Sci-Fi Storm

Day One to be shortened to a mini-series?

by on Oct.01, 2009, under Television

Day One, which NBC has been saying may simply be a one shot 13 episode series as opposed to a continuing series, may not even make it that far – NBC is reportedly cutting the order to four episodes and will bill it as a mini-series instead, to bow after the Olympics.


2 Comments for this entry

  • mbourgon

    How about more British-style series?

    Many British shows (Being Human, No Heroics, Primeval, Spaced, Strange, Spooks, etc) seem to run a 6-episode series for the year. That’s it. Why is there such a stigma against this in the US?

    • Doc

      Re:How about more British-style series?

      I think it is just a very different mentality to the structure of TV series. In my mind, because of the limited number of channels in the past in Britain there wasn’t a lot of airtime. Shows didn’t compete against each other for viewers – they competed against each other for airtime.

      Shows also appear made specifically with the expectation that is all they get – one series of 13 episodes (I think that used to be the typical length, half that of a US series). It was even called a “series” and not a “season” (television seasons that started in September were a US thing). If that was all, great – you got the whole story. If they decided to bring it back, it was a whole new story. HOWEVER, that also meant that cast was more flexible – it wasn’t unusual for major characters to change.

      More recently however, Hollywood seems to be thinking in terms of shorter runs and self-contained stories…I thought that at one point Heroes or Lost was envisioned as a one-season deal.

      At least that’s what I think…

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