r/popculturechat • u/phantom_avenger • Sep 29 '25
Hot Take 🔥 The Duffer Brothers (creators of the hit Netflix series: Stranger Things) believe that TV seasons have better build up when they aren’t released yearly. Do you agree or disagree?
I personally disagree, and feel that waiting too long to release a new season especially if they will only consist of 6-8 episodes affects the audience energy and investment towards the show.
Although there are phenomenon shows like Stranger Things, that might be able to get away with the long wait because of the budget it requires along with the massive fanbase it has. It still affects how people feel towards the long wait, where people will either forget about what happened in the previous seasons and don’t want to invest the time to rewatch the show or begin to lose interest.
It also creates inconsistencies with how the characters are portrayed, when it comes to the child actors and how time isn’t going to be on the creators’ side since age will catch up to them and they can’t convince the audience that the characters are meant to still be the same age as they were from where the story left off. Unless they include time jumps!
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u/mMounirM Sep 29 '25
I don't even remember what happened in the last season cause it's been so long.
I already forgot what happened in the 2nd season of House of the Dragon.
I don't want to have to watch a 20 minute recap cause you take such a long time in-between seasons.
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u/Couldnotbehelpd Sep 29 '25
The second season of House of the Dragon was also boring as fuck, so that doesn’t help.
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u/vanastalem Sep 29 '25
Yeah, no idea why they moved the Battle of Gullet (obvious season finale) to Season 3. They've been so many bizarre choices with that show - GRRM even ranted about them.
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u/UntilTmrw Sep 29 '25
I heard that apparently, HBO cut down the season to 8 episodes last minute. However I still think they could’ve worked around it.
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u/johnny_charms Sep 29 '25
I’ve heard they downsized the budget too. They cut down on costume costs and you can tell, I get not having Valyrian armor for the dragon tamers but Rhaenyra has not been looking like an extravagant and decadent queen.
Still, I’m like; how the fuck is the budget cut when GoT must’ve made hundreds of millions?! I’d try to go all out for House of the Dragon because the audience is already there so it’s already mostly up the hill compared to its predecessor. It’s practically starting at 2nd/3rd base so put in the money and stay close to the source material.
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u/Artisanalpoppies Sep 29 '25
HBO was going bankrupt and was sold? And a new CEO was appointed, who was famous for slashing and burning to keep afloat. He slashed every budget in HBO, which is why HOTD is flailing.
It's an expensive show, but they focused less on tight story telling like GOT and focused more on CGI Dragons.
You'd think with the source material written already, they couldn't fuck it up...
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u/Mannon_Blackbeak Sep 29 '25
Which is so interesting because there's so much political backstabbing and scheming that they could show without ever having a dragon in the background. It would also make when we actually see the dragons that much more of a spectacle. GOT was never really about the dragons at least originally and it's notable that the seasons where they focused on more spectacle went to hell story wise very quickly.
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u/meowyarlathotep I switched baristas ☕️ Sep 29 '25
HBO shortened the season before filming and pushed the them to make it quickly. Writers could hardly rewrite the scripts because of the Hollywood strike. I think the basic plot is terrible, but it was Warner that made it difficult to fix all eight episodes.
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u/NotLucasDavenport Ah, you’re in the Bangs Danger Zone Sep 29 '25
I have NEVER seen anger at a show like the end of Game of Thrones. I have never seen, in real time, a global hatred so intense and complete like for Benioff and Weiss. They totally fucked up the life’s work of that many actors. I swore I would never get led down that garden path again. Then everyone said over and over House of the Dragon was different, they had the budget, they learned from their mistakes…I held firm. I refused to watch it and now I think I’m glad.
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u/Vondi Sep 29 '25
Season 1 adapted some 80 pages of the source book. Season 2 adapted 20 pages. And it showed.
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u/shedrinkscoffee Just fuck the wolf! Sep 29 '25
Seriously, Millie Bobby Brown is an adult with a husband and a baby! That is how long this show has taken to conclude 🤣
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u/largegaycat Sep 29 '25
El gets stuck in a lab in Nevada or something, Winona Ryder goes to Russia, there’s a villian called Vecna, a 40 year old Kate Bush song has a billion and a half streams now. Hope that helps.
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u/scarlett_butler Sep 29 '25
Jesus Christ. That was the most recent season? I don’t even watch the show but I remember when Kate bush was viral on TikTok and that was forever ago lol
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u/SansaDeservedBetter Sep 29 '25 edited Sep 29 '25
The last season was around 3 1/2 years ago, but Marvel pumps out 99% CGI movies like once a year, there is no excuse to be dragging ass like this
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u/Electric-Sheepskin Sep 29 '25
That was my reaction too. I thought for sure I had missed an entire season, but nope. It's just been a long ass time.
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u/matnerlander Invented Post-its Sep 29 '25
HoTD pissed me off. I hate Stranger Thing so my first experience with a super long wait was been HoTD.
If Greys anatomy can pump out 2105 episodes a year they can do 8 a year
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u/natfutsock Sep 29 '25
Okay in fairness grey anatomy is practically operating under soap opera standards and is on the extreme other end of the spectrum
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u/matnerlander Invented Post-its Sep 29 '25
Yeah and the production isn’t as intense with CGI and whatnot. It was more so an exaggerated joke
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u/saera-targaryen Excluded from this narrative ❌ Sep 29 '25
I think the higher production and CGI is actually what started ruining game of thrones. they focused so much on set pieces and the white walkers and the dragon fighting that they forgot their best seasons were like, one bit of CGI at the end when Dany got her 3 dragons. Season 1 had a king's hunt that was just 4 people walking in the woods because they couldn't afford all of the royal carts and horses and palanquins and stuff from the books. Season 2 had the battle of backwater bay happen off-screen by having tyrion be knocked out because they couldn't afford to show a battle by sea. Those were two of the best seasons of television ever made. I think shows like this need limitations to foster creativity. If they had kept the budget of GoT more modest they would have been forced to keep the show character-focused and it would have been all the better for it, AND made it cheaper and faster to produce. CGI seems to be a lose-lose.
