2025/10/17
How I wish for the times of the past when a TV show went of the air in April or May, you knew it was going to be back in September of October of that same year. No more than 4 or 5 month gap. Besides the fact that you as a fan did not need to wait too long, you also knew you were going to see at least 13 episodes that season, or in most cases 22 episodes, or even more. Yes, it meant that not every episode was of the same quality, there were some ‘filler’ episodes but you didn’t mind that because there were plenty of episodes where the producers and the writers produced strong episodes with interesting character development and such. Because of this you accepted the ‘filler’ episode here and there.
In this day and age, with streaming services, this has become a whole different ballgame. Streaming services have never succeeded to bring back a new season within a year, at least not within 4-5 months, if you are lucky enough, you’ll get a new season 12 months after the previous season ended and this is when you are really lucky. Most times this takes much longer from 14 to 16 months, to two or three years even! A few examples, “Peacemaker Season One” streamed in January 2022, while season two started streaming in August 2025! Same for “Severance”, first season streamed in 2022, season two also streamed in 2025.
These long gaps between seasons is one thing, the other thing that annoys the hell out of me is that these seasons usually are no longer than 8 episodes! Sometimes 10 episodes and if you are really lucky 13, but most of the time it is 8 episodes. Because of this new type of season you always have story-arcs, heavy story-arcs, not like you know from Babylon 5 or Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, but season long arcs without any breathing room. And yes, when the season is done, you can wait at least 14-16 months for a new season.
Even the TV shows that air on the different networks like ABC, CBS and such, have changed the length of a season. Not for every TV show but there are only a number of TV shows nowadays which really get 22 or 24 episodes, usually they get 16-18 episodes. Yes, there certain reasons for it, the Writers strikes a few years back, that pesky thing we got in 2020, but still, it really has changed, although for “Tracker” which starts its 3rd season in October 2025, will have 22 episodes! So perhaps there is hope yet, for Network shows anyway.
Currently there are many shows which have been renewed for a second (or more) season before 2025, but at this point it is still not clear when these TV shows are actually be released for streaming and we’re almost at the end of 2025, a mere two months before it is 2026. “For All Mankind”, Deadline reported on April 17th, it was renewed for season five, today, we still don’t know anything about when it will arrive 18 months later! On the same day Deadline also reported this about “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters”. Nothing yet. “Ahsoka”, aired in August 2023, 26 months a go, according to this YouTuber it is expected that we will have to wait a full year before we can see season two! Filming is wrapped this month, October 2025, post production has begun. One year ago, October 2nd, Deadline reported that “Sugar” was renewed for season two, till now, no word when the new season will drop. “Dark Matter”, on Apple+, Deadline reported on August 16th, that this was renewed for season two, well, again, no news 14 months later. “From”, renewed for season 4 late 2024, new season will drop early 2026, hopefully. Silo currently is the only show which could be dropped within a year after its renewal on December 16th ,2024. Non Sci-fi "Tulsa King" just managed to do it with a year with season 3. “3 Body Problem”, the first season dropped on Netflix in 2024, season two will not drop before 2027!
Other examples in the past include “Stranger Things”, which started in 2016 and only runs for five seasons but the last season still has to be dropped for streaming! “Wednesday”, first season dropped in 2022, only this year we got to see season two. “The Orville”, season 3 dropped in 2022, today still no official news about a 4th season. And yes, we already talked about shows like “Peacemaker” and “Severance”, streaming services simply are unable to bring a show back within a year. The reasons are unknown, the budget may a possible reason, these shows cost so much nowadays, it is just unbelievable, and only for a handful of episodes per season, no, it is just absurd how long it takes between seasons.
Final Word:
I really am annoyed by this, especially because in the past it somehow was doable and with shows like “Tracker” it apparently still is possible, but for some reason streaming services are not only unable to do this, to come back with a new season, it takes them 3 to 4 times as long to come back, and then only with only half the number of episodes or even less than that. I don’t expect that this will ever change, every 12 months is the best we can hope for at this point but that is also almost an utopia!
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