Kube

Why do they call them series and not seasons? I don't get it.


Thanks

andicus

Because their programming doesn't follow the somewhat 'seasonal' scheduling that we have here.

I.e. We have the Fall Season of television where most shows will start within a fairly short span of time.

In the UK, series tend to start at just about any time of the year.

Granted, this is changing, somewhat, with cable programming. The seasonal scheduling tends to me more related to the big networks.

Kube

That makes sense. That never occurred to me. Thanks.

For my ear, the word series implies two different shows.

Drexl

It's one of those terms that people will continue to use, even after the original meaning is anachronistic. Examples: "filming" with digital cameras, and a "set-top box" for your flat panel TV.

movieguru

The U.S. seems to be using the term "series" more often now as well due to the way shows are distibuted now over various formats.

dan30oly

They are better at TV.

That's why.

windom

They also call a vacation a "holiday", a flashlight a "torch", and a truck a "lorry". Crazy people. I can't understand how we evolved from them.

Josh-da-man

And they call french fries "chips" and potato chips "crisps."

Seriously, fuck them.

Strapped4Cash

I never know what's meant by a "biscuit".

Also, "Nick got nicked by the nick and taken to the nick" is supposedly a valid sentence (although 1-2 of those "nicks" perhaps are supposed to begin with 'k's?), with nick the name of a person, also the police, also having been arrested by the police, also jail/prison. What should be illegal is the ability to construct sentences such as that!

majorjoe23

In England, "fanny" means something quite different, which is why they call fanny packs "pussy pouches."

Why So Blu?

movieguru

Willy also has a different meaning so don't ever bring up the movie Free Willy without epecting a dirty look.

majorjoe23

The U.K. press translated the nickname of Bill "Slick Willy" Clinton as "Frictionless Dong."

Solid Snake

The definition of series isn't just one thing.

Easy

This gesture (2) by Spike http://www.playbuzz.com/daisym13/how...now-your-buffy was featured in the opening montage of Buffy for years and went right over the censors heads. In the UK this gesture means exactly the same thing as the middle finger in the US.

Xiroteus

Having two separate words season and series makes it easier. Saying the complete series means the series as a whole and not just a season.

movieguru

And "Cheerio" means goodbye over there. Never respond by saying "Apple Jack" or "Froot Loop" because they don't find it funny.

digidoh

Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.

I knew from comic books ads (the source of all knowledge) that in England Kellogg's Frosted Flakes are called Kellogg's Frosties (sounds more like an ice cream treat). So I asked a Brit at work what they call the breakfast cereal Cheerios. It's the same over there!

Original Desmond

and the english annoying have much shorter seasons/series

6 episodes is quite common

dan30oly

Yeah...and they don't have mashed potatoes and gravy at their kfc's and they don't have buttered popcorn at the theatre, and there's only like 2 Taco Bells on that entire island.

They suck.

Autotelik

Well, one could also ask why we call them seasons and not series. Each season of the year is 13 weeks, and it's not like ANY of our shows fit exactly into a 13 week season anyway.

Xiroteus

Regardless of what they are called having two separate terms makes it easier to distinguish them apart.

Jay G.

Traditionally, in the US, the TV "season" runs from Fall-Spring, with Summer being time off. This is why many shows have "mid-season finales" right before the holidays, while "mid-season replacements" premiere in Jan/Feb.


For me the difference in terms isn't just about scheduling, but also about they way shows are thought of and ordered.

In the US, the vast majority of shows are picked up with the idea of it, as long as the ratings are good, running perpetually. Initial episode orders are between 6-13 episodes, and more or ordered for the initial season if it does well (if it doesn't, that's what the mid-season replacements are for). Then if picked up for a full "season," if the show does well, the 2nd season is typically ordered before the first season even ends. The idea is for an ever ongoing series with an open-ended number of seasons. Contracts are written specifically for the talent involved for multiple seasons upfront, sometimes up to 7.


In contrast, from what I understand of UK TV, particularly the BBC, when they get a new show, they'll pick it up and order one series, of a set number of episodes (typically on the low end, often just 6). The show is then written, directed, and aired, and if it's a success, then they look at whether everyone involved wants to to a second series. In many ways, they work with TV shows similar to how studios deal with movies: make, release, if successful make a sequel. Also similar to movies, the sequel TV series over there sometimes aren't made the next year, but could be made years down the line. Fawlty Towers had two series, 4 years apart.


So in the US, we view a TV show as a single series, separated in seasons, while there they view TV shows as a sequence of separate series.

andicus

Yes. I only meant to indicate the starting time of each 'season.' I realize they can run longer than the actual season.

GuessWho

many series = "the complete programme"?