Which are better when it comes to serialized shows?

[Joe Washington]

Seasons that go on for 20, 22, or 24 episodes. Or seasons that go on for 13 episodes or less. Why do you think so? What examples of shows in which this works out can you think of? And which shows can you think could benefit from a full-length season or a shortened season?

 

[M'rk son of Mogh]

I think this is an unfair assessment of how the TV shows are put together.
Shorter seasons are generally on cable, where money and ratings play a much different role than the network shows which generally have longer seasons.

If you take the same creative teams from the cable channels (Mad Men, Sopranos, etc), give them the exact same freedoms/restrictions with their storytelling, and tell them to create 24 episodes instead of 12, I bet the quality would still be there, regardless of number of episodes.

Of course, I can never prove this.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

The 13 episode shows tend to be on premium or basic cable, where they can make $$$ off smaller niche audiences and therefore focus more on quality and not try to be all things to all people. And that's why the 13 episode shows (Dexter, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, etc) seem better than network TV. It's not the length of the episode run, it's that cable doesn't need to survive solely on ad dollars, and the result is more focused and better TV.

If you take the same creative teams from the cable channels (Mad Men, Sopranos, etc), give them the exact same freedoms/restrictions with their storytelling, and tell them to create 24 episodes instead of 12, I bet the quality would still be there, regardless of number of episodes.

Sure, the Dexter writers wrote 13 great episodes the first season and 13 more the second. So they obviously can write 26 great episodes, not just 13. The only question is, can they do that in one year? Sure, why not? Is there something about the passage of time that allows them to be more creative? Why would that be? They just work a bigger chunk of the year than they do now.

 

[sidious618]

Whatever works for the story is how long the show should be.

 

[wamdue]

Whatever works for the story is how long the show should be.

what of shows that dont really have a solid story across the entire season? how many episodes should they have.

there are plenty of TV shows, that have minor characters arcs, but in each individual episode, that will only take up a few minutes, whilst in the final few episode that arc has set up the stage for a thrilling episode.