Television program
The terminology used to define a set of episodes produced by a television series varies from country to country.
In North America and Australia, the term used to describe a regular run of episodes is a television season or simply, season. For example, a season of a television series might consist of 22-24 episodes broadcast regularly between September and May with a hiatus during the holidays. Alternatively, it may comprise 22-24 consecutive episodes between September and December or January and May. The latter is often referred to as a "non-stop season", which are usually used for serial television series (e.g., 24 and Lost). Another example might be a series that airs only a 6-13 episode season during the summer.
In the United Kingdom, on the ABC in Australia and in other countries, these sets of episodes are referred to as a series.
In the United States, most regular television series have 22 episodes per season. In general, dramas usually last 44 minutes (an hour with advertisements), while comedies last 22 (30 with advertisements). However, with the rise of cable networks, especially pay ones, series and episode lengths have been changing. Cable networks usually feature seasons lasting around thirteen episodes (e.g. The Sopranos from HBO, with 12- to 13-episode seasons). Many British series have significantly shorter runs, particularly sitcoms such as The Office, Extras and Peep Show, which feature 6 episodes per series (see below). This may be related to the fact that many British shows are written by a single writer or writing team, unlike most US shows. However, even British shows which do have multiple writers have tended toward shorter series in recent years - for example the first series of long-running sci-fi series Doctor Who in 1963 featured 42 episodes, whereas recent series have featured 13 episodes. Recently, American non-cable networks have also begun to experiment with shorter seasons for some programs, particularly reality shows such as Survivor.
This is a reduction from the 1950s, in which many American shows (e.g., The Twilight Zone) had between 29 to 39 episodes per season. Actual storytelling time within a commercial television hour has also gradually reduced over the years, from 50 minutes out of every 60 in the early days down to the current 44 (and, on some networks, less) in the 2000s.
The Japanese have sometimes subdivided television series and dramas into kūru (クール?), from the French term "cours" for "course", which is a 3-month period usually of 13 episodes. Each kūru generally has its own opening and ending image sequence and song, recordings of which are often sold. (See also Japanese television programs)
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See also
- Alphabetical list of television programs
- List of television program categories
- Category:Television schedules (by country and year)
- Network programming (television)
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References
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