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TV TATTLE

With so many shows offering shorter seasons, aren't all TV series "limited" now?

  • "These days, most viewers couldn’t  tell you the difference between a regular series and a 'limited' series," says Michael Schneider. "Both kinds of programs mostly average between six and 10 episodes. And both roll out virtually the same way: For linear TV, it’s generally on a weekly basis; on streaming, they all drop at once. And they’re all mostly promoted in the same manner." Schneider adds: "Anthologies have further blurred the lines, as most fans view different seasons of shows like American Horror Story, The Sinner and Fargo as being part of the same distinct series, year after year, even if the storylines and characters change. And of course, there are those limited series like Downton Abbey and Big Little Lies that then turn into regular series, further confusing categorization. Merging limited series with series might make room for new categories we’d like to see the Emmys include, such as one that tackles the issue of drama-comedy hybrids, or another that separates the different styles of variety/talk shows."

    TOPICS: Emmys