Wednesday Co-creator and writer Alfred Gough explains why eight episode seasons are ideal for a TV series. Gough’s insight comes at a time when there is significant discourse about how many episodes should be in a standard season of television, as streaming has seen the number rapidly decrease. Netflix is ​​highly anticipated Wednesday Season 2 will have eight episodes, which is the same number of episodes that season 1 had, along with what many other Netflix original series currently have.
When asked by Collider like Wednesday Season 2 came to have eight episodes or if Netflix ever asked for more, Gough emphasized that the new season will always be eight episodes. He explains how his television writing experience, ranging from Smallville to Wednesdayled him to believe that eight-episode seasons work better now than seasons with 10, 13 or 22 episodes. Gough especially focused on how the current number allows the story to flow better. Check out his comments below:
It’s interesting, eight was a kind of number. Believe me, look, we worked on 22 episodes, we did 10 episodes, we did all the iterations of it. Basic cable took us from 22 episodes to, like, 13 episodes, right? Then you thought, “Okay, you can tell the story,” and you have some what I call “wheel-spinners.” I think in a 13-episode season, there were three wheel-spinners. Then they went to a 10-episode season, and we did that, too. I remember thinking, “Oh, there’s always two episodes that feel like they can’t move the story along as much as you want them to.”
Strangely, we found with In the Badlands That eight was the perfect amount. You could tell the story, you had enough runway, it didn’t feel rushed, and you could come to a satisfying end in eight. It felt that the crowd was not being asked to join in for a couple of wheel spinners. Again, television is different now. These things, as you know, are chapters of a book. Every season is a book, whereas on network television, when we are doing Smallville, Smallville was short stories in the world. Then you had a couple every season that gave you a mythology. It gave it an arc, but it was a different beast.
What this means for Wednesday and other TV series
Episode counts won’t be increasing anytime soon
Wednesday Season 1 is the most watched season of any English-language original Netflix series. If even Wednesday Cannot have more than eight episodes per season It is highly unlikely that any Netflix seasons in the near future will exceed this episode count. of Daredevil to Grace & FrankieNetflix’s previous original series consistently had 13 episodes, which provided enough time to tell a complete story, while not having as much narrative breathing room as the previously standard 22 episodes in a season of network or cable TV.
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From the 12 episodes in a season of Disney+ Star Wars: Andor to 10 episodes in seasons 2 and 3 of Hulu’s The bear, Some of the other streamers have more episodesBut these examples are still a far cry from when 22 episodes were the expectation. With studio executives looking for ways to cut growing costs, the number of episodes won’t be increasing significantly anytime soon on any of the streaming services. Some scripted streaming series now have even fewer than eight episodes.
There’s a good reason why shows with longer seasons are still beloved
While eight episodes successfully fit Wednesday Season 1’s story and seemingly fit the creative vision for season 2, but that’s not the case for all shows. Many series need more episodes per season to better flesh out various characters and storylines. Lost, The office, SupernaturalAnd other titles stay popular long after they end because there are so many episodes To rewatch, discuss, and enjoy, with many of the so-called “filler” Episodes within the season become a significant part of the show’s legacy. Eight episodes could work for WednesdayBut it doesn’t work for all shows.
Source: Collider