Just wanted to get a feel for what everyone thinks is the right number of episodes, per season, for an hour long Fantasy/ Action TV show made for VOD platform. I'm trying to have a full Season written and ready to go and have a series bible pieced together (I normally write full length features but am having a blast trying my hand at TV) Some say 6 episodes others go all the way up to 22. Just curious, In our current society of binge watchers, how many episodes do you feel a season should run for?
Screenwriting : Not enough or too many? by Heather McCluskey
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That’s tough. Is it a limited series with a plot running through the whole season?
It's not limited at this time, I 've very roughly planned out 6 seasons, and there is a main plot running through the series with several different sub plots running through the episodes with an obstacle to overcome each season, I can stretch the plot and postpone the first sessions obstacle if needed but I was thinking around 10 episodes just not too sure
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I’ve seen a lot of 8-10 episode seasons. 6 is too short if it isn’t a limited series in my opinion. What’s the series?
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It's a sci-fi / fantasy/ action playing off of the unknown origins of the RH Negative blood lines, called " RH- " Logline: When a college student finds out he’s actually part of an alien race, of shape-shifting dragons, and that he alone carries the key, to saving the universe from devastation, within his bloodline, he must learn to become a true Draco warrior, while fighting to stay alive and uncover the truth of what happened centuries ago.
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6-8
For me personally. The old network model was for the length of the rating season.
How long is each episode?
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Hi Heather,
Wow...you have six seasons planned out already? That's pretty impressive, and so is your story concept.
The numbers you were told were pretty close. It varies by show. Euphoria had seven episodes in its first season on HBO. Better Call Saul has had 10 each season on AMC. Orange is the New Black has had 13 episodes each season on Netflix. Hawaii Five-O has had 22 - 25 each season on CBS. So has Supernatural on WB.
Best fortunes in your creative endeavors, Heather!
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For hour long fantasy/action I would keep it around 8. Consider the budgets the story will need with each episode at 60 minutes. Keeping it under 10 will give the seasons arc and story lines space to breathe without fatigue.
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Hey everyone. I’m Adrian and new to Stage 32! Heather, I think you brought up a very good question. I’m also struggling with the decision making process of how many episodes to create per season of a VOD show. I see that 12 seems to be the number most often used. Plus I believe in the theory of keeping our audience wanting more. But if you feel that your story needs more than 12 episodes to wrap everything up, then by all means go for it. No ones gonna hate you for giving them what they want lol
Nick, I appreciate the concern in wasting time, but a story written is never time wasted. If going for an option that would make perfect sense however I am currently doing crowd funding for my own production company Spec Central Films and feel having a lot of scripts ready to roll, even if there's some work to be done in pre production, is always a safe bet. Why wait for someone else to make your dreams when you're the one dreaming it?
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I can only speak to the tv world where a season for a half hour show consists of twelve episodes (sometimes a 13th marketing teaser for the following 3 month season). The same number of episodes for an hour show but run over a 6 month season. Reruns fill the rest of the season. Typically, a show loses money in the 1st season, it often loses money in the 2nd (maybe breaks even), the 3rd is typically the break even season, it becomes profitable in the 4th and makes real money in the 5th & 6th. By then, it's spin off time. I have no idea about the VOD platforms.
Most of my experience comes from NBC & CBS earlier. (Northern Exposure, Colombo, McMillan & Wife, MTM, Grimm... stuff like that - so my experience is pretty limited.)
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That's the plan, Dan. I started out learning how to be a DP, then acting and directing, then came the challenging world of screenwriting, and at this time I'm actually learning CGI using Blender. I feel it's important to know all the cogs in the machine in order to make it run smoothly. I know it's taking on a lot at first but with luck, hope and hard work I might just be able to make something great.