Hi, I was wondering how many episodes are usually allowed in a TV series per season? Dont know if this makes any difference or not, but I'm referring to cable TV shows like The Sopranos, L Word, Entourage, The Wire, etc.
Reason I ask is because I'm writing a cable-appropriate TV show myself and I don't know anything about this. I did a little research and found that each season of The Sopranos has 13 episodes, each season of Big Love has 12 episodes; however, Entourage is all mixed up, Season 1 has 8 of them, Season 2 has like 14, and Season 3 has 20.
I'm assuming there is no limit to the # of episodes in a season? If I'm wrong, then what would the minimum/maximum be?
2007-10-19 03:11:17 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Entertainment & Music ➔ Television ➔ Drama
The standard initial order is 13 and the usual 'full season' order is 22. Either number may change as ratings are assessed. There are situations where a lower number may be contracted (such as the case with the return of Jericho at 7) so that ratings can determine whether a full season is worth it for the advertisers. Shows like the Sopranos are not mainstream network shows so those studios (HBO etc.) are freer to play with episode counts.
2007-10-19 03:56:58 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It varies from community to community. maximum shows purely run for about 6 months out of the 300 and sixty 5 days. some have a mid season destroy so as that would decrease down situations. often this is approximately 24 episodes on a substantial community (NBC, CBS and so on). regardless of the actuality that that variety has gotten smaller in recent times to approximately 20. If the practice is on HBO to illustrate it is going to easily be approximately 12-15 episodes. particularly situations while a convention isn't score besides they'll purely order 0.5 as a lot. the 1st season of Seinfeld the community wasn't useful might paintings so as that they only ordered 5 episodes. It rather relies upon on countless issues. wish this has cleared issues up. Or a minimum of not made it greater complicated.
2016-11-08 22:17:20 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is no set number. It's whatever the buyer contracts for. 26 used to be the standard but that has shrunk to 13 for many shows. But that doesn't mean you'll see that many. Really bad shows are canceled after only a few episodes have aired. The rest of the number called for are never made.
2007-10-19 03:19:28 · answer #3 · answered by curtisports2 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
it seems at first they start off slow, no use in writing a full season if no one likes it and it ends up getting cancelled in the middle of the season or never renewed for another year.
Most TV shows I've seen have been somewhere between 20-24
2007-10-19 03:19:46 · answer #4 · answered by Courtney 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
from what I've seen, comedies usually get 22/23. Those are current shows, though. When a show is new, the networks don't want to risk too much of their stock, so they only allow about half of that. (I looked a a few listings of shows I watch on wikipedia, They tell you the # of episodes for every season for any show.)
2007-10-19 03:21:21 · answer #5 · answered by Smurfette 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