North American Usage
In North American television, a series is a connected set of television program episodes that run under the same title, possibly spanning many seasons. 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 otherwise called a "season finale").
Since the late 1960s, this broadcast programming schedule typically includes 20 to 26 episodes (before then, a regular television season could average out to at least 30 episodes). In North America the term "television season" is used inconsistently. A "full season" on a broadcast network typically runs from September through May for at least 22 episodes. 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 espisodes 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," or in "Futurama is splitting its seasons similar to how South Park does, doing half a season at a time, so this is season 6B for them." 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 N", and the second run between January and May labeled "Season N.5". This is typically done to increase DVD sales of the show. Distributors release the first half of the season in stores just before the second half first airs to increase interest in the season's second half. Examples of this include the 2004 incarnation of Battlestar Galactica, ABC's FlashForward, and ABC Family's Make It or Break It.
Read more about this topic: Television Program, Seasons/series
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