TV seasons are vanishing: Streaming services seem to be sabotaging themselves with fewer seasons and episodes

Vanity Fair

If Friends and The Office premiered in the streaming era, some of their biggest storylines might never have come to fruition. For instance, it took 97 episodes for Chandler and Monica to hook up on Friends. Jim and Pam didn't kiss until The Office's Episode 28. Yet very few streaming shows make it past 50 episodes. "There’s more TV than ever—more than 500 scripted series—but much of it feels slight and disposable," says Maureen Ryan. "That problem has many causes, but abbreviated runs are a major culprit. It’s not that powerful, algorithm-driven companies don’t fear subscribers bolting, but their approach to holding on to customers turns the traditional TV model on its head. Industry insiders tell me that, following a path pioneered by streaming giants, more and more media companies are viewing cancellations as opportunities. If a given show gets whacked, and that firm’s data tells them a similar (cheaper) show is likely to appeal to the fans of the axed program—and that other show might lure new subscribers too—in their view, everybody wins. Constant churn is not a bug, it’s a feature. Cool story, robots. But this flesh-and-blood human does not accept the new normal; I refuse to say it’s fine that many, if not most, TV programs debuting now will die long before they hit their 50th episode."