslayer452]

There's a happy medium between half of the season being filler and having to write so tightly that the plot never gets a moment to breathe.

Exactly, there needs to be a balance which, when done correctly, manages to provide some amazing storytelling and narrative structure. Characters get to have their individual arcs, subplots and little experimental moments in episodes, while also driving the plot along which elevates the story more. And unfortunately with the way the streaming model has it now, none of this can happen.

[blakmagjick]

I need to get caught up on Yellowjackets S3! I only watched the first 2 episodes.

[verdande_mi]

This is true, and I also believe it’s not a good thing to have so many different streaming sites and content being spread all over, and one can’t even feel secure a show/film will stay on a certain platform either.

[rogueslayer452]

The whole streaming wars thing is so dumb, because not everyone can get these services (either due to costs or it just not being available where they live) which is like holding these pieces of media hostage especially with no physical copies of these shows being released, and the threat of these shows being cancelled at any given moment and/or removed entirely from the platform altogether. It's just really, really bad right now for television, and media in general.