The era of streaming platforms has ushered in a new way viewers watch shows. This has prompted a lively Reddit debate over whether its best to have more episodes with a slower pace versus fewer episodes with a faster pace.
The sitcom Seinfeld came out in 1989, peaked at 24 episodes per season, and took 9 years to watch. Friends came along in 1995, peaked at 25 episodes per season, and took 10 years to watch. They were fan favorites with millions of viewers and no one seemed to mind at all. That was the formula back then, but that was so last century. These days, it’s a whole new ballgame with shows like Inventing Anna coming out on Netflix with nine episodes all released on the same day, or The Queen’s Gambit with 7 episodes all released on the same day in 2020.
Of course, the debate on Reddit isn’t about sitcoms or a drama miniseries. It falls under the Marvel Studios Community and specifically paints the picture of Daredevil versus Moon Knight, which are both Disney Plus shows.
Some viewers miss the formula of yesterday. Not every episode has to be action-packed when a show gives fans time to get to know the characters week after week and really invest their time into the show.
However, a debate means that there is more than one side and fluffier content is boring.
Sometimes, viewers want action, action, and more action. Other times, fans like to know who the characters are and why they act a certain way. It explains a lot in later episodes when the show is reaching its finale.
One very good point, especially for writers, is that a show shouldn’t be given a set goal of only so many episodes. That’s sometimes not fair when it comes down to the quality of a series.
And as expected, there is even a disagreement with that perfectly logical answer. Not all debates have only two sides, but this fan seems to think everyone has to follow the rules.
Finding the middle ground might just be the best answer. Let the directors play and find that sweet spot for themselves instead of having a cookie-cutter template on an assembly line for show creation.