From Stranger Things to Killing Eve: Why TV shows should only be one season long | television

Even though it aired nearly two months ago, fans are still mad about the Stranger Things finale.

The conclusion of the five-season sci-fi series was so disappointing that its cast is still forced to deny the existence of a secret final episode coming. However, I wasn’t remotely disappointed. I thought the show ended perfectly: when I stopped watching it after Season 1, Episode 8.

I’ll come out and say it, so we can start fighting right away. I think almost all modern TV shows should have been one season long.

Strange things It had a perfect eight-episode arc: A young boy disappeared into a hellish parallel dimension and his mother (who was Winona Ryder!) fought tooth and nail to bring him back. The series’ creators, the Duffer Brothers, seemed to know this, as they originally pitched the series as an anthology featuring a different cast of characters each season. Naturally, Netflix said no, you need a franchise with familiar faces if you want to sell two-for-£30 customizable Stranger Things terrariums. So in the end, the show was stretched beyond recognition and stripped of everything that made it groundbreaking and original. By all accounts, Ryder had nothing to do.

But I didn’t say Almost all Recent offers? I did, thanks. Let me tell you quickly, so that the red fog will descend upon you and distract you from everything that is important in the world. TV shows that I think should have been singles include: Industry, Killing Eve, Bad Sisters, Am I Unreasonable?, Your Friends and Neighbors and Nobody Wants This. But let me spoil my credentials up front: I’m so committed to my position that I haven’t even watched Season 2 of Fleabag.

First, you have to understand that I’m not claiming that Every show ever made There Should Only Be One Season: The Simpsons should have 12 seasons; Mad Men, Seven; Buffy, five. Pretty much, it’s only shows produced in the last decade. The problem has arisen because of our unreliable and unpredictable media system. Commissions are reduced, budgets are reduced, and risks are avoided. There is more competition than ever before, and exhibitors have no idea whether their offers will be renewed or not.

This environment encourages some creators to bring everything to the table in the first season of their show, creating something original, tight, and self-contained. Christopher C. Rogers, co-creator of the tech drama Halt and Catch Fire, admitted in 2017: “I think uncertainty fostered a no-holds-barred mentality in storytelling that got us to our best work quickly.” Conversely, “when you delay the story or try to draw it out, the audience can tell. Not knowing if there’s a metaphorical ‘tomorrow’ really saved us from that mistake.”

In the case of Halt and Catch Fire, it all worked out in the end: the series’ fourth and final season is considered its best, with a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But this cannot always be the case. Because while budgets continue to buffer, something else happens that causes diminishing returns.

“We live in an intellectual property world [intellectual property]“The safest thing to do is to reboot something that has an audience,” creator Vince Gilligan said last year. Meanwhile, fellow acclaimed writer David Simon (The Wire) complained that he “can’t make anything now” because “I’ll never write anything that’s going to be a franchise.” The media’s obsession with intellectual property means that once something is successful, it is not allowed to die. Offers should be extended to maximize profits, no matter what it is. Best for storytelling Not just a terrarium: it is It has also been adapted into a Broadway play, a series of novels, and will soon have an animated film.

In this environment, is it any wonder that individual shows that have proven successful have been renewed for a second season? It doesn’t matter that the central mystery surrounding the murder mystery has been solved – there’s money to be made! Bad Sisters creator Sharon Horgan once said of the show’s first season: “It was pitched as a limited series, and, you know, it has an ending,” and she even described its ending as a “beautiful, satisfying ending.” I couldn’t agree more, which is why I didn’t bother pressing play when the show somehow suddenly returned for a second season.

I’m not the only one who thinks less can often be more. The first series of Killing Eve ended with an episode that IMDb users rated 8.3 out of 10, but its finale – after three seasons – only received a 3.4. Meanwhile, a headline on Cracked says: “‘Nobody Wants This’ Doesn’t Need a Second Season.” Maybe I’m the only one who doesn’t want more industry – but again, I felt like I watched a satisfying and complete story in the first season. One graduate wanted a job and then got one; I was invited to think about the cost. Personally, I don’t need three more seasons of thinking about the cost, even if it’s fun to watch beautiful people be bad.

Listen, I don’t want you to have a heart attack, so maybe it’s time to confess: I haven’t seen Caliphate. From what I can tell, its four seasons have all been equally successful in their storytelling – so maybe this is the exception I can use to prove my rule (don’t ask me how. I told you I haven’t seen it). But because life is nothing without strong opinions to express across the dinner table, let me repeat: Almost all modern TV shows should have been one season long. And if you think my opinions are stupid, you’re in luck: I’ll give you just one of them. You won’t have to suffer through two.