It almost seems to be the norm at this point with all the major shows.

GoT
Westworld
Stranger Things
Better Call Saul
Silicon Valley

Any particular reason for this?

I mean with something like GoT (and even Westworld), I understand it. But for Silicon Valley? There is not much CGI, real locations, etc that would necessitate that.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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It almost seems to be the norm at this point with all the major shows.

GoT
Westworld
Stranger Things
Better Call Saul
Silicon Valley

Any particular reason for this?

I mean with something like GoT (and even Westworld), I understand it. But for Silicon Valley? There is not much CGI, real locations, etc that would necessitate that.

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i wonder how much of it is the pressure to make every episode count. they're usually only 10-12 episodes versus say a sitcom like Friends that 20+ episodes in a season. you almost expect clunkers in long seasons.

I know for a lot of shows, it's because the showrunner/creator wanted to do something else before coming back. And with TV being so big these days, networks are allowing their top talent to take a break because its likely better in the long term.

The production budget on some shows these days rival motion pictures. It may be better for some of the studios making them to spread these expenses out.

Also, many of these shows have actors who do movies during these hiatuses. They may be less willing to take these projects if the time commitment prevents them from other acting jobs.

This has always been the cable model as it helps normalize programming throughout the year in order to avoid subscription churn and drive higher sub fees with cable companies. It probably seems like it's more than norm now just because there are more "cable" vs broadcast shows with the rise of streaming providers.

Plus these shows are just unbelievably expensive. CGI & locations are one thing but talent and general production costs have skyrocketed primarily due to Netflix's spending spree (which HBO & Amazon are keeping pace with).

I just started watching the X Files from the beginning, and now it seems so strange/crazy that they were doing 20+ shows a season.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

---

It almost seems to be the norm at this point with all the major shows.

GoT
Westworld
Stranger Things
Better Call Saul
Silicon Valley

Any particular reason for this?

I mean with something like GoT (and even Westworld), I understand it. But for Silicon Valley? There is not much CGI, real locations, etc that would necessitate that.

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It's obviously due to multiple factors, but if I had to distill it down to two, I'd say "quality" and "availability."

In terms of quality, as has already been touched upon, it's really, really, really hard to produce 10 episodes a year at the level that even, say, Better Call Saul does, a show with zero special effects. So multiply that times a hundred when you're talking about the scale of GoT or Westworld. Even the most prolific movie directors can only average about one movie every other year. Now, try doing a TEN-HOUR movie EVERY year. And yes, in most cases, not all of the episodes are directed by the same person, but they ARE showrun by the same person, a task that is just as draining and time-consuming, if not more so. To that end, I would add "burnout" as a subcategory for all the reasons I've listen above. Sometimes these guys just need a break to recharge the batteries and/or come up with the next season's storyline.

As for availability, all of these writers/directors/actors are trying to have careers in addition to the whatever shows they're currently working on. To wrangle the cast of Westworld back together is a herculean effort in and of itself, and I'm sure one of the reasons they've switched gears so heavily in season three. But even the smallest of that bunch - Silicon Valley - has an emerging movie star in Kumail Nanjiani, who's crazy busy with everything he's doing outside of that show. Also, I'm pretty sure Mike Judge just signed like a four-show deal with HBO, I think, and then Alec Berg, one of the other showrunners, ALSO showruns Barry. And I'm sure he and HBO probably felt that it was more important to ride Barry's season one success and get a second season out ASAP (which came out in less than a year after season two) than to get a sixth season of Silicon Valley out the door; a show that, as much as I love it, is admittedly getting somewhat stale. But even this also goes back to "burnout" as some of the people just want and need to be creative on something else before returning to their "day job," or else the quality of that day job is going to suffer, and then we all lose.

Yeah, I hear you on all of that.

I guess it seems like most shows are seeing that it's becoming more widely accepted to do this, and thus are following suit instead of rushing to put a new season out each year.

Which, I am not really against if it means high quality TV.

It makes it easier to wait 2 years when you have great shows to watch each year.

For example, as much as I love BCS and Westworld, I'm pretty happy just with GoT, Barry, Stranger Things, and Ozark later this year.

Edit: Oh, and Dark S2 drops in a month. Hell yes. Been waiting on that.

The shows taking a year off are annoying but honestly I don't always notice.

I have gotten to were I very rarely watch live TV and even then it is rare if I watch it the week that it airs. I watch a lot of streaming shows or DVR some at my parents that I watch every few weeks. I honestly would rather watch complete seasons so waiting a year between seasons to be put online used to be common.