wergo

They traditionally run from fall through winter to spring. When did they first start referring to a series run as a "season" and why?

calhoun07

It makes more sense to call them "series" like in the UK.

Morf

A "season" makes more sense than a "series." A season has a beginning and end, yet is cyclical. A series has a beginning and end, but the end is the end.

adamblast

Season has always seemed more logical to me. A TV series is the whole show. As for when it started, well, it started when TV series started--that has always been the terminology in the US.

Tracer Bullet

The season/series difference just refers to the different ways in which American and British television operate. They commission one series and that's it- if it's popular enough, they'll commission a second one, etc. It's rare for shows to "assume" they're working towards the next series, or to get multi-series renewals.

DRG

America's Next Top Model refers to its seasons as 'Cycles', which also makes sense, especially in a reality show.

das Monkey

Yep. Traditionally, the television "season" was like football season or baseball season, the same basic time frame every year. New shows would air for a period of time between the Fall and Spring, and then we'd go into the "off-season" with reruns. Cable television, reality programming, first-run syndication, and a general popularity increase have now pushed prime time television to be a year-round thing with programming starting and ending at all kinds of wacky times, but historically the term makes perfect sense.

das