These days, producers fund two “seasons” up front. I’d guess it’s less expensive to make two season of 10 episodes each at once than to make one season, hard stop, and then wait on approval for a second season. Having downtime while contracts are renegotiated, schedules managed, and sets sit unused can get expensive.
We should be seeing a boom of sci-fi as computer graphics have improved and become cheaper but we see almost nothing at all, and whatever does get made is of incredibly poor quality in all regards.
Problem is that all the well-known IPs are locked down due to copyright. Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate, Battlestar, Dr Who -- You'll just get shut down if you're doing anything there, and without the name recognition no one will invest budget to actually do anything besides direct-to-video slop.
These days, producers fund two “seasons” up front. I’d guess it’s less expensive to make two season of 10 episodes each at once than to make one season, hard stop, and then wait on approval for a second season. Having downtime while contracts are renegotiated, schedules managed, and sets sit unused can get expensive.
Which is another way of saying it's just one season, split in two, to give the impression of greater success.
We should be seeing a boom of sci-fi as computer graphics have improved and become cheaper but we see almost nothing at all, and whatever does get made is of incredibly poor quality in all regards.
Problem is that all the well-known IPs are locked down due to copyright. Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate, Battlestar, Dr Who -- You'll just get shut down if you're doing anything there, and without the name recognition no one will invest budget to actually do anything besides direct-to-video slop.
The zeitgeist is gone. Our society doesn't plan for the future. It doesn't reward excellence. The hopeful optimism that made sci fi enjoyable is dead.