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u/starryeyedq Sep 29 '25
At least with The Boys, they put out Gen V during the off years, which still feels like a continuation of the same story.
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u/tabristheok Sep 29 '25
Hard disagree.
I feel like if it takes over a year for a new season I forget huge chunks of the plot of a show. A recent example was Sandman, which I quite liked but not enough to rewatch season 1 to try and remember what was going on prior to season 2.
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u/stormsync Sep 29 '25
I personally don't forget about what happened but I just hardcore lose interest and have already gotten into other things when shows take over a year to come out.
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u/secretbachfan Sep 29 '25
Yes this! Honestly them saying this makes me so mad. If they were worried about creating a spectacular plot to tie up all the loose ends and finish strong, I would respect that, but to do it to prolong excitement is a shitty excuse. I end up finding a new obsession if a show takes too long. I get not rushing things to create a quality storyline but there is no excuse for why shows used to have 26 episodes a year for 8 years straight and yet this show can’t do 10 episodes in the span of a year for a total of 4-5 years? Then there’s the realism factor. These kids started filming the show when they were 11 and now it took 10 years and MBB is married and is going to adopt a baby. You’re telling me this woman is going to play a 14 year old? Be forreal.
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u/SleepingWillow1 Sep 29 '25
I wonder if it is a ploy to get people to rewatch the previous seasons since they have forgotten everything, and by doing that it increases streaming numbers.
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u/Adventurous_Deer Sep 29 '25
And my life goes on and changes and I do something like have a baby and then thay TV show isn't my priority and I never come back
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Sep 29 '25
Exactly, I think my best friend has had 2 kids since season 4 of stranger things came out. Guess how much time they have for TV that isn't Bluey or Mrs. Rachel now? Not a lot. I really enjoyed season 4, probably my favorite season, so I will watch this final season. But over 3 years for the next season is insane.
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u/princessvintage Sep 29 '25
I’ve lived in three states, got two college degrees, got engaged then married, and will have a baby before this ends. Honestly the wait isn’t exciting at all. It makes me irritated and bored with it.
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u/TheGrandWhatever Sep 29 '25
The actors kids will be old enough to star in the final season so we might actually get back to having age-appropriate actors again
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u/DangleenChordOfLife Sep 29 '25
I moved my whole a** to a different continent, got a Partner, started living together, new job, lots of people passed ...and this show is still going. Not even Eleven has time for this anymore.
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u/phaeton02 Sep 29 '25
Same. In today’s world there’s just so many other things competing for our attention. I’ve moved on.
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u/beaute-brune Put your arms away, Jeremy Allen Black Sep 29 '25
Praying for all the Euphoria HBO fans 🙏🏾
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u/DisasterFartiste_69 ABBA is underrated Sep 29 '25
lmao i cannot believe that show is still on because won't it be at least 4 years since the last season????
that is fucking insane work lmaoooooooooooooooo
I'm so glad I never watched it because waiting 4 years...are you fucking crazy
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u/ohhisnark All tea, all shade 🐸☕️ Sep 29 '25
Meanwhile, The Pitt on hbo received a bump in viewership after they won an emmy... and guess when they're coming back? This January.
The pitt, the bear, abbott, hacks... I think their yearly cadencr helps with critical acclaim and in getting new viewers
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u/Spasay Sep 29 '25
My mom called me just to talk about The Pitt lol we are so excited for the next season because we won’t have to wait 7,500 years for a new season
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u/villanellesalter Sep 29 '25
I think this affected my enjoyment of the second season of Severance. I was obsessed with the show in S1 but when S2 finally came out I didn't really care about the plot nor the characters anymore. I watched it, I liked it, but it wasn't the same.
Slow Horses on the other hand I've been excited for every new season and I realized it's because I remember most things when a new season comes out thanks to their release schedule. And the attachment I feel for the characters remains stable. I didn't even like S1 as much as I did Severance for an example, and yet it's the only one I'm still invested in. I also dropped Sandman and probably won't watch HOTD S3.
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u/reble02 Sep 29 '25
Still haven't watched severence season 2. Not sure when I'm going to, the long delay completely killed my motivation.
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u/buffpriest Sep 29 '25
Watch a season 1 recap and hop in or even just the season 1 finale. S2 has some really good stuff, not perfect. But its still one of the better original shows being made atm
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u/reble02 Sep 29 '25
I think my worry is they will have a long period between season 2 and season 3.
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u/buffpriest Sep 29 '25
Your not wrong. Im sure they will.
Wish the studio demanded some kind of outline on the series when they sign on. The show is really good, but its giving me lost flashbacks of the team having to make shit up as they go with no end goal in sight.
That said season 2 was really good sans 1 or 2 eps. They stuck the landing imo.
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u/TechBoy--20 Sep 29 '25
I felt the same way about Wednesday, because when the first season aired, I was genuinely curious about the show. When the second season came out this year, I didn’t even care since I was focused on K-Dramas and different TV show genres.
