{"id":421583,"date":"2026-10-07T21:46:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T21:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/421583\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T21:46:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T21:46:16","slug":"there-are-more-episodes-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/421583\/","title":{"rendered":"There are more episodes, right?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A TV displays ADULTS on HULU on Fri. Oct 2, 2026. Viewers believe longer episodes would benefit the show. \/\/ Brian Mulvey, Co-Photo Editor<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current formatting of episodic scripted productions is a direct response to the post-COVID attitude of networks and producers\u201d said University of Miami documentary graduate student Eden Mcclave. \u201cThey only invest in what can be guaranteed to hold viewers\u2019 attention.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all waited two years for a new season of an eight-episode series, only to binge it all in one day and feel empty afterward, when the realization hits that it\u2019ll be another two years before you reunite with your favorite characters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a thoughtful viewer, this style provides a narrower window for me to connect with characters and emotionally or intellectually buy into the narrative,\u201d said Mcclave.<\/p>\n

The age of streaming services has taught younger audiences what they can handle. According to Decision Lab<\/a>, a Vietnam-based statistical-data website, our attention spans are shorter. We prefer watching shows in one sitting and the episode has to move quickly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe average attention span of this generation is a meager eight seconds, four seconds shorter than Millennials before them,\u201d the study said.<\/p>\n

But at what point do we lose what makes television what it is? Have we already lost it?<\/p>\n

Professor Betsy Mateu teaches TV writing at the University of Miami, but before that, she was a television literary agent for a large company in New York City.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMovies center on stories, whereas television centers on characters,\u201d she said. When you watch a movie, you expect a story to start and finish within a few hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With TV shows, however, Mateu says, \u201cWe invite these characters into our lives for 10 hours, 20 hours or perhaps more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plots that steadily progress across the entire season, cliffhangers, slow-burn romances and true character development are a lost art when there aren\u2019t enough episodes to create impact.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAdults\u201d is a show that many viewers, including UM sophomore Kalia Bell, agree would benefit from the \u201cobsolete\u201d format of television: 20-episode seasons and weekly releases \u2014 even if those releases are on streaming services. The recent release of its second season only solidified its fans\u2019 opinions.<\/p>\n

Bell believes that \u201cintriguing characters are what make a sitcom so fun to watch, but it\u2019s not as easy to root for characters with less time to evolve.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a comfort show, comparable to still-popular, ensemble-cast domestic sitcoms like \u201cFriends\u201d and \u201cNew Girl.\u201d Though both aired on network TV before streaming became the standard, \u201cAdults\u201d is meant to be consumed the same way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This issue became apparent this season, as many plots that could have taken multiple seasons or more episodes to develop rushed to conclusion. The episodes were 20 minutes long, and there were eight total. Fitting in single-episode storylines, character arcs and romantic developments was asking too much.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The entire season had a total runtime of two hours and 56 minutes. For comparison, \u201cFriends,\u201d the ensemble show of the previous generation, averaged nine hours per season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bell said, \u201cI love the storylines in \u2018Adults,\u2019 but I hope the shorter seasons aren\u2019t causing any plots or relationships to be rushed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think audiences would respond similarly to how they did in the past.\u201d She noted that \u201cAdults\u201d isn\u2019t the only series applicable to this concern. \u201cStreaming television has a lot of benefits, but I think a weekly show creates a sense of community and consistent engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Professor Mateu agreed with Bell.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI prefer episodes that drop once a week. I love the anticipation of waiting,\u201d she said. \u201cI enjoy the buildup and the discussion that leads to a heightened excitement.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the week that follows an episode\u2019s release, there\u2019s time to discuss and theorize with other viewers. It\u2019s a chance to absorb, analyze and, most importantly, sit with the content you\u2019ve just consumed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A show like \u201cAbbott Elementary\u201d airs once a week on ABC and releases on Disney Plus the next day. It\u2019s proof that if audiences are given shows in the network TV format, they will tune in to something worth watching.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since 57% of \u201cAbbott Elementary\u2019s total audience is attributed to streaming platform users, Gen Z are significant contributors to their viewership, despite a format that doesn\u2019t cater to shorter attention spans.<\/p>\n

If TV show creators stopped conforming to what they think will appeal to younger audiences and focused on telling their characters\u2019 stories in the time needed, audiences of all ages would be watching.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile quality over quantity can definitely be a good thing, I think 20 episode seasons are something audiences would love to see again,\u201d said Bell.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sometimes there\u2019s quality in the quantity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A TV displays ADULTS on HULU on Fri. Oct 2, 2026. Viewers believe longer episodes would benefit the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421584,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-421583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}