Discuss The Big Bang Theory
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Season 13 Negotiations
posted by TheBayHarborButcherSTAFFMOD on August 6, 2018 at 1:18 PM
https://tvline.com/2018/08/05/big-bang-theory-season-13-renewed-cbs/
CBS is currently in negotiations to try to renew TBBT for a 13th season.
Reply by TheBayHarborButcher
on August 9, 2018 at 4:11 PM
That's the other thing too. The current record for the longest running live action sitcom is 14 seasons with The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (It's Always Sunny in Philly will be going into it's 13th season this Fall). That show ended in 1966. It would be quite an accomplishment for TBBT to beat that record all these years later.
Also, I'm sure the highest cost for this series is the cast salaries. Outside of that I'm sure the rest of the series is pretty affordable as it's a multi-cam sitcom. Those tend to be on the less expensive side of things. It's probably worth paying the cast their million dollars an episode (or whatever they get) because they'll make up that money later.
Reply by Knixon
on August 9, 2018 at 8:10 PM
Comparing old shows to new isn't a direct relationship. In 14 seasons, Ozzie and Harriet did 435 episodes. In 11 seasons TBBT has done just over half that many. Several of the Ozzie and Harriet seasons had 39 episodes each! Including the first. Season 1 of TBBT had just 17 episodes. The rest have had 23 or 24. In terms of number of episodes, TBBT would have to go several more years to beat Ozzie and Harriet. Even longer if you counted minutes of show, not just number of episodes.
Reply by northcoast
on August 10, 2018 at 4:55 AM
Well, I expect to hear Knixon and censorshipsucks06 rounding the corner after this, but I say end it. Twelve seasons is plenty. The broadcast networks could do a lot better financially AND artistically if they would reinvent themselves along the cable TV series model: Short seasons with a limited series run overall; for example, 10 to 15 episodes per season with a three to six season run total; perhaps the number of seasons could be extended slightly to seven or eight if artistic reasons justify it and the overall episode count is still low (seems like a maximum episode count of 100 episodes would be about right, if the show was really good). Even before the explosion of cable network TV, I was getting mighty tired of the broadcast networks running a show into the ground, nine or ten or eleven or more seasons, with many of the original actors understandably dropping away because they wanted to do other projects or simply because they wanted to live a life outside of the show (like get pregnant and start a family, or release themselves from certain agreements regarding off-set behavior or types of projects they could be engaged in). Not to mention the inevitable parade of writers over the years, often leading to wild tangents in a show or a total alteration of a character's backstory. (Hmmm . . . running out of ideas for The Big Bang Theory here; I know-- let's get Howard a half-brother! Stuff like that). I'm not ready to say network TV is dead; that prediction has been made for years, the major networks are still here, and they are adapting somewhat (their utilization of online streaming, for example). There is still excitement for certain returning/fan-resurrected shows (The Conners on ABC for the former, Last Man Standing on Fox for the latter).
I think the broadcast networks could be given new life-- especially for the younger generation with its penchant to binge-watch and with its shorter attention-span --if, as I said before, the networks would simply commit to shorter seasons and shorter series with a concentration on quality storytelling over quantity of episodes/seasons.
Anyway, that's just my two cents.
I await the onslaught:)
Reply by Knixon
on August 10, 2018 at 6:14 AM
The broadcast networks have a different job to do. Netflix and others can produce a few episodes of a show, and maybe just release them all at once which often happens. To the extent that the broadcast networks have already greatly reduced the numbers of episodes produced for shows - as I just posted, Ozzie and Harriet was just one example of shows from the 60s and 70s that had WAY more episodes per year than shows do now - it might be argued that the networks are actually making a mistake. Again, they have a different market and a different job than places like Netflix. Some of the longest-running shows in history have been "soap operas" which mostly run EVERY WEEKDAY, NO REPEATS, sometimes for DECADES!
Reply by tmdb92157346
on August 10, 2018 at 7:31 AM
No onslaught from me. 😊 Excellent post. And what you are suggesting can be done outside of the Netflix setting. Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad are great examples and are/were on AMC. Not one of the "major networks" but still a regular TV channel.
Reply by TheBayHarborButcher
on August 10, 2018 at 7:47 AM
I completely agree about shortening the length of TV seasons. 22 episodes is too many. I think that is a reason why we’ve seen the ratings drop so much over the years. People don’t have the patience to watch 1 season spread out over 9 months. Short bursts are better.
When it comes to the actual length of the series I think it depends. Honestly, I’m all for certain shows running for years and years. Some series I think are just designed that way. However, if you look at certain series on cable or on-line they aren’t meant to be treated that way. They were developed around the idea of a limited run. Something like TBBT, in my opinion, wasn’t designed that way. It was designed to go the distance.
Reply by FormerlyKnownAs
on August 10, 2018 at 1:27 PM
Bad News: Sounds like a suck-fest.
Good News: Can walk away at any time.
Reply by FormerlyKnownAs
on August 25, 2018 at 10:42 AM
With S12 being the last - dodged a bullet? Or, in this case, an entire round??