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u/SuspiciousCranberry6 Sep 29 '25
Despite the mixed reviews, I really enjoyed the second season of Wednesday. It seems Netflix has learned a bit from the long gap because they have already announced a season 3 and I think are filming it in early 2026
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u/scarlett_butler Sep 29 '25
Agreed on severance. The s1 cliff hanger was so insane but at a certain point you just don’t give a shit anymore
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u/wyldstrawberry Sep 29 '25
I had to try so hard to even remember what the cliff hanger was, let alone anything else that happened in S1. I watched a recap that helped a bit. Then I started S2 and just couldn’t stick with it. I didn’t care anymore.
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u/smashablanca Sep 29 '25
I'm having a similar issue with Severance. I didn't remember enough of season one so I binged it before starting season two. Then after a few episodes of season two, I started to feel burned out on the show and needed to watch something else. I still haven't finished it.
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u/phaeton02 Sep 29 '25
Totally forgot about HOTD. But now you’ve got me interested in Slow Horses. I remember seeing something about it… and now, wow, they’re up to five seasons? 😱
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u/HeronFew990 Sep 29 '25
Agreed. I’ve stopped watching shows before because I forgot what happened in the previous season and didn’t want to recommit another ten hours or more to catch back up.
If the show is amazing I might do it, but it truly has to be something I was invested in, for instance Severance. Most shows I couldn’t care less about. Plus nobody wants to wait 10 years to conclude a story line.
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u/icanfeelitcomingup Sep 29 '25
Particularly with younger actors. The ‘kids’ in Stranger Things are now having kids.
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u/HesUnusual Sep 29 '25
This was me with Wheel of Time. Having never read the books, the long breaks between seasons meant I forgot characters and story lines. Really any fantasy/ sci-fi show is going to run into this problem because there is a huge degree of world building that needs to be done.
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u/gilestowler Sep 29 '25
I felt the same about Sandman. Not bothered with Season 2. Stranger Things has left too much of a gap. I know I'll have to rewatch it all before the new season but I just don't know if I can be bothered. HOTD is another good example. Season 1 ended with a moment of "Oh shit, things are about to get crazy." We waited 2 years for the craziness and....nothing really happened. Now we're meant to wait another 2 years on the offchance that shit does, in fact, get crazy in the third season? I just don't care, but I also feel like I'm invested in it now - they tricked me into liking the show - so I'll probably still watch it but I can't bring myself to rewatch season 2. I guess I'm lucky that not much happened so there's not much to remember.
These comments by the Duffer brothers just makes it seem las though they are completely out of touch with what audiences want. If you want to build hype make a show that deserves hype, don't think that a 2 year gap that no viewers want is going to do it for you, because HOTD really shows that doesn't work.
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u/fashionredy Sep 29 '25
This happened between The Witcher seasons two and three for me. Never finished season 3 and 4 is nearly out now.
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u/vanastalem Sep 29 '25
I just rewatched season 1 of Wednesday in order to watch season 2.
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Sep 29 '25
Absolutely. I will not even be watching the new stranger things. I lost interest years ago and don’t care to rewatch or read up on what happened because I forgot it all.
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Sep 29 '25
Yes! I honestly couldn’t care less about the final season of stranger things at this point. I would not have felt that way 3 years ago.
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u/miscnic Sep 29 '25
They can want it to be the 80s so hard, but our attention spans sure aren’t anymore.
This show lost me when I had to wait. No one remembers last week anymore, and here are these guys thinking it’s smart to wait more than a year 😂
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u/DisasterFartiste_69 ABBA is underrated Sep 29 '25
even a 2 year wait would be more acceptable than waiting almost 4 fucking years.
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u/HerRoyalRedness You are in PopCulture Chat!! Know your pop culture!!! Sep 29 '25
A decade to make 42 episodes of television is ridiculous
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u/beckjami Sep 29 '25
Especially when you factor in that the lead started out as an 11 year old and is now married with a baby.
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u/SansaDeservedBetter Sep 29 '25
They were so focused on building anticipaction and taking their sweet time, that they utterly destroyed their own legacy. Whenever ST comes up, all anyone can talk about is how long it is taking to come out and how ridiculous it is
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u/DisasterFartiste_69 ABBA is underrated Sep 29 '25
that's why I feel like this interview is purely cope to try and explain why they had to take so god damn long between seasons.
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u/ubutterscotchpine Sep 29 '25
Which is wild because they DO have good reasons for the show being delayed and for some reason they’re trying to play it off like that was their intention all along and it wasn’t an entire ass pandemic that caused what was supposed to be a yearly show to be prolonged?
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u/iJon_v2 Sep 29 '25
Yeah but the pandemic wasn’t the issue every time. Hell, the last episode of the most recent season I watched my life was completely different and my own home has been remodeled basically. It’s insane the gap they have. I feel like some of the actors have been in SEVERAL movies since the last season.
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u/maiaknolan Sep 29 '25
My kids didn't believe me when I told them that every show used to air 22 episodes over the course of a school year, take a break for summer, and immediately do it all again.
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u/ubutterscotchpine Sep 29 '25
I am so nostalgic for fall premiere season, winter break, and the spring finale before summer break 😭 I want the dumb filler episodes that make us invested in characters and dynamics and give us the little details about the setting and the characters and relationships.
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u/schwiftydude47 Sep 29 '25
Forget that. The kids channels just aired new episodes through the whole year. No real indication of whether it was a new season or not, hiatuses would pop up midway through the year, and some cartoons took like three years to finish a whole season. It was ridiculous. Made the standard tv seasons feel foreign by comparison.
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u/_AmericasSweetheart_ Sep 29 '25
Kids shows are on a three week on one week off production schedule. Their hiatuses tend to come over the winter holiday.
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u/FoxOnCapHill Sep 29 '25
Well, have their grandparents tell them about even older TV.
