Why do American networks have breaks between episodes of series rather than playing one after another each week as we in UK do? It's most annoying to find you have to wait sometimes weeks for the next episode!
@beegeeuk wrote:
Why do American networks have breaks between episodes of series rather than playing one after another each week as we in UK do? It's most annoying to find you have to wait sometimes weeks for the next episode!
Sometimes it is holidays, sometimes some big sport event that is airing on a different channel, it is all about the ratings :)
In the UK with small episode orders, they film them before they start airing. Here in the US, they're 3-4x as many episodes so they're filmed sometimes up to a week before it airs.
UK programs film in blocks, filming episodes out of air order, and the production wraps filming and all post work before a show ever airs on say the BBC or ITV. Some programs can be "in the can" for a year or more before airing.
In the US, network programs film each episode in order of when they will air. (network futzing with air orders aside) Depending on the show, an episode can take 6-8 days for principle shooting. Post work can add another week (special effects, looping, that sort of thing), so US shows usually start filming in August for late September premieres. They usually have several weeks of buffer when they are airing new episodes, take a break for Thanksgiving and Christmas, then pick up filming again in January for episodes that will air through the Spring.
This season, COVID restrictions in the areas where most US shows are filmed (so Los Angeles, New York, and Vancouver, with a smattering of other locations like Georgia and Hawai'i thrown in for good measure) means the filming schedules were really messed up. This is why most shows didn't premiere until October or November, and why they will all have short seasons (16-18 episodes instead of the usual 22-24)