AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
To some folks, this is a golden age of TV, and it does sort of feel like there's something on the tube for everyone. But there's also a lot that we're waiting for. "The White Lotus" comes back next weekend after more than two years.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE WHITE LOTUS")
CARRIE COON: (As Laurie) To Thailand and a week of new memories.
RASCOE: A new season of the HBO show "The Last Of Us" will finally come back this spring, also after two years.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE LAST OF US")
CATHERINE O'HARA: (As Joel's therapist) Well, you want to start or what?
RASCOE: And who knows when we'll ever get a final season of "Stranger Things"?
(SOUNDBITE OF KYLE DIXON AND MICHAEL STEIN'S "STRANGER THINGS")
RASCOE: It can feel like a lifetime before you get to see your favorite characters again, and that's if the TV gods have announced the show is coming back at all. I mean, the "Stranger Things" kids aren't even kids anymore, are they? NPR TV critic Eric Deggans is here to tell us why. Welcome.
ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE: Hey, I'm still waiting for "The Sopranos" to come back. So...
RASCOE: OK, OK (laughter).
DEGGANS: ...I'm used to waiting.
RASCOE: Yeah. Well, look, this is a complaint I have because I feel like I have to do homework and rewatch shows just to know what's going on by the time the new season airs. And I don't have time to do that. Is it really a very long wait, or does it just feel that way?
DEGGANS: No, it's really that long.
(LAUGHTER)
DEGGANS: I mean, so just this year, "Severance" has come back on Apple TV+ after nearly three years away. "Stranger Things" was expected to return for its fifth and final season in 2025 - this year - after two years away. But it's still kind of unclear exactly when or if that's going to happen. I mean, "True Detective" came back last year. They were gone for five years, and HBO's "Euphoria" just started shooting its final season, and they've been gone for three years. So these shows have complex plots. They have involved storylines. It can be really difficult to remember where the last season ended when you're watching the new season years later.
RASCOE: That's the problem. This isn't like "Murder, She Wrote." Like, you really got to (laughter) know what's going on.
DEGGANS: And don't we miss the simplicity of...
RASCOE: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
RASCOE: Some of this might have to do with the format of streaming, but Hollywood has also had some hiccups that have led to some delays, right?
DEGGANS: Yeah, for sure. I mean, we had strikes by both the writers and actors in Hollywood for a lot of 2023 that delayed production on a lot of shows, and the industry was already tied in knots because it had just gotten through the pandemic. And we've had recent wildfires in California that present a whole other gigantic challenge.
But I think a big part of these delays also come down to streaming services that wait too long to green-light new seasons of a show. Also I think creative issues can kind of tie up a series, which seemed to be a problem for "Severance." You've got popular movie actors doing TV, so scheduling can be an issue like Michelle Yeoh's Star Trek movie for Paramount+, "Section 31." And special effects in post-production can also take a while, and that affects series like "Stranger Things."
RASCOE: Are studios taking notice? Because I know I'm not the only one getting tired of waiting. And then sometimes I don't even watch the new season 'cause I'm like, I can't remember the old one (laughter).
DEGGANS: Yeah, exactly. They are definitely taking notice. I mean, one thing I think we've seen is that the streamers will green-light a new season of a show shortly after it debuts or even before the current season debuts. And that's a way of shortening the delays. So on Amazon's Prime Video, the third season of their popular action show "Reacher" was announced before the second season even debuted on the service.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "REACHER")
MALCOLM GOODWIN: (As Oscar Finlay) Ever think your brother didn't reach out to the cops because he couldn't reach out to the cops? Maybe he was dirty. Maybe...
ALAN RITCHSON: (As Jack Reacher) Think real hard before you finish that sentence. It'll determine how well your jaw works the rest of your life.
DEGGANS: And it was the same with their other crime action series, "Cross," which was picked up for a second season before the show even debuted last November. And "Reacher's" third season drops next week, so the delay between those seasons is just a little over a year, which is not that bad for streaming. "Reacher" kind of went from having all its first-season episodes drop on one day as a binge model to having episodes released weekly in its second season. And so that creates appointment television where people show up for episodes when they're released. But it also kind of stretches out the amount of time that fans take to watch the current season. So again, it kind of shortens that delay. And they're not the only show that's doing this.
RASCOE: Isn't that kind of an old idea, just like regular old TV?
(LAUGHTER)
DEGGANS: You make a good point, and I've been covering this stuff long enough to remember how controversial it was in the early 2000s when "The Sopranos" began to take over a year. One time, they took 21 months between seasons.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE SOPRANOS")
DOMINIC CHIANESE: (As Junior Soprano) I'm sitting here like [expletive] patients on a monument, waiting for discipline to be handed down.
DEGGANS: But there's a lot going on here. I mean, in the old days of classic television, they made a lot more episodes in a season. They would do more than 20, and they released them once a week. Now a full season of a series might be eight episodes, and they might all come out on the same day. So viewers are consuming these episodes faster, which is kind of the downside of being able to watch at your own pace.
And it's also why platforms like Netflix are releasing episodes of some popular series in batches, so there's more time for word of mouth to spread, and viewers take a little more time to watch a given season, and the delay between them will be shorter. Now, streamers are always negotiating this tension between giving viewers the shows exactly when they want them and giving the storytellers the time and space to craft their best work, which, unfortunately, means that some fans like you are going to have to wait an awfully long time to see new episodes of programs they love.
RASCOE: OK, that's NPR TV critic Eric Deggans. I'm going to let you go. I do have some more episodes I need to binge before the next "Severance" episode comes out.
DEGGANS: Yeah, I got to finish my email to HBO...
RASCOE: (Laughter).
DEGGANS: ...Asking when the new season of "The Sopranos" comes out.
RASCOE: Yeah.
DEGGANS: So I'm with you.
RASCOE: (Laughter) Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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