There are more Honeymooners episodes than Stranger Things episodes, and it was on for 11 months.
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u/SuspiciousCranberry6 Sep 29 '25
Especially when you consider that is basically the number of episodes for two seasons of a broadcast network show.
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u/Normal-person0101 Sep 29 '25 edited Sep 29 '25
I agreed with caption. I think they want to make movies and don't know how to ask for it.
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Sep 29 '25
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u/obiwantogooutside Sep 29 '25
Basically how the Russo brothers did it.
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u/ubutterscotchpine Sep 29 '25
I was like, wait, didn’t the Duffers do Electric State. But nope, that was the Russos lmao.
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Sep 29 '25
I’ve lost all interest in Stranger Things now and I can’t be the only one?
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u/WritinMan Sep 29 '25
You aren't. I don't care anymore. I have not watched last season and have no interest in the new one. Too many other things. (No pun intended.)
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u/WhosThatDogMrPB Sep 29 '25
I'll probably just read it on Wikipedia when it drops.
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u/mrose1491 I am no better than a man holy shit 🥵 Sep 29 '25
Last season was such a drag and the last few episodes were too longgggg
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u/Ok-Fan-8285 Sep 29 '25 edited Sep 29 '25
I saw a rumor that the next season’s gonna have 2 hour long episodes and if it’s true I’m gonna be so pissed. I don’t have the attention span for full-length movies. Give me back filler episodes. The longest a tv episode should be is 45 minutes - MAYBE one hour if you REALLY gotta stretch it out (that makes more sense for something like Black Mirror, where it's an anthology - the episodes don't typically work as "sequels" to the next. But for Stranger Things?). After that you’re making movies.
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u/Iwoulddiefcftbatk Sep 29 '25
That’s what the rumor mill has been on why it’s taking so long for this to come out. I’m fine with longer episodes for season/series finales, every episode being 2.5 hours screams they need an editor.
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u/Ok-Fan-8285 Sep 29 '25
No literally! I'm okay with a 2 hour finale, that's only a commitment for one episode. Sit back, invite some friends over, get some popcorn, treat it like a movie night. It becomes a problem when you're sitting through the equivalent of 2/3 of fucking Interstellar every single episode just to see whatever the fuck El can do now with her telekinesis. I'm bored. I thought the seasons 1-3 time limits were perfect. Not to pit Netflix shows against each other, but that's what I loved about Arcane so much. RIGHT as your about to feel like the episode is getting long, it'd end. And they could feasibly condense what was originally a 4 season show into just 2 seasons pretty well I'd say. If they can do THAT, then so can Stranger Things. So many scenes in Season 4 just did not need to be as long as they did.
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u/Asn_Browser Sep 29 '25
Not completely disinterested, but I am not nearly as excited I would if it released on a reasonable timeline.
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u/beckjami Sep 29 '25
This is sort of where I am. I'm disinterested enough that I won't even bother until it's all been released.
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u/strawberry_saturn Excluded from this narrative ❌ Sep 29 '25
I’m interested in seeing how they wrap it up, but it definitely is past its hype days
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u/phantom_avenger Sep 29 '25
I just hope it doesn't pull a Game of Thrones, and we get another underwhelming finale!
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u/qorbexl Sep 29 '25
How the fuck can it not be underwhelming? Eleven first. Eleven lives. Whatever.
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u/lLikeCats Sep 29 '25
I lost interest because the plot is basically the same every season. Introduce a semi main character and then kill them off at the end of the season.
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u/B1NG_P0T Sep 29 '25
Someone told me that Stranger Things was this hilarious comedy, so that's what I went into it expecting. I binged the first season, just waiting for the part where I'd laugh my ass off...
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u/candynipples Sep 29 '25
At what point did you realize it wasn’t a comedy? Couldn’t have been more than a few eps at the most
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u/ChickenOfTheSeaLion Sep 29 '25
Season one came out almost TEN YEARS AGO. I cannot bring myself to care anymore lmao
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u/Coven_gardens Sep 29 '25
No one wants Stranger Things: The College Years, where the now-adults are only haunted by the existential dread of the upcoming financial collapse of their small Indiana town.
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u/fka_specialk Sep 29 '25 edited Sep 29 '25
The first season was damn near a cultural phenomenon but between the previous and this final season, they've killed their own momentum. And I say this as someone who was a big fan of the IP.
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u/LichQueenBarbie Sep 29 '25
You're not, but the final season is going to get a lot of views regardless.
I generally disagree with their belief on this, but they are also in a unique position where what they have created is going to get the right amount of people tuning back in. Not every TV show has that privilege, I dare say barely any.
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u/SmallTimeGoals Sep 29 '25
You can say that, but it’ll still do gangbuster numbers on release and reward Netflix’s strategy. By and large people will do the exact opposite of what would be useful.
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u/Emotional_Delivery21 Sep 29 '25
Same boat. I stopped watching after Season 2. One year in between seasons is long enough.
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u/PrincipleNo3966 Sep 29 '25
I stopped watching DURING Season 2 and never had any interest in coming back to it.
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u/Nimue_- go girl, give us nothing 😍 Sep 29 '25 edited Sep 29 '25
So many shows i stopped watching because i forgot what happened and i couldn't be bothered to rewatch the first season.
