The number of episodes in old network TV seasons surprised me

I was looking up a show from the 90s called The Pretender last week and found out each season had around 22 episodes. That is almost double what most streaming shows put out now. I remember sitting through all those filler episodes back then but never realized how many there actually were. Has anyone else checked the episode counts on older shows and been shocked by the difference?

2 comments

2 Comments

jasons638d ago

Did your friend ever have one of those moments where they just couldn't handle the filler anymore? My buddy Mark used to record X-Files on VHS (remember those clunky tapes) and he'd fast-forward through the "monster of the week" episodes to get to the alien conspiracy ones. He got so frustrated one season he actually made a spreadsheet tracking which episodes were worth watching and skipped like 8 filler episodes entirely.

felixw688d ago

It really is wild when you line them up side by side. 22 episodes a season felt like a normal thing, but now 8 to 10 is the standard. I remember watching Law & Order reruns and thinking how the stories just kept going week after week without a break. Those filler episodes were actually part of the rhythm back then. The whole setup feels totally different now.