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<blockquote data-quote="Daniel Avery" data-source="post: 197662" data-attributes="member: 27">I think there are several reasons why the smaller seasons are catching on.1. Less financial gambles.&nbsp; In years past, they would agree to produce 25+ episodes per year, and spend large amounts of money on a &quot;bet&quot;.&nbsp; They had to bet that the show would be successful enough to earn that money back via commercials.&nbsp; If the show bombed, that money was lost, and in certain situations (too many &quot;bad bets&quot;) the executives might end up getting fired, too.&nbsp; Even the major networks rarely commit to a full-season order these days.&nbsp; They will agree to ten or thirteen episodes, then agree to pick up the rest of the season only if the ratings are good.2.&nbsp; Concessions to the actors.&nbsp; Many actors refuse to commit to the schedule of a regular series, so the smaller-scale series like ten episodes might attract star power that a twenty-two episode series may not.&nbsp; A star of a typical hour-long series might end up working twelve-hour days, six days a week for nine months of the year.&nbsp; Also, tying into #1 somewhat: the higher salaries that stars demand might make it financially prohibitive to do more than ten or twelve episodes per season. 3. (Mentioned above) Tighter storytelling.&nbsp; Sometimes a writer prefers to get to the point!4. The overall disintegration of the traditional &quot;TV season&quot;.&nbsp; I don&#039;t think there is as much demand for the traditional longer seasons because the Fall Premiere Week of my childhood is no longer the &#039;event&#039; it once was.&nbsp; It&#039;s also led to the basic demise of &quot;pilot season&quot; as well.&nbsp; It may be a chicken/egg situation, of course, but new shows premiere almost continuously these days, and can be telecast any time the network needs to fill an empty space.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Daniel Avery, post: 197662, member: 27"] I think there are several reasons why the smaller seasons are catching on. 1. Less financial gambles. In years past, they would agree to produce 25+ episodes per year, and spend large amounts of money on a "bet". They had to bet that the show would be successful enough to earn that money back via commercials. If the show bombed, that money was lost, and in certain situations (too many "bad bets") the executives might end up getting fired, too. Even the major networks rarely commit to a full-season order these days. They will agree to ten or thirteen episodes, then agree to pick up the rest of the season only if the ratings are good. 2. Concessions to the actors. Many actors refuse to commit to the schedule of a regular series, so the smaller-scale series like ten episodes might attract star power that a twenty-two episode series may not. A star of a typical hour-long series might end up working twelve-hour days, six days a week for nine months of the year. Also, tying into #1 somewhat: the higher salaries that stars demand might make it financially prohibitive to do more than ten or twelve episodes per season. 3. (Mentioned above) Tighter storytelling. Sometimes a writer prefers to get to the point! 4. The overall disintegration of the traditional "TV season". I don't think there is as much demand for the traditional longer seasons because the Fall Premiere Week of my childhood is no longer the 'event' it once was. It's also led to the basic demise of "pilot season" as well. It may be a chicken/egg situation, of course, but new shows premiere almost continuously these days, and can be telecast any time the network needs to fill an empty space. [/QUOTE]

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