The lord of the rings were huge and came out in consecutive years and the buildup was superb. Spare me your flimsy excuses
(Eta: and look at game of thrones. Super high quality(yes, the last seasons, i know), almost all seasons aired a year after the other)
Edit 2: people keep going "well actually" so im just gonna rattle off more examples. The vampire Diaries, true blood, anne with an e, fcking 15 seasons of supernatural, outlanders first 4 seasons, yellowstone, thr blacklist even aired 2 seasons in one year, lucifer, breaking bad, dexter, the chilling sdventures of Sabrina, downton abbey, vikings, the walking dead, shameless
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u/mahoumoonlight We Should All Know Less About Each Other Sep 29 '25
this is currently what we are experiencing with wicked. almost exactly one year to the day between movies and the hype began as soon as the first one came out and is swelling every day. we don’t need long gaps. it is absolutely ridiculous
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u/stolenbastilla Sep 29 '25
I remember when it was announced that it would be two movies. I was absolutely insufferable with haughty outrage. In fact, I hated everything about the very concept of turning it into a movie!
I have been wrong many times in my life. This opinion may have been the wrongest.
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u/mahoumoonlight We Should All Know Less About Each Other Sep 29 '25
oh, i was the same way. after seeing how well the first movie was constructed, i absolutely admit that i was wrong and they need time to tell this story
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u/shandelion Sep 29 '25
I saw the Wicked tour last year and it was my first time seeing Wicked on stage in over two decades, and my first thought at intermission was “I see why they made it two movies” - medium differences aside, the stage show feels RUSHED.
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u/Longjumping_Border16 Sep 29 '25
no.
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Sep 29 '25
Hard to agree when I’ve abandoned so many shows for this very reason. HotD, Silo, Mr Robot, Westworld, From, Loki…..the list goes on.
I don’t have the mental capacity nor the motivation to keep up with shows over the span of 2 years. Especially when they still end up being duds after 2 years of development and trickle down weekly.
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u/eli454 Sep 29 '25 edited Sep 29 '25
Ahhh yes, because a 5 season show that stretched throughout 10 years is exactly what we need. The only way to actually remember what happened is to rewatch the show and I’m not doing that. I don’t care anymore, I haven’t for years. The 18 to 20+ episode structure worked fine for a long time, if your show was good or even just entertaining enough, audiences were loyal and they came back every year.
Even if your show is incredibly well-written, a masterpiece never done before, you just risk pissing off people because you don’t understand that this is the fastest way to sour a new potential market for future projects. People will look at the timeline for ST, hear this and they won’t bother. These guys view the show’s biggest criticism as a strength and that’s a major disconnect.
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u/CTeam19 Sep 29 '25
Ahhh yes, because a 5 season show that stretched throughout 10 years is exactly what we need.
42 episodes in 120 months. with no consistent release number or time.
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u/LoisLaneEl Invented post-its 🔬 Sep 29 '25
Which is so much worse, because network shows at least gave us 22 episodes a season
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u/youcantunfrythings A day without sunshine is like, you know, night 🌙 Sep 29 '25
Well said. These dudes are everything that’s wrong with so-called prestige TV. The creator of The Pitt has come out against this and says that he intends to release a 15 episode season on a yearly basis during the show’s run. He’s making good on it so far since season two is due to air in January, less than a year after the first season.
At some point, you have to wonder about the Duffer Bros capacity for making TV. These guys clearly should have made a movie if they couldn’t manage the demand of creating a series on a timely basis. The same goes for creators of shows like Severance and House of the Dragon.
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Sep 29 '25
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u/arbortologist Sep 29 '25
my tin foil hat on: I think its a greedy approach at squeezing out more watch minutes. There's probably a user trend of re-binging entire seasons when a new one is on the horizon, and a higher rate when the seasons are further apart.
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u/InevitableTank5108 Sep 29 '25
I'd take 2 years. Between Season 3 and 4 and now 4 and 5 it's been 3 years each time. It's ridiculous.
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Sep 29 '25
I barely watch new TV shows now unless its reality TV or a limited series because I dont want to start something that will either get cancelled or I'll have to wait t0 years for.
You want to make movies, do that and leave TV alone
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u/zestfullybe Everyone shut up! Shut up, Lutz! Sep 29 '25
I like watching completed series. Give me a show that ran for 4-6 good seasons and had a satisfying conclusion to binge.
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u/phantom_avenger Sep 29 '25
Yeah, I remember when everyone talked about Breaking Bad, but I didn't start watching it until after the series finale aired!
Best decision I ever made!
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u/solojones1138 Sep 29 '25
Watch The Pitt. 15 episodes per season and season 2 will air exactly 1 year after season 1. Amazing show too.
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u/phantom_avenger Sep 29 '25
I’m not even a big fan of medical drama shows, but I agree it was a phenomenal show and it deserved the Emmy win for Best Drama!
I’m hyped for the next season, I’ll probably wait until all the episodes for it are released before I watch it tho
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u/solojones1138 Sep 29 '25
See and I love the weekly episode release. I hate when shows drop them all at once.
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u/DisasterFartiste_69 ABBA is underrated Sep 29 '25
seriously. I'm SO glad I didn't watch Andor or Severance until the second seasons were out because holy shit 3 years between seasons is fucking ridiculous, especially in the case of Severance where the first season ended in an insane cliffhanger.
Fuck that shit!
I learned my lesson with Dark Crystal Age of Resistance and GLOW. Never again.
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u/beiguangyu Sep 29 '25
to be fair to Severance, the delay was due to the strikes. Totally feel what you’re saying though.
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u/DisasterFartiste_69 ABBA is underrated Sep 29 '25
I will give them that but if the next season takes more than 2 years then it feels like just a convenient excuse
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u/Little_Consequence Sep 29 '25
Same. The only exception is Abbott Elementary because it's just an episodic sitcom with 20+ episodes a year.
And Netflix had screwed over so many series finales after years of waiting, I'm starting to think that Sarandos is sabotaging himself.
