# UK dopers, do you find American TV series to be too long? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [February 16, 2022, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-do-you-find-american-tv-series-to-be-too-long/959602 "2022-02-16T14:50:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-do-you-find-american-tv-series-to-be-too-long/959602/21 "2022-02-18T09:27:39Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I read someplace that one reason UK programmes have such short series is that often one writer is responsible for the entire series if not the entire programme. That’s rarely the case with American shows. Yes, this is true. Many series are one person’s creative vision, and I think that elevates the quality of the storylines - it’s very normal for us to know who the writer is, they are often household names and people will look out for new series by writers they like. I think UK TV series are often more like self-contained plays than long running series with no end in sight (Dr Who excepted). ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-do-you-find-american-tv-series-to-be-too-long/959602/22 "2022-02-18T10:00:22Z")
A very early example that was unique in other ways. _Some_ shows had them, sure. But not as a rule. The ones I can think of were half-hour sitcoms like _ **The Danny Thomas Show** _ (the courtship of his older daughter), _ **The Farmer’s Daughter** _ (the blossoming romance between the two leads), and _ **The Beverly Hillbillies** _ (which seemed to start a new one at least once a year). I can’t think of any hour-long dramas built exclusively around story arcs in the 1960s—70s the way _ **24** _, _ **ST: Enterprise** _, and _ **Highlander** _ were in the '90s—early 2000s, but maybe I wasn’t watching the right shows… ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-do-you-find-american-tv-series-to-be-too-long/959602/23 "2022-02-18T10:16:39Z")
One of the pluses is that actors have the chance to do other projects between seasons. A lot of time in a long-running series you can see them just going through the motions. The downside is the extended time between seasons. Two years? Really? I watched the first two seasons of Hanna on Amazon and just by accident found out there was a third. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2022, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-do-you-find-american-tv-series-to-be-too-long/959602/24 "2022-02-22T21:46:16Z")
Long-running shows like _Z-Cars_, in the 1960s, had much longer runs - sixth months thru much of the '60s, and by the 1970s it was running more or less continuously. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2022, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-do-you-find-american-tv-series-to-be-too-long/959602/25 "2022-02-22T22:53:56Z")
It blew my mind when I saw the police show _The Bill_ has 2,425 episodes. And I thought _Law & Order_ had a lot of episodes! ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-do-you-find-american-tv-series-to-be-too-long/959602/26 "2022-02-26T01:33:57Z")
I read about an episode of Doctors the other day that has a woman who thinks she being stalked by Joe Pasquale because she sees every person as having his face. (Joe Pasquale is a slightly old-fashioned comedian with a squeaky voice, and Doctors is generally a standard medical drama). Looking it up, it turns out it’s episode 81 of season 21. 😲 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-do-you-find-american-tv-series-to-be-too-long/959602/27 "2022-02-26T02:02:08Z")
Something that’s changed with the increase in filmic quality of TV is how long it takes for an episode to be made. It used to be that you could knock out an action drama like _The A-Team_ or _Wonder Woman_ in five weekdays. Now it’s more typical for it to take eight to ten days. That means a 26 episode season which used to take six months to film, is now a 22 episode season taking nine months. A thirteen episode season, which is becoming more common, means some actors can work on other projects within their year. That’s America, but it’s also true in the UK nowadays. An episode of an expensive show like _Downton Abbey_ has more in common with a contemporary American shooting schedule than a 70s UK schedule. It may be nine episodes long, but it would take five to six months to get it done. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2022, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-do-you-find-american-tv-series-to-be-too-long/959602/28 "2022-02-28T13:40:05Z")
I was going to mention _The Bill_. My wife is a big fan of that show (most of the episodes are on YouTube). Some seasons have more than 100 episodes! As I understand it, it was often broadcast year-round, and aired several episodes per week. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2022, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-do-you-find-american-tv-series-to-be-too-long/959602/29 "2022-02-28T15:03:22Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > IMHO every season of The Wire and The Sopranos and Breaking Bad was excellent. No reason to be shorter. Even those only had 13 or less episode per season. ISTM that the era of 20+ episodes per season is pretty much over, except maybe for sitcoms. All the prestige drama shows that people talk about generally have between 10-13 episodes each season. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-do-you-find-american-tv-series-to-be-too-long/959602.md?page=1)