![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SEC_299705319-5a95.jpg\")
\n\t\tTwo of my favourites are HBOs Euphoria and Jenny Han\u2019s The Summer I Turned Pretty (Picture: HBO)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tTwo of my favourites are HBOs Euphoria and Jenny Han\u2019s The Summer I Turned Pretty (Picture: HBO)<\/p>\n
There\u2019s something strange I\u2019ve noticed over the past few years \u2013 I cn barely remember any TV shows I have watched.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not because of my memory or that I\u2019m so easily distracted.<\/p>\n
I think it\u2019s because of the way we now consume TV \u2013 especially US shows \u2013 often in one full-on binge or a hurried-through six to eight episodes at a time, followed by massive gaps in between.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With my thumb constantly on the buttons of my remote, streaming platforms often force me to browse for something to instantly consume until I\u2019m on the verge of finger numbness. And by the end of it all, I have forgotten the show and characters easily.<\/p>\n
Two of my favourites are HBOs Euphoria<\/a> and Jenny Han\u2019s The Summer I Turned Pretty<\/a> \u2013 and although both have relatively few episodes (and the former had gaps between seasons), they offer something quite \u2018old school\u2019 -a weekly release model. <\/p>\n \t\t\t\tGet personalised updates on all things Netflix\t\t\t<\/p>\n Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro\u2019s TV Newsletter.<\/p>\n Sign up to our newsletter<\/a> and then select your show in the link we\u2019ll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you.<\/p>\n In my view, one of the best way to watch TV.<\/p>\n \t\t When watching Euphoria, I loved the anticipation in wanting to know whether Nate Jacobs would be rescued from the underground coffin<\/a> where he was buried or whether protagonist Isabel Conklin, in The Summer I Turned Pretty, would finally call off her wedding.<\/p>\n This waiting period in between each episode consumed me \u2013 I would pace from room to room, wondering if I could possibly make smarter decisions than these fictional characters on the screen.<\/p>\n And sometimes the waiting was painful, but it made the storyline stick to my memory, and that made it worth watching \u2013 it made it memorable enough to have an impact.\u00a0<\/p>\n I remember exactly how Nate Jacobs met his end and who Isabel Conklin chose.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tHow do you prefer TV shows to be released?<\/p>\n Weekly episodes to build anticipation.Check<\/p>\n<\/li>\n All at once for binge-watching.Check<\/p>\n<\/li>\n I enjoy both methods equally.Check<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n \t\t\t\t\tWant to get bespoke updates on the TV shows you love? Sign up to Metro’s TV newsletters and tell us which ones you can’t get enough of<\/p>\n Plot alone does not give the badge of honour to a series \u2013 it is the decisions and the moral tensions in a character\u2019s life that make me care about what Hollywood has to say.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why lately, my relationship to the characters and their development feels fleeting. For a long time, I have been asking to have long and deliberately curated TV shows and their portrayal of real-life struggles.\u00a0<\/p>\n TV shows used to receive the full fleshed treatment \u2013 they would have between eight and 12 writers, show-runners, upper-level writers, mid-level writers and junior writers all immersed in what they were creating.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t This has now been reduced to \u2018mini rooms,\u2019 with only three to five writers involved. It feels like the love has been taken out of the process.<\/p>\n Additionally, audiences now have to wait longer periods for significantly less content.<\/p>\n In 2010, Gossip Girl watchers waited<\/a> around four months to have a 22-episode-long season. In stark contrast, between 2022 and 2024, Bridgerton<\/a> watchers waited approximately two years and two months for an eight-episode season, each available to download and binge in one hit.\u00a0<\/p>\n This leaves little room for audiences to build a memorable relationship with the storyline or the characters. The very thing which makes audiences care for characters stuck in conflicts was missing \u2013 a slow-burning struggle that made the resolution worth it. Not short bursts after long waiting times that make us forget why we cared in the first place.<\/p>\n I understand that at times, these long seasons with 22 episodes on average can tend to get accused of having too much \u2018filler\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n But, slow-paced, sometimes boring, episodes are necessary for characters to be met with life-changing realisations, or get a chance for them to get more relatable \u2013 we begin to live our everyday boring life with them.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t Breaking Bad is a perfect example<\/a> of this. In its starting stages, the show was met with modest reviews due to its slower pace compared to the non-stop action of later seasons, which define the show. Now, it is considered an all-time classic.\u00a0<\/p>\n Whether US television will return to the traditional delivery of carefully curated long seasons feels unlikely in this new fast-paced world of production and streaming.<\/p>\n But there is hope \u2013 Apple has championed the weekly episode release with the likes of Severance, Slow Horses and, more recently, Friends and Neighbours, while the new HBO medical drama \u2018The Pitt\u2019<\/a>, starring Noah Wyle and Mika Abdalla, not only releases the episodes every Friday, but their seasons contain 15 episodes each, with around seven writers working on the storyline.<\/p>\n \t\t With positive reviews, The Pitt\u2019s success demonstrates that seasons longer than eight episodes, and with a decently sized writers\u2019 room, can still be done.\u00a0<\/p>\n They need to give us viewers time to watch characters develop, or worsen, make mistakes and do something that reminds us of our own life. Let the writers overcook their cake while writing and then find the perfect baking temperature.\u00a0<\/p>\n I hope we see more shows like The Pitt and Euphoria, that gives us time to fall in love with the show.\u00a0<\/p>\n TV needs to make us care again.<\/p>\n They will have to think longer, deliver storylines more deliberately, and care more for the characters that they are creating.\u00a0<\/p>\n Otherwise, there\u2019s a bigger chance of menever remembering why I like any of the shows I am watching.<\/p>\n Do you have a story you\u2019d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Share your views in the comments below.<\/strong><\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"Woman](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-2243945590.jpg\")
\n\t\tWith my thumb constantly on the buttons of my remote, streaming platforms have forced me to browse for something to binge (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n
![\"BGUK_3536515](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SEI_291635583-cfa0.jpg\")
\n\t\tI remember exactly how Nate Jacobs met his end and who Isabel Conklin chose (Picture: HBO Max \/ Backgrid)<\/p>\n![\"Bridgerton.](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SEI_278377437-fee4.jpg\")
\n\t\tBridgerton watchers waited approximately two years and two months for an eight-episode season (Picture: Liam Daniel\/Netflix)<\/p>\n![\"Noah](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SEI_291619316-169e.jpg\")
\n\t\tI hope we see more shows like The Pitt and Euphoria (Picture: HBO)<\/p>\n
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