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Opinion: Small screen, big investment: TV episodes have become way too long
(www.theguardian.com)
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this post was submitted on 10 Jul 2025
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Television
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The counter to this is why not let the artists cook (hehe) unconstrained from somewhat arbitrary episode lengths. Those lengths were originally created to make a nice cookie cutter TV schedule. HBO used to actually brag about not being confined to set blocks of time and giving shows like the Sopranos the option of running long or short if they needed to.
So in the days of streaming, why does that matter?
Why add 10 minutes of filler to an episode that doesn't need it? Or cut important plot points that might not work well in different context because you're at 34 minutes already?
Why not give a show room to grow and evolve (Ted Lasso is a great example)? And The Bear certainly fits this mold.
As for Stranger Things, those are basically just three movies, not your traditional episodes.
I point to Snyder's JL cut as an example against lack of restraints for artists in general. That guy clearly had no one to reign him in and it shows.
Imo, working within restraints is what makes art/media pop. Obviously shoving everything into a single mold isn't the answer, but I don't think letting artists meander endlessly will result in anything particularly interesting.