The problem with Netflix decreasing TV show seasons while having longer wait times through Stranger Things.
BY: CARRINGTON C. DAVIS
Staff Writer
“Stranger Things” is a show that has recently aired the first part of its fifth season following its three year hiatus. With that, a growing problem has begun to rear its ugly head. This show is too short to have been going for so long. With the rising trend of TV shows releasing a total of eight to 10 episodes max, then taking a pause and leaving its fans waiting for years, I feel “Stranger Things” may have played a vital part in this.
“The pregnant pauses between seasons have overreached. Instead of increasing anticipation, they’ve lessened it, arguably breeding indifference among its once-loyal fandom,” said Emma Flint in a statement taken from the opinion piece “‘Stranger Things’ Is Proof the TV Release Model Has Changed— for the Worse.”
“Stranger Things” first premiered on July 15, 2016. Since then it has stretched through four presidencies for a total of nine years and has only released, counting season five, 42 episodes. Comparing this to another show, “Lucifer,” which was released during the same year and has a total of 93 episodes, six seasons, and ended back in 2021. While these shows may be different in story, they both come from the same studio: Netflix. I feel that plays into another problem: letting creators and/or studios stretch their shows thin.
“I get fatigued watching 20-episode seasons,” producer Matt Duffer said. “We didn’t grow up interested in any of that. We only watched movies. That’s the weird thing that we ended up in TV, because we had almost zero interest in television. If TV shows come out every year, it’s diminishing return,” Duffer said.
“I like the buildup.”
The “build up” that these shows create has, in my opinion, allowed companies to shorten their TV shows and instead have a couple episodes be movie-length to the detriment of their shows. I think Netflix does this the most with “Stranger Things” given that it’s one of its top three biggest shows. The others being “Squid Games” and “Wednesday,” both shows that average a six to nine episode count for each season. Having short episodes like this takes away the charm in sitting back and enjoying a show. A prime example being the Korean show “All of Us Are Dead,” which has been on hiatus for season two since 2022.
A TV show isn’t supposed to be a movie and a season shouldn’t take years to make. It’s not supposed to average one to two hours long each episode. When it does, I feel like that can lead to letting good moments slip so that the main plot stays on track. We live in this age where everything has to come immediately to us. Why can’t we just enjoy the moments? Why can’t episodes be 20-30 minutes with an average of 20 episodes? Have we strayed too far?
