Production delays have become all too common in the TV industry today (Picture: Apple TV+/AP)
Key Points
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Fans often drop TV shows when delays between seasons become excessively long.
Production slowdowns, such as strikes and the pandemic, have led to viewer frustration.
Shows mentioned include Stranger Things, Severance, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Created with AI assistance. Quality assured by Metro editors.
Is there anything worse than motoring through a series, bingeing episode after episode until an ungodly hour in the morning, only to find out that the next season is in the dreaded purgatory of… development?
To make matters worse, not only is this new season in production hell, but the script hasn’t been written yet, and the director has another project to finish before he can begin.
If that sounds like a familiar scenario to you, it’s a situation that has become all too commonplace in the TV industry as of late.
In comparison to the days when a one-year break between 24 episodes in a season was normal, with the likes of Lost, for instance, managing to release six seasons in six years, TV shows simply are not being made at the speed they once were.
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Due in part to higher production values, lack of fixed schedules and delayed renewals, not to mention a recent spate of strikes and the Covid-19 pandemic, the issue has become a source of frustration for many viewers.
So, to find out whether TV fans at home have lost patience with a show’s delays, we have asked Metro readers which series they gave up on completely, despite the fact that they were enjoying it. Here’s what they had to say.
Stranger Things
The most recent season of Stranger Things came after a three-year gap (Picture: Netflix)
Don’t worry, you can admit it. This is a safe space. When the first four episodes of the latest season of Stranger Things dropped, you had no idea what was going on.
None of us did. It’s been three years, for Christ’s sake!
We’re probably all going to forget what has happened in the first few episodes by the time Volume Two drops on Christmas Day.
But for Metro reader Tina Gane, three years has proved to be too long a wait.
She wrote on Facebook: ‘I’ve tried watching the last season but can’t get back into it. It’s been too long.’
Stranger Things is available to watch on Netflix.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
The comedy series had a gap of more than two years between its seasons (Picture: AP)
As previously stated, many shows were impacted by the pandemic.
Unfortunately for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which first aired on Amazon Prime Video in 2017, the comedy series was hugely impacted.
Despite the standard release schedule for the series being roughly a year between seasons, production shutdowns and safety protocols extended the wait for season four to more than two years.
For Clare Louise, she explained: ‘Albeit their delays were due to all the lockdowns etc we had to deal with, I just couldn’t get back into them afterwards.’
The series follows Miriam “Midge” Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan), whose seemingly idyllic life takes a surprising turn when she discovers a hidden talent she didn’t previously know she had – stand-up comedy.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is available to watch on Amazon Prime.
Severance
Severance has frustrated its fanbase with long gaps between each of its seasons (Picture: AP)
Here’s the one you’ve all been waiting for… Severance.
For all the Apple TV series’ brilliance, it feels like a lifetime has passed between each season of Dan Erickson’s weird and wonderful science fiction psychological thriller.
Yet again, the show has been impacted by the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, which halted production.
But showrunner Ben Stiller and Erickson have spoken about how they have prioritised creative perfection, rewriting and refining scripts even during filming, leading to extensive prep and shooting schedules.
Donald J Makin commented on Facebook: ‘[Erickson] had a hard time getting a handle on the series being a success, and once he di,d he got to work.
[For] other series I would rather wait to get something good than a rushed second series as I know they’ve taken time to make great TV and not just rush into production.’
Severance is available to watch on Apple TV.
The Rookie
The Rookie fans have shared their anger over having to wait for episodes (Picture: Disney)
Next on the list of TV shows that have lost viewers due to the delays between each season is the American police procedural drama The Rookie.
Follows John Nolan, a man in his 40s, who becomes the oldest rookie at the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the show is based on real-life LAPD officer William Norcross.
However, for Debbie Bennett, she said: ‘I’m nearly at the end of season 7 of the rookie and [I’ve got to] wait until summer 2026 for season 8.’
Richard Jones echoed a similar sentiment, speaking about the current state of television today, writing: ‘I miss when TV shows were 24 episodes a year, with them being 22 or 44 minutes long.
‘[The] problem with Netflix is they don’t want to commit beyond one season in case it doesn’t do the figures they want, which means a delay in signing cast and directors to a second season, so when they do, they have the issue of everyone having other projects and having to work around them.
‘We basically had shows that would be on for five or six months continuously.’
The Rookie is available to watch on NOW.
Downton Abbey
The Downton Abbey films were delayed by the pandemic (Picture: ITV)
Last, but certainly not least, is none other than Downton Abbey.
The inclusion of this ITV series might appear unfair, given the fact that each of its seasons was generally produced and aired annually.
A new season typically arrived each autumn in the UK, running from 2010 to 2015.
However, following the postponements of the second movie due to the pandemic and concerns over cinema audiences, Claire Penny said: ‘They had several seasons and three movies, the third movie took the longest to come out.’
Phil Ogden similarly said: ‘It’s not just the delays, some shows (BBC and ITV, I’m looking at you) end up with just odd new episodes dotted about randomly throughout the year.
‘Life’s too short to spend time weekly perusing the schedules to see what I might be missing.’
Downton Abbey is available to watch on ITVX.
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