The original post: /r/television by /u/JamStan1978 on 2025-12-30 20:01:37+00:00.
I miss these kinds of shows so fucking much. Twenty two episodes of character development, wacky and silly episodes, plot progression, and character focused episodes.
With so many episodes, they can do the main plot while also having episodes where we’re literally just seeing their daily lives and getting to know them intimately and fully. We can get episodes from certain characters’ perspectives or spend time with storylines and arcs without rushing them. There can be multiple different arcs for multiple characters throughout the entire season, so it never feels like filler.
People say TV from this time had too much filler and not enough story, but that’s wrong. It had a lot of story and very little filler. You actually spent time with the characters. There are very few episodes in these shows that do absolutely nothing. I especially love when the main overarching story connects to the separate storylines in each episode.
TV like this is a lost art form. We’ll never get to know characters as deeply as this anymore, and storylines will never get this much time to breathe. What happened to a buildup over so many episodes that it’s just absolutely amazing when it finally happens in the finale? I never get that feeling when it’s only eight episodes.
We need to bring this type of TV back. I’m tired of shows trying to be movies. Let TV shows be TV shows, through and through. They can have smaller budgets with more episodes. It helps them be more creative and have more fun. Plus it’s harder to renew expensive shows.