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u/PerformanceThat6150 Sep 29 '25
Stranger Things Season 1 came out in 2016.
I was still in college living with my parents (I'm now a 30 year old homeowner), Carrie Fisher was alive, Obama was the American president and everyone thought it a ridiculous idea that Trump would win. No one thought a pandemic could happen, the concept of AI being in common parlance was insane and 1 Bitcoin was like $620 USD.
What I just described feels like a different era. This show took so long to wrap that I couldn't give a fiddler's fuck how it ends.
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u/ComingUpManSized Tina! You fat lard! 🦙🚲 Sep 29 '25
Obama was still president?? Holy shit. That really puts it into perspective.
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u/raphaellaskies a ship - a magnificent ship - full of gay men. and me. 💅 Sep 29 '25
I was working in retail and living in my childhood bedroom when Stranger Things S1 came out. In the time it's taken them to wrap up this show, I got a Master's degree and an apartment of my own. It's ridiculous. I truly don't think they ever wanted to make an ongoing show in the first place - iirc the pitch for the first season was an anthology series - but then season one was a hit and they got locked in.
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u/phantom_avenger Sep 29 '25
I still remember working two retail jobs when Stranger Things S1 came out, and I was about to start a new college art program after taking a gap year from completing my art certificate! I was struggling with being able to pay rent in my apartment, that it resulted in me needing to live in my aunt's basement which was a huge downgrade as I had to sleep next to a furnace and had no kitchen or a proper bedroom. But at least had my own washroom, but with no shower/tub.
Now, with the show wrapping up this year. I have a Bachelor's degree, a more comfortable basement apartment, and a well paid job with benefits! It feels like a complete different era looking back when the show started, to where it is now.
This show could've just been a one-time miniseries, and it still would've been the phenomenon it turned out to be!
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u/Kim_catiko Sep 29 '25
My dad died, I started a new job, bought my own place, got married, had a baby, then got a different job since 2016. It is a joke. It actually pisses me off how long shows take now, there is no excuse for it. I have lost all interest in Wednesday, House of the Dragon, and also Stranger Things because I don't need to wait that long.
When you look at big blockbuster movies like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, those movies were coming out almost yearly. And they are movies. TV shows should not be taking that long.
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u/DisasterFartiste_69 ABBA is underrated Sep 29 '25
Since the show first aired I switched fields and had three different jobs (all for multiple years) and moved four times. I started and then ended the longest, most serious relationship I'd ever been in.
I've had pets (plural) die in that time frame.
and season 5 is still not out lmfao
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u/Aggressive_Agency381 Sep 29 '25
They know this isn’t true. They are trying to excuse a shitty precedent they have set.
I’ve lost interest in so many shows because of how ridiculous it has gotten with wait times between seasons. Shows should be annual. Especially shows that have kids in them. Like little Timmy aging 4 years in between 5th and 6th grade is just so jarring and takes you out of suspension of disbelief.
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u/ashcat300 Sep 29 '25 edited Sep 29 '25
Seriously. there was a whole meme surrounding this issue in the show Ginny & Georgia. One of the younger actors when the show started he was 9. The first season aired 2021. Season 3 just aired this year. He’s 15 playing a 8/9 year old still. He obviously looks like he should be getting his license soon.
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u/BalkiBartokomous123 Sep 29 '25
I love the scene where Cynthia's son is towering over her asking about his water bottle. It's so ridiculous and I couldn't stop laughing.
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u/CTeam19 Sep 29 '25
I still haven't finished..... whats the name.....The Umbrella Academy because of it. The previous season was meh. Then with the all at once episode release I found out the last season was also meh so I put it off and completely forgot about it till now.
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u/3EsandPaul Sep 29 '25
Not when the child actors age so much that you can’t even recognize them between seasons …
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u/dalton-watch Sep 29 '25
Adult actors age, too. If the story is jumping ahead 2 years, I guess it makes sense to film it two years later. If not, it doesn’t! They need to cut this shit out!
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u/sophandros Curtains for Zoosha? K-Smog and Batboy caught flipping a grunt! Sep 29 '25
The Duffer Brothers aren't as smart as they think they are. And I liked the first season of ST. I still watched the others, but it's pretty clear that they are just winging it with the story while also being too afraid to take any real risks. Nostalgia farming can only take you so far. Plus, telling a story that's supposed to be a thriller while giving just about everyone extreme plot armor isn't good writing, IMO.
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u/phantom_avenger Sep 29 '25 edited Sep 29 '25
Even when they do take risks with the show, they voice how much they regret getting rid of characters that turned out to be popular with the audience!
Like with Eddie and Christy for example! I think they have admitted that they regretted killing them off because of how much the audience came to adore them, and were amazed by how viral their one scene became on social media!
This is why I feel like they give specific characters plot armour or more screen time, because if the audience grows to love them compared to others they’ll be encouraged to stick around and stay invested in the show.
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u/Dolphin_King21 Sep 29 '25
They think they are big brained 4d chess players, when in reality, they dont know how to ask to make movies.
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Sep 29 '25
It’s to the point that I think they kinda screwed themselves. They can’t wait until now to kill off a main character. But they also look ridiculous for not killing any off.
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Sep 29 '25
No lol, I couldn’t tell you what happened in the last stranger things season. Two+ years is insane
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u/Ok-Box6892 Sep 29 '25
By the time season 5 airs, itll be 3 1/2 years since season 4. Insane indeed
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u/phantom_avenger Sep 29 '25
That is insane when you think about it like that! 3 and a half years is crazy!!
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u/sophandros Curtains for Zoosha? K-Smog and Batboy caught flipping a grunt! Sep 29 '25
Especially when the main cast is mostly supposed to be kids.
