There is no fixed rule on the length of television fiction, but viewers have less and less patience to endure several seasons
A few days ago ‘The Walking Dead’ said goodbye without making too much noise after 12 years of broadcast. The series, which was a phenomenon at the time, had lost steam as the seasons progressed. Nobody understood that episodes of a production that showed clear signs of exhaustion were still being recorded. Everyone agrees that zombie fiction is long overdue, though it’s hard to tell when. How many seasons should a series have? Is there a recommended duration?
The thing about ‘The Walking Dead’, with eleven seasons, is an exception in the current panorama, in which miniseries or at least shorter series than before are opted for. Few examples survive this rule. ‘The Crown’ is one of them. It accumulates five batches of episodes and continues to get good audiences and media attention. Although it is also true that the last one has been the one that has provoked the most criticism and there are already those who show a certain wear and tear.
«I think that what determines the duration of the series today is consumption, which has changed. Before, they opted for long-running series that would ensure months of good audience for the chains. Now, the platforms often upload all the episodes on the same day, with which the impact over time is much less. Products age sooner and that leaves a deep mark on how the industry works.” Jacobo Delgado explains it, screenwriter since 2002 of ‘Tell me how it happened’, one of the longest running works on our television. And an exception also in the Spanish industry in which the usual thing lately is to shoot a maximum of three seasons. ‘Elite’ escapes that rule, it’s true. It has been six and is already preparing the seventh. And ‘La que se avecina’, which has just premiered on 13. But they are seen as rarities.
«There are more series than ever, yes, but the projects are shorter and employ fewer people, especially in the script room. Before, large teams were needed, where young people without experience who were tanning had a place. This is how many of my generation entered the industry. Today you can write a series of 6 chapters by yourself or with a partner, and the access of young people to the profession becomes more complicated. It is paradoxical. The platforms have caused a series boom, with scriptwriters with executive functions, something unthinkable not long ago, and yet the work has become precarious. Selling a series that works ensures you work for a year. The next you have to sell a different one, “adds Delgado.
stay in the middle of the story
On what should the duration of a series be based, on the plot itself or on the success? “It depends,” replies the screenwriter Javier Olivares. «If it is a historical series and you stay in the middle of the story or the life of the main character, it is a ‘total fail’ for everyone. But, in reality, it always depends on that which is as difficult to define as the word success is, something difficult even to measure. If we except the good year of the English -excellent- and of the European public, lately there has been a drop in quality in the medium level of the series on platforms (with some honorable exceptions). And they tell us that millions of people see them and are renewed. But I don’t hear anyone talk about them. Use and throw away, go », he explains.
Delgado and Olivares refer to the cases in which they have been implicated. «In ‘Cuéntame’, which is a mixture of a historical series and a family saga, we have spent 20 years telling how we were in our most recent past, and we could continue telling ourselves many more years. All the endings that we have been considering throughout this time, from the death of Franco to the glorious 92, passing through the 23F, have ended up being mere flying goals. We have all overcome them and the history of the Alcántara has continued to advance hand in hand with the History of Spain, ”says the first. «Another series in which I write, ‘Hit’, is a paradigmatic example of renewal of characters and conflicts. Each season only repeats the protagonist, the rest of the characters are new. We just finished filming the third season, but the series could continue for a few more”, he adds.
«I think that the ideal measure of a typical series is two or three seasons at most. There are exceptions, of course. ‘Doctor Who’ or ‘The Ministry of Time’ are allowed to change even the protagonists and their concept can be extended to more. But even they must be careful not to stretch the gum or they lose their spirit, “says Olivares.
It is rare in the current scenario that a creator is given a free hand to decide how many seasons to divide his story. Vince Gilligan achieved the impossible with ‘Better Call Saul’, as he requested to have six seasons left to chart Jimmy McGill’s journey and AMC granted it. It had the endorsement of ‘Breaking Bad’ behind it. It is not usual. «I do series from season to season. You are learning and you end up limiting yourself to that, ”justifies Olivares. «Series are living organisms, which mutate as they progress. As you write, you realize which character or situation works best, which is the strength of the series to strengthen or which are the weak points to improve”, Delgado agrees.
Knowing that the end can come when you least expect it is recommended so that the story does not remain unfinished. It is not the first time it happens. ‘Westworld’ has just been canceled after four seasons without it being clear how it will be resolved. Netflix has also recently announced that it will not continue its fantasy fiction ‘Destiny. The Winx saga’ after two years and without a closed outcome. Examples remain in the memory such as ‘Hannibal’ or ‘The OA’ that closed on hold. Héctor Espadas has just published the book ‘The night of the living serials’, in which he groups together more than 700 series that did not survive their first season. “We love ‘cliffhangers’ but only if more chapters are going to be made,” says the author -with all the sense- in the prologue.
“Television is a business and the products last as long as they continue to work,” concludes Delgado.
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