42 hellish minutes..

[RobertScorpio]

So, in the 1960s, hour long shows had 52 actual minutes of time per episode? And now its down to 42 minutes? No wonder there are no more great theme songs..just no time for them!!!!

I think the networks should just go the other way, and make the shows longer and have less commericals and charge more for them....


Rob

 

[Harvey]

The only way to have longer shows would be to either fit them into longer blocks (say, 90-minute timeslots) or use the Premium Cable method and show no commercials, but charge a subscription fee. Advertisers wouldn't pay more for commercials, they'd abandon the networks instead.

And, based solely on the original Star Trek, by the mid-1960s an hour of television was closer to 50 minutes, not 52. But I haven't seen a lot of other television of the period.

 

[OmahaStar]

So, in the 1960s, hour long shows had 52 actual minutes of time per episode? And now its down to 42 minutes? No wonder there are no more great theme songs..just no time for them!!!!

I think the networks should just go the other way, and make the shows longer and have less commericals and charge more for them....


Rob

I can't believe I'm defending them, but ... Fox has done this with a couple of their recent shows, including Fringe and Dollhouse. They are heavily promoting them, and they're shown with what they're calling "limited commercial interruption" of 60-90 seconds instead of the typical 3-5 minutes per break. That gives them a longer running time, closer to the old time 52 minutes per hour.

Granted, Joss Wheadon started complaining about it, because that means they have to write longer scripts, and that costs more money.

 

[Christopher]

I can't believe I'm defending them, but ... Fox has done this with a couple of their recent shows, including Fringe and Dollhouse. They are heavily promoting them, and they're shown with what they're calling "limited commercial interruption" of 60-90 seconds instead of the typical 3-5 minutes per break. That gives them a longer running time, closer to the old time 52 minutes per hour.

Unfortunately, that paragraph should be in the past tense. FOX experimented with that in the 2008-9 season, but they've now discontinued the practice. Both Fringe and Dollhouse are now down to 42 minutes rather than 50. The reduced-commercial format was costlier to produce because of its length and had fewer ads to make up that cost, so it proved economically unviable, particularly in the current economy.

And Harvey's right -- late-'60s "hourlong" shows were about 50 minutes long. I've been Netflixing Mission: Impossible's first season (a contemporary of Trek's first season) and its episodes are typically around 50 minutes.

 

[Caliburn24]

I find it interesting how my sense of timing and pacing is off when I watch an older show on DVD, or something that goes bit longer like a Dr. Who special. I'm so used to the 42ish minute format that anything longer seems oddly constructed.

 

[Warp Coil]

Not only has the number of commercials in a given hour increased, but the number of commercial breaks has also increased. You may have noticed that shows cut away to commercials more frequently than they used to. I can't speak for all networks, but I know that the cable company I work for has changed their clock formats. Over the last five years, their networks have transitioned from 4 commercials breaks and 45 minutes of content per hour to 5 commercials breaks and 43:30 of content per hour. And that doesn't even include the time-compressed versions of shows that are even shorter.

 

[TGTheodore]

Granted, Joss Wheadon started complaining about it, because that means they have to write longer scripts, and that costs more money.

Script length depends more on the amount of dialogue, the amount of action, and the pacing at which dialogue is delivered.

Two scripts for the same show can vary as much as ten pages in length.

The "average" length of a script for Moonlighting was about 90 pages for an hour instead of the 50-55 pages for regular "hour" shows ... mostly because the banter between David and Maddie was so fast, and the amount of description was much more detailed.

I'm betting a show like Castle has generally longer scripts as well.

--Ted

 

[Cuhl]

What also annoys me is when you see the very same commercials at every break in a given show.

And when you've just sat through a commercial for "The Whatever Show" for the umpeenth time, but the second that the show you're watching resumes, there's an animated pop-up ad for it at the bottom of the screen.

 

[Supreme Admiral]

In a old-school television, we used to have about five commercials limit, even less commercials. But this is far as I can remember when I was young.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I think the networks should just go the other way, and make the shows longer and have less commericals and charge more for them....