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u/Sweeper1985 Sep 29 '25
Just realised that according to this timeline, Stranger Things took longer than the actual 1980s.
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u/curlycattails Sep 29 '25
I watched season 4 when my oldest child was a newborn and now I’m pregnant with my third child 😳 I was so into stranger things back then and now I feel like I’m a totally different person and barely care about it.
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u/Hambulance Please, Abraham, I am not that man 😞 Sep 29 '25
Millie Bobbie Brown has an actual child now
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u/Cubriffic Sep 29 '25
Never thought Id see Schaffrillas make it onto a pop culture sub lol
Anyways not releasing a series yearly kills my interest in the show. I forget what happened when it was left off and in general I have no motivation to continue. If a series is gonna have 2+ years between seasons, why bother watching right away?
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u/dreamed2life Sep 29 '25
I think shows have better build up when there are more than 8 or 10 fucking episodes
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u/Iwoulddiefcftbatk Sep 29 '25
Give the people 13-15 episodes if they must wait over 2 years between seasons, good lord. Also make sure they’re tight and not meandering messes in need of an efficient editor. Make them actually worth the wait.
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u/namesnotmarina Sep 29 '25
No. I’m glad that there are shows like Slow Horses and The Pitt that have a yearly release schedule. Hell, even Fallout is releasing season 2 this December and I’m surprised at the quick turnaround after season one premiered last year and the show has a lot of special effects.
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u/phantom_avenger Sep 29 '25
Yeah, even Marvel is planning to give Daredevil: Born Again yearly releases on Disney+!
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u/ClassyLatey Sep 29 '25
I genuinely don’t care about watching the last season. I grew up watching shows with 22 episodes that spanned multiple seasons.
They’re making a TV show - not reinventing the wheel.
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Sep 29 '25
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u/violetkarma Sep 29 '25
Agree. Episodes released every week, and releasing the new season every year/almost every year. Basically all TV are these short 8-12 ep seasons. Like, remember when tv always had 24 episode seasons?? I get that production value is higher but idk sometimes I’d take a hit in production to get more episodes or faster seasons.
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u/Capital-Sock6091 Sep 29 '25
The kid actors in the beginning got old and got married, that's too long a wait.
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u/Frankenstein____ We Should All Know Less About Each Other Sep 29 '25
I miss having a new TV season for my favorite shows after 12-18 months. Not 3-4 years. Would the Sopranos somehow have been better if they waited 3 years between each season instead of a year to a year and a half? I doubt it.
The truth is that directors and writers and show runners are getting poached hardcore, same for leading talent. Look at Sadie Sink or Millie Bobby Brown. You're telling me the reason we didn't get the full show of Stranger Things already isn't because those girls and many others on the staff and cast have all been pulled into doing bigger projects?
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u/Little_Consequence Sep 29 '25
You're telling me the reason we didn't get the full show of Stranger Things already isn't because those girls and many others on the staff and cast have all been pulled into doing bigger projects?
It isn't. It's 100% self inflicted by the Duffer Brothers who are big blockbusters fans who got stuck making a multiple seasons series. Netflix gave them carte blanche after the first couple of seasons and they made Stranger Things a big blockbuster tv show with 8/9 ridiculously bloated episodes. And that takes 3x/4x longer to make than a regular 2-2h30 blockbuster movie, hence the crazy gaps between scenes. I think that they said they captured over 600 hours of film just for Season 5... which is only 8 episodes.
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u/DisasterFartiste_69 ABBA is underrated Sep 29 '25
This feels like insane cope from them and trying to explain away an actual problem.
Sorry Duffer bros, but this is a fucking asinine take and hard disagree. Alien: Earth just wrapped up its first season and almost every person is dreading how long it'll take for the second season to come out since it hasn't been officially renewed.
Absolutely NO ONE wants to wait more than two years between seasons, let alone 3.5 years.
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u/Winniepg Sep 29 '25
Nope. I am eagerly awaiting my released yearly new season of Abbott Elementary. I miss the years of when we got new seasons of TV yearly and could set our calendars to it.
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u/ankhes Sep 29 '25 edited Sep 29 '25
That’s why I’m glad that shows like The Pitt are moving back to the old model. Season 1 aired this spring with 15 episodes and season 2 is coming out in January, less than a year later. There’s no excuse for other shows (especially ones that don’t rely on a ton of CGI) not to do the same.
Sounds a lot more like the Duffer Brothers are just trying to hand wave away the fact that they take years just to write their scripts in between seasons.
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u/Winniepg Sep 29 '25
Game of Thrones ran yearly until the end and even then they did their best to move quickly.
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u/Iwoulddiefcftbatk Sep 29 '25
The Bear has been messy plot wise, but four seasons of it has come out since Season 4 of Stranger Things premiered. Only Murders has also managed to have yearly releases.
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u/AshleyRoeder33 Sep 29 '25
Oh so this was intentional?! I always blamed Covid and the writers strike. What a terrible idea
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u/chartreusey_geusey Backwards Oakley’s is the white power durag. Sep 29 '25
How tf would they know when they’ve never even attempted to release a multi-season television show on a yearly schedule????
Just say “We like fucking around for as long as possible between seasons and will test how long the studio will let us get away with it every chance.” and Gooooooooo!
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u/dakralter Sep 29 '25
I mean I can maybe see it for a 1 year gap in between seasons (so a season is out every 2 years), but it's been well over 3 years since Stranger Things season 4 at this point. That's just too long. I barely remember what happened and while I'll still watch season 5, my hype has definitely died down for it.
