It is very common to have a conversation with someone about television shows. It is even more common to discuss how quickly you finish a season of a show, especially with streaming options. 'I finished watching the latest season in a day and a half.' is a sentence that I'm sure most people have said. The question I have is how long are these seasons that people are watching? Is it a twenty four episode season that they are watching in one day? How long are the episodes? Because if you are watching a forty five minute long episode and if a season you are watching is twenty four episodes, damn that's a lot to take in during a short stretch of time. Don't get me wrong, I binge watch here and there, but it's three or four episodes and I am done. My brain reaches capacity for information.
And there are exceptions. I binged my way through the first three
season of 'Fear the Walking Dead' at a rapid rate. Mainly to get caught up because the
most recent season is airing. Well, right now they're on a mid-season
break (which is dumb, why does that exist?), but I am all caught up.
I am currently watching season two of 'Jessica Jones' on Netflix. It is thirteen episodes long. A season you could watch in an entire weekend if you chose to. I'm watching a two or three episodes at a time for a couple of reasons. I enjoy the show so I want to stretch out the experience as long as possible. I also want to ensure that I don't get to a boredom moment where I mentally check out on an episode and then miss something that is happening. Streaming services make it too easy to watch the next and the next and the next episode. It takes control to turn the t.v. off.
Another show that I watched is 'Arrow'. It has been a while since I watched it after I finished the second season. I like to jump around after I finish a season of something just to watch a new show and keep it fresh. The problem with 'Arrow' is that the seasons are twenty some episodes long. It is very daunting when you are starting off a season, especially when the episodes are forty five minutes long. I like to finish watching a season of whatever it is that I am watching before moving on to the next show, so I have been very hesitant in starting the next season.
A third example of a show I have watched is 'Frontier' (another Netflix original). Two seasons have been released and each season is six episodes long. That is almost too short of a season. The nice thing about such a short season is that there are no throw away episodes. No episodes that are around just to make sure that the season quota is met. Each of the six episodes is carefully laid out and builds up the next one. The problem is that you want the season to keep going. You want to find out what happens next.
Three different shows, three different season lengths. So which one is right? They're all right in their own way. The main difference between the shows is that one (Arrow) is on t.v. while the others are exclusively on a streaming service. With 'Arrow' the season is as long as it is, I'm assuming, because it is needed to fill the time slot and to earn money for the t.v. channel. That is the nice thing about the streaming shows, it can be as long or short as the creators want. The better the show, the longer the next season could be or the more seasons there can be. I think that twelve episodes per season is just the right amount. It gives time to develop both characters and story line without having to have an episode or two where you're wondering why it is even in the season. Most shows have an episode like that. You finish watching it and are left wondering why you even spent the time watching it.