They do, it's called Showtime and HBO. And the former has finally gotten me to part with my money - can't stand having to wait for Dexter. As for the latter, I can wait for Big Love, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Entourage, so it's still DVD for me.

Advertisers wouldn't pay more for commercials, they'd abandon the networks instead.

Oh is that what you meant? Advertisers would just go to the other network down the street and buy ad time there if they thought one network was too pricey. Why should the networks cooperate to set rates if they can undercut each other instead? Anyway that's probably illegal for them to do that! I should hope it is. Antitrust laws and whatnot.

 

[Starkers]

I liked what JJ Abrahms did with Alias. Some episodes would use the full title sequence others wouldn't, I'm presuming it depended on how much story he needed to get in from one week to the next.

One think I disliked about enterprise was that they seemed to be struggling to fill 42 minutes, which is sad given that TOs used to fill 50 minutes with no problem.

I guess my worry is that its a slipperly slope, how long before its 37 minutes, 30 minutes etc...I think I'd hate to be watching TV in the states (although some British broadcasters do it from time to time) where they have an ad break after the title sequence, then have an ad break before the end titles...maddness.

 

[cultcross]

What also annoys me is when you see the very same commercials at every break in a given show.

Yes, that's incredibly annoying. Especially when the same ad appears more than once in the same commercial break, particualry when that ad is an irritating one (which it invariably is). Here, as soon as I hear the words "Accidents devastate lives...", I change channel till the break is over. Advertisers take note - adding the National Accident Helpline ad into your show loses you a viewer for the rest of your ads

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I liked what JJ Abrahms did with Alias. Some episodes would use the full title sequence others wouldn't, I'm presuming it depended on how much story he needed to get in from one week to the next.

One think I disliked about enterprise was that they seemed to be struggling to fill 42 minutes, which is sad given that TOs used to fill 50 minutes with no problem.

I guess my worry is that its a slipperly slope, how long before its 37 minutes, 30 minutes etc...I think I'd hate to be watching TV in the states (although some British broadcasters do it from time to time) where they have an ad break after the title sequence, then have an ad break before the end titles...maddness.

ABC1 used to have the US style, it was so annoying. Our channels have to padd out ad breaks with self promotions because of the amount of ads in American shows too. Although OFCOM recently loosened up the rules on advertising so I think 15 minutes of ads are allowed, but that still means up to another 5 minutes of self promotion in some US shows.

 

[DevilEyes]

Every episode of Oz lasted at least 60 minutes. But of course, it was on HBO.

 

[Marc]

It does raise the question - would some shows be improved or hurt if they say had a 50 - 52minute run time instead of the 42minute?

Ron Moore had a number of epsidoes of BSG which they had to cut because to fit the timeslot and he felt that it the episodes.

There's also been questions asked about ads during programs on Australian TV at the moment. The stations are using loop holes to slip in extra promos and ads (and they are pushing to have the rules changes that would allow even more). Fortunately it's just making programs run over time rather than programs being cut but that makes it hard for people to record shows or change channels to watch the start of the next program.

 

[Lookingglassman]

I thought this was about a new movie.

 

[Guy Gardener]

i used to tape shows with a vcr. the pause button and I were intimate.

Voyager 44 minutes, less credits and ads.
Enterprise 39 minutes less credits and ads.

I like it how Lost was a 2 second opening credit.

 

[D Man]

Ron Moore had a number of epsidoes of BSG which they had to cut because to fit the timeslot and he felt that it the episodes.

This hurt the show, especially in the 3rd season. I'm still not clear on why he and his writing staff/editors couldn't structure their episodes with the crucial material intact to fit the available slot they had. Instead, they cut important scenes, only to toss them into the "Previously on BSG" a few weeks down the road...it was always a "Wait, when did THAT happen?" thing for me. You can blame the 42 minute slot, but in this case I think it's the writers' and editors' fault. Sure, if they had a 50 minute block to fill it'd be fine, but then what if they started putting out 55 minute shows and complaining about their lack of time?

 

[Nardpuncher]

I don't mind losing theme songs.
The "Previously on _____" is the new thing that wastes time at the start!

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Every episode of Oz lasted at least 60 minutes. But of course, it was on HBO.

And every episode was over much too soon.