What do you miss the most about 20+ episode seasons?

[Agony_Boothb]

Deep space nine was the only series to use its 26 episodes per season effectively. But even then i miss very little about larger seasons. TNG and VOY had mostly terrible filler episodes and i skip large quantities of each season whenever I rewatch those two.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I've watched the first two seasons of Discovery and Picard. They were dour. I haven't seen Lower Decks or the third season of Discovery. Lower Decks is supposed to be light-hearted. I guess I'll find out.

Lower Decks is like an entire season of filler episodes, which is no bad thing to me. It's funny in a Futurama kinda way, but with Star Trek lore backing it up.

I miss a lot of the filler episodes they used to give us in 24 or 26 episode seasons, but tighter action packed seasons can be a good thing too if written well. Orphan Black, with 5 ten episode seasons, is a great example of this.

 

[The Wormhole]

What do I miss about 26 episode seasons? Nothing.

Like, what's the point of having Nhan or Linus if we learn nothing about Balzar and Saurian cultures?

Linus isn't part of the main cast, so even if the show did have 26 episode seasons there's no guarantee we'd learn much about him or his culture. Likewise, Nhan was only just promoted to main cast this season, so no reason we should expect to learn anything about her or her culture.

And even then, there are plenty of neglected characters in the main casts of TNG, Voyager and especially Enterprise.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

I still feel 10 episode seasons are too short. My thread about # of episodes in a season is over here.

But the way I feel about it after alot of deliberate thought:

For main line series, I would prefer 17 episodes per season at 60 mins for actual core content
Episodes should only start with Episode #, the Episode title should be saved for last scenes.

At least another 10 mins will be allocated to:
Previously Bit + Teaser + Op + Ed(Ep # & Title) + Epilogue + Next Ep PV

First & Last eps of each season can be 2 Hr specials.

You can cycle 3 different large live action mainline series in various states of production with my 17 episode production schedule

If you have to "Broadcast" the show on TV, it would fit under the 1½ hr time slot.

I would also prefer to also have 18x ~10min each "Short Treks" placed between episodes to shed light on other stories that aren't as pressing as primary story lines or give more to world building type stories.

I prefer "Episode #" at the Start of the content &"Episode # + Title" at the end of the content to avoid spoiling the viewers.

Sometimes, Episode Title Names gives away too much about the story.

The nice part about 17 episode Production schedule is that you can air them in sequence back to back with no break.

Then start a different series of the franchise with 17 episodes to follow for 3x different series airing in one year to cover 51 out of the 52 weeks in a year.

 

[arch101]

I miss knowing that it would be almost summer and light outdoors again by the time the season ended (sorry- I get that winter depression thingy)

 

[tomalak301]

One of the things I absolutely loved about the episode that just aired (Forget me Not) was the time they had to slow down and really do a deep dive on the crew. We got character stories that finally made these people feel like people, with hardships, struggles, and imperfections. As mean and nasty as Detmer's insults to Stamets were, I think it was the first time we really got to see Kayla Detmer, and start to understand what she is going through. No longer does this show feel like Burnham all the time. It feels like they are trying to develop this crew as organically as they can.

That's what I miss about the 20 episode seasons. Everything feels rushed and I feel like Star Trek can slow down and breathe. They get to develop these characters and we get to love them and connect with and to them. That's what makes TNG and DS9 timeless to me. It's the characters and all the foibles that come with it.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

That's what I miss about the 20 episode seasons. Everything feels rushed and I feel like Star Trek can slow down and breathe. They get to develop these characters and we get to love them and connect with and to them. That's what makes TNG and DS9 timeless to me. It's the characters and all the foibles that come with it.

I miss those character specific episodes in a ensemble cast.
I'm not a fan of one character getting that much attention from the writers, when it's a ensemble cast, it's better to spread the love around from the writing staff.

I remember LOST where alot of characters got different storylines and it was nice to see a wide variety of characters and everything that led them to the Island and motivated their decisions.

 

[fireproof78]

I love Detmer from Season 1 more than the majority of TNG characters.

 

[Paul755]

I miss that you don’t get to explore the characters and the world building. Sure some of the “filler episodes” were clunkers but they still served a purpose.

not to mention, everything in the shortened seasons feel too cramped plot wise. Like they are trying to do too much.

I think they could easily bump each season up to 20 episodes and be fine.

 

[tomalak301]

I love Detmer from Season 1 more than the majority of TNG characters.

Detmer in Season 1 was kind of table setting. They really didn't do anything with her until the first episode of Season 2.

 

[fireproof78]

Detmer in Season 1 was kind of table setting. They really didn't do anything with her until the first episode of Season 2.

They did enough for me to care about her. I didn't need a "Detmer episode" to care for her.

 

[tomalak301]

They did enough for me to care about her. I didn't need a "Detmer episode" to care for her.

Neither do I. I just wanted to "notice" her more.

 

[fireproof78]

Neither do I. I just wanted to "notice" her more.

Besides Burnham she was the next one I noticed from the word "Go."

 

[Shawnster]

Burnham seemed shoehorned going to Trill in this week's episode. But, she's the lead and with only 10 episodes there isn't time (or maybe space in SMGs contract) to not have Burnham absent or sidelined in more than one episode (and we already had that in the 2nd episode). Sorry, Culber, but we can't have you go to Trill even if you are the more logical choice.

I miss seeing episodes that focus on other characters than the lead.

 

[Sci]

Having recently done TNG and DS9 rewatches, I don't miss 26-episode seasons. They had very little narrative momentum and getting through a season could get frustrating after a while because of that lack of momentum.

 

[dinnae ken]

Brain-agonizing clipshows like "Shades of Gray".

Wait, "miss" or "don’t miss"?

 

[The Wormhole]

Brain-agonizing clipshows like "Shades of Gray".

Wait, "miss" or "don’t miss"?

To be fair, for all the flaws Star Trek had with its 20+ episode format, Shades of Gray was the only time they did a clip show and that was brought about by external problems, mainly recovery from a writer's strike. For a franchise that was doing 20+ episodes a year for eighteen years straight, to only have one clip show in that time period is actually kind of impressive.

 

[EnsignRedshirt]

I'll admit I'm a bit of a weirdo who likes the "filler" episodes because I like to spend time on the ships with the crew and just sort of "hang out" with them a bit, but to be honest the only two shows that that really rings true to me for are Next Gen and Deep Space 9 because I want to live on the Enterprise-D or on DS9, so the more time spent there, the better.

I would love to see a season four of Discovery where they get more established and into a routine in their new era, and we get a few more "life aboard ship" moments like we saw in "Forget Me Not."

 

[F. King Daniel]

Shit holodeck episodes.

 

[Sci]

I'll admit I'm a bit of a weirdo who likes the "filler" episodes because I like to spend time on the ships with the crew and just sort of "hang out" with them a bit, but to be honest the only two shows that that really rings true to me for are Next Gen and Deep Space 9 because I want to live on the Enterprise-D or on DS9, so the more time spent there, the better.

I would love to see a season four of Discovery where they get more established and into a routine in their new era, and we get a few more "life aboard ship" moments like we saw in "Forget Me Not."

In fairness, I do enjoy one-off episodes that are just about exploring the characters and their world. I don't know that I want a full 26-episode season back, nor even a full 20 episodes, but it would be nice for DIS to break up its pace a little bit with two or three one-offs a season. Maybe move to a 17- or 18-episode model for each season.