Sitcoms and K-Dramas: The Love of Long-Lasting Entertainment
Ah yes, my favorite...3 episode seasons!
I started to be truly fed up with this trend around the release of Bridgerton Season 3. When after about two years since the previous season (not counting Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story), they released the anticipated 3rd season into…two parts. Splitting the already 8 episode season into 4 episode sections 1 month apart from each other. The same has happened with popular animated super hero show Invincible (Season 2), where the season was broken up into 2 parts about a month or so apart.
What is with these shows becoming shorter and shorter, with the wait time of years in between seasons??
American Sitcoms
There has been a resurgence of the American Sitcom format in the past couple of years due to the newly popular sitcom Abbott Elementary. A show following the underfunded works lives of the Philadelphia public school teachers. Following the popular mockumentary-comedy style of the sitcoms before them like Parks and Rec, Brooklyn 99 or The Office that was popular in the 2000s, following other ultra specific work places and very niches lifestyles of those people.
These sitcoms tend to follow the typical sitcom standard that has been around for decades. The ones that come on weekly at 8pm EST on ABC and have 22 episode seasons for their 3o minute time slots. They have Christmas and Halloween episodes, guests stars, and several different B-plots and C-plots. The formula of the sitcom has existed since the beginning of sitcom time.
I think in some sense this is being kept alive by streaming service Hulu. As its Live T.V. option is akin to the typical cable T.V. Being able to have commercials and weekly viewings of live T.V. like the old days. Therefore it promotes many cable-like T.V. shows that follow the typical 30 minute sitcom or cop/detective show for the typical streaming audience. It therefore makes it more accessible to those who choose to not have cable anymore.
Not to say that there are no sitcoms left in the world. There are still many different types of shows out there that run for 5 seasons and have about 20 episodes per season and continue on-and-on even past however long they should be running for (Cough cough Grey’s Anatomy Cough). But even many of the regular T.V. shows at the time would either be done in one coherent season or have a well thought out seasons with a competent end time. Which even brings to question, with the American Sitcom formula, why are we taking so long to make new seasons and why are seasons of shows getting shorter and shorter with time???
The Streaming Dilemma
We are all aware of the popularity of streaming services over the past decade or so. I rarely find a person nowadays that doesn’t have at least one streaming subscription or know of any Netflix or Hulu originals. Many of the older a popular Netflix originals are several episodes and span several seasons (as well as being about an hour long each). Lately however, there has been a trend, for many shows, to make a season about 8 episodes (still an hour long each) and produce a new season about every other year.
The one thing about Streaming nowadays is how unsure each T.V. show is. Most shows have maybe one season promised and about 8 episodes of, at least, decent writing. But nowadays, streaming platforms have been oversaturating the industry and its hard to any shows to gain traction. Traction to give them more funding, time, or more seasons. Meaning that these shows would mostly falter and fade out of time.
They don’t have the longevity and promise that sitcoms and cable shows used to have. It used to be that one stable season would at least have a few seasons and some funding to have those 22 episode seasons, Christmas and Halloween episodes, celebrity cameos, etc. that I mentioned earlier. Most of these streaming shows are non-sustainable. Not to mention behind paywalls and therefore inaccessible.
I do think that there is a sense of instability in the entertainment industry. Where they invest so much, only to not continue it in the long run.
Question for the Audience!
The 16 Episode Shows
If you are not familiar with Korean Dramas, most shows that come out of the country are a standard of 16 episodes and 1 hour long each. Most shows only last one season and if there is an additional season, then that too would be 16 episodes. Now of course, there are exceptions to this, especially since the inclusion of Korean Dramas within streaming services like Netflix where their originals maybe follow the 8 or 10 or 12 episode formula or even splitting up 16 episodes into 2 parts. The best examples of this are shows like Squid Games or The Glory. But many Korean Dramas still maintain, a solid 16 episode long service.
I’ve watched many K-Dramas in my time. The one thing that I truly love about them is their cohesiveness and their completion to a story. There is typically only one season. There is a conclusion to the story of the main character (or at least a semblance of one). Something that I think streaming and American Netflix shows have lost the art of.
Typically, a show is put onto Netflix. A series with maybe 8 to 10 episodes and a modest amount of money put into it. Its decent and cute and maybe over the next month or so gets a close following online. The ending of the show it pretty complete, but open, in the small chance that it gets greenlit for another season. Maybe in about half a year (or less if it grows insanely popular), the public will get news on getting another season or getting cancelled due to insufficient interested (in the public or shareholders) or funds. This cycle then continues 80 times a year, every year, for the foreseeable future.
But Korean Dramas, to me, seems as a sort of antithesis to this formula. The Netflix curse of open-ended seasons and not a promise of an additional season. Or the announcement of a season 2, just for it to be cancelled. Whereas, Korean Dramas are cohesive, close-ended shows to the point that it would make no sense to create a second season. Because there doesn’t need to be one. I feel complete when I finish my 12-16 episode season and won’t be disappointed by the news of having my recently favorite show to be cancelled or wiped off the face of every streaming service in existence.
The Gaping Hole
Earlier in the year, there was the release of Bridgerton into two parts, four episodes each, one month apart. This type of streaming release pattern that has gotten progressively more popular the past year or two. It’s somewhere in between the weekly release of a show and when the entire show is released all at the same time for the binging experience. Its little pieces of the show being given out to the audience. A way of having them finish the episodes without finishing the show.
Invincible Season 2 did this last year. Amazon Prime released the first part of the show at the end of 2023 and released the rest of the season in March of 2024. Now, Invincible was a hit show when the first season came out in 2021. It had a lot of momentum and was a great adaptation of the original material. The hype of the second season was pretty high and was one of the most anticipated shows to have come back that year.
But when the season was split into two sections, the show lost momentum in the public opinion. Although season two was said to be a good follow-up season to the first one, the public seemingly forgot the events of the first half of season two by the time the second half came around. The public consciousness of the fact that the second half of the season was returning was non-existent. Most people were talking about Invincible week to week on Twitter and on Tiktok. But the momentum died down and the hype became nothing by the time part 2 came around. Producers and showrunners have to hope that the fans watching the show are dedicated enough to want to continue watching when it comes back (on top of the years of waiting in between seasons). With sitcoms however there is no need to hope for retention. A season will come out by the next year anyway.
I think that with the globalization of Korean Dramas and streaming services the multiple season, two part seasons, and so on, might become a regular thing and an entertainment standard. I’m hoping for the stability of weekly and finished T.V. arcs. I’m hoping for shows to stay around for audiences for a long time. And I’m hoping to not have to watch shows and in the back of my mind think “This is gonna get cancelled isn’t it” or “Woah this sure ended quicker then it needed to”.
I would like for longer shows to be the standard. I want to enjoy the show and plot fully. And hopefully, there is a revitalization of these things soon.