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flatlanded t1_iy8qn3b wrote

Reply to comment by blatantninja in TIL During the 20th century TV series that reached 100 episodes were generally preferred for syndication, since that meant stations could run 20 weeks of programming without repeating a story. In recent years that number has fallen to 88 episodes. by UndyingCorn

IMO its good that its changed (somewhat). Less episodes means higher production value per episode. We wouldn't get something like the Mandalorian or Wandavision from the thinking of 90s TV execs. Also go back and watch a series like the X-files, which was slavishly devoted to the 26 episode format. There's tons of episodes that are literally filler crap, "monster of the week" stuff.

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minneapple79 t1_iy94fm3 wrote

Some of the X-Files best episodes were monster of the week. Same with Buffy.

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onometre t1_iy9bz22 wrote

The monster of the week episodes are the highlight of the show. The lore episodes are pretty shit once it became obvious they had no overarching plan after like season 2

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flatlanded t1_iy9h58h wrote

Agreed that some of the monster of the week episodes are timeless, and most of the plot episodes were sorta ruined by the later stuff. IIRC Chris Carter had wrote an ending similar to the movie around season 5, but Fox wanted to keep making the show. AFAIK Chris Carter and David Duchovny ultimately left the show around that time because they didnt want to deal with the grueling production of 26 episodes a season.

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IdlyCurious t1_iydwsx0 wrote

> The lore episodes are pretty shit once it became obvious they had no overarching plan after like season 2

Sadly true. Occasionally I get my hopes up for a show, but very rarely does it actually pan out in such a way that all the characters' previous actions make any sort sense. I quit X-Files well before it ended. I did actually go to the movie, though - I actually thought it might answer some questions for once. It was a real disappointment.

And there are too often too many episodes with "shocking" twists or events that are never followed through on, don't have appropriate follow up, don't make sense with prior events, etc.

I really do sometimes these days favor "episodic" tv where there is no over-reaching story they are trying to tie to together, no finish-line. Sure, characters can grow and change over time, but at least you can follow what's going on if you miss and episode, and you don't have to tear your hair out every season finale because because the "big event" just invalidated or ignored half the prior season.

Also, episodic shows are much easier for casual rewatching, when you don't want to rewatch an entire season. Though, of course, some people don't like to rewatch shows and there's some business reasons to avoid that, too.

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