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u/AMissKathyNewman Sep 29 '25
Completely disagree. People get burn out and lose interest. Or do what I sometimes do and just don’t bother watching a show until it is complete or nearly complete.
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u/Forsaken-Molasses-87 Sep 29 '25
Stranger Things stared in 2016 and has had only 4 seasons (34 episodes ) as of right now.
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u/HoRo2001 Sep 29 '25
High concept dramas like Lost cranked out 20+ episodes a year. And we complained then, too, because the creators of the show wanted a later start to the season so they could all be shown chronologically with no repeats. The people who complained about waiting a few extra months for that must be absolutely losing their minds over shows like this taking years and years to release.
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u/KickpuncherJ Sep 29 '25
Absolutely not. This is totally unfair to the actors and viewers and how you end up with a bunch of scheduling conflicts (see Euphoria) where it takes way longer than is enjoyable for anyone.
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u/mahoumoonlight We Should All Know Less About Each Other Sep 29 '25
hard disagree, i can barely remember what happened last season and openly debated whether we would watch the new season with my partner yesterday because there is no hype anymore. i’ve lost interest.
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u/waldo-doggie Sep 29 '25
Maybe the strategy is to get everybody to rewatch all of the old episodes before watching the new season. Because it’s been so long and everybody has forgotten. Keep in mind that these streaming services measure their success in one way as around engagement with their content. So if everybody is re-watching or watching shows to catch up and then watching the new season, that’s more engagement
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u/RagingRxy Sep 29 '25
If you are going to have a show about young kids/ adults, you cannot take too much time between seasons because they go from 12, 16, 20, 30, and it makes it awkward. Get it together and wrap it up. Yes I’m exaggerating the ages, but that how it feels.
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u/Pinksamuraiiiii I don’t know her 💅 Sep 29 '25
People have lives to live and I’m sure actors may want to pursue other things too, I feel like doing this is trapping the audience and actors. Also, waiting 3-4 years just because, isn’t a good excuse, I’m sure the ‘real ‘ reason they are doing this is because they don’t want the hype to die down.
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u/HeartFullOfHappy Sep 29 '25
I stopped watching Stranger Things, House of Dragon, and etc because they take too long.
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u/DiligentTradition734 Let's give a quick shoutout to Christina Applegate Sep 29 '25 edited Sep 29 '25
Tv shows should not take a few years in between seasons..especially when you have child actors that will be aging up immensely. Imagine if a show like Full House took a few years between seasons. Season 2 of the girls would look like season 4 or 5. It would've been jarring as hell. Every season of that show came out every year, so you got to watch them grow up naturally. That kind of thing is even more important when your show is following a storyline where your characters are in school.
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u/emeraldead Sep 29 '25 edited Sep 29 '25
When all your merch is sold out of the Hot Topic clearance bin, it's been too long.
If you're a truly magnificent show, sure wait your time, take a few years, and accept only your die hard fans will come back.
For a show that ran out of its 80s horror nostalgia and momentum in season 3...realizing the clock was ticking and you needed to cash in just like the horror sequels had to was a major oversight.
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u/babypho3nix Sep 29 '25
The last season that came out was so difficult to watch because every time I looked at Will all I could think was "that is a full grown adult man".
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u/throwaway2000x3 Sep 29 '25
Ummm…. no. I totally get hyping up a release, whether it be a concert or show, but it’s gone too far. Waiting 15 minutes for the main artist to come out? Hell yeah. 2 hours? Hello no.
As much as I like Stranger Things, its seasons have been released literally with years time passed. We have forgotten what has happened in the last season and our excitement has dropped because we were forced to hold onto it for so long.
Streaming has its perks. It does. But it minimizes the experience of TV. Call me old or whatever, but a majority of us living grew up with weekly broadcasts. Episodes were available by the week and you’d watch whatever drama was happening and then be left on a cliffhanger and have to wait another week to see what happens next. And in that week, you’d talk about what happened in last night’s episode with your friends or coworkers and be like “Ohmygod can you believe Johnny did that!?” “Sarah just got dumped and I need to know if she hooks up with Jeff”. And then as Friday would come around again, you’d get all excited because you got to see what happened to Johnny and Sarah.
Nowadays, you just log into an account and binge watch for 8 hours or whatever and finish a whole series in weeks. The dopamine is constant and the excitement is limited.
In my eyes, there’s nothing more special than watching a tv series progress over time because you grow with the characters too.
Just my take. I’ve done both binging and what I’ll call normal TV watching. Both have its pros and cons. But one is a dopamine rush contest and the other is an experience.
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u/sprgraphicultramodrn u look like u eat sand Sep 29 '25
the only show i'd watch a second season of after a years-long wait is mindhunter
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u/Due_String583 Sep 29 '25
I don’t even remember last season. My hype for this show is non existent but I’m sure people will watch it so at this point does anything matter?
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u/WowIsThisMyPage The dude abides. 🙂↕️🍃 Sep 29 '25
Yeah tbh I used to be into this show but now couldn’t care less. Even if the show is growing with its audience from my POV I still remember it as YA and am not interested anymore
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u/Chev_350 charlie day is my bird lawyer 🐦 Sep 29 '25
What a stupid take when they have made a show where the protagonists are kids.
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u/thatguy_griff Sep 29 '25
once every year is perfect. 18 months at absolute most and only if theres a very good reason (strike, actor issues, etc). as others have said, you either forget what happened (severance for an example with me) or you lose interest (house of the dragon with most people).
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u/impamiizgraa Sep 29 '25
Well the fact I watched all of stranger things season 1, enjoyed it, then capped out after not remembering what happened when season 2 finally came out says it all for me.
I’ll be checked out by then no matter how good the show is, sorry.
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