North American usage[edit]
See also:
Serial (radio and television)
In North American television, a series is a connected set of television program episodes that run under the same title, possibly spanning many seasons.
Since the late 1960s, this programming schedule typically includes between 20 and 26 episodes. (Before then, a regular television season could average out to at least 30 episodes.) Up until the 1980s, most (but certainly not all) new programs for the
broadcast networks debuted in the "Fall Season", which ran from September through March and nominally contained from 24 to 26 episodes. These episodes were rebroadcast during the Spring (or Summer) Season, from April through August. Because of
cable television and the Nielsen
sweeps, the "fall" season now normally extends to May. Thus, a "full season" on a broadcast network now usually runs from
September through May for at least 22 episodes.[14]
A full season is sometimes split into two separate units with a hiatus around the end of the calendar year, such as the first season of
Jericho on CBS. When this split occurs, the last half of the episodes sometimes are referred to with the letter B as in "The last nine episodes (of '
the Sopranos') will be part of what is being called either "Season 6, Part 2" or "Season 6B,"
[15] or in "
Futurama is splitting its seasons similar to how
South Parkdoes, doing half a season at a time, so this is season 6B for them."
[16] Since the 1990s, these shorter seasons also have been referred to as ".5" or half seasons, where the run of shows between September and December is labeled "Season X", and the second run between January and May labeled "Season X.5". Examples of this include the 2004 incarnation of
Battlestar Galactica, ABC's
FlashForward, and ABC Family's
Make It or Break It.
Nowadays, a new series is often ordered (funded) for just the first 10 to 13 episodes, to gauge the
audience interest. If it is "picked up", the season is completed to the regular 20 to 26 episodes. A
midseason replacement is an inexpensive short-run (10–13 episode) show designed to take the place of an original series that failed to garner an audience and has not been picked up. A "series finale" is the last show of the series before the show is no longer produced. (In the UK, it means the end of a season, what is known in the US as a "
season finale").
