Traditional threshold for a TV show to enter syndicated reruns
This article is about the syndication packaging concept. For a list of episodes for The CW television series, see
List of The 100 episodes
.
In the U.S. television industry,
100 episodes
is the traditional threshold for a television series to enter
syndicated
reruns
.
[1]
[2]
[3]
One hundred episodes are advantageous for
stripped
syndication because it allows for 20 weeks of
weekday
reruns (depending on the number of episodes produced once the program debuts in syndication) without repeating an episode, and such shows can be sold for higher per-episode pricing.
[4]
One of the first series made specifically for syndication, the 1953?1955 sitcom
Life with Elizabeth
, purposely ended its run after only 65 episodes, concerned that producing more would saturate the market and reduce the syndication package's value.
[5]
In recent years, the minimum number of episodes for off-network, stripped syndication has been set at 88 (typically four seasons of 22 episodes), although some programs have been relatively successful in syndication with fewer episodes.
The Jetsons
, for instance, only aired 75 episodes.
Overview
[
edit
]
Syndication
is often a profitable enterprise because a series can be
rerun
for years after it ends production. Shows of limited profitability during their first run will still prove to be viable to the
production company
if they can last 100 episodes. This point is usually reached during a series' fifth season.
Shows that have produced fewer episodes have become syndication successes, in some cases prompting additional episodes to be commissioned specifically for syndication to reach the 100-episode mark.
WKRP in Cincinnati
was a major success in syndication despite having only
produced 90 episodes
,
[6]
eventually prompting
47 additional episodes
to be produced a decade after the original ended.
The Monkees
, a show that lasted only 58 episodes and two seasons, went on to be rerun extensively in the decades that followed, with interest in the series being revived in the 1980s when the series was rerun on cable.
[7]
The Honeymooners
was a series spun off in 1955?1956 from sketches of the same name that aired on
The Jackie Gleason Show
, an hour-long variety program (1952?1955). While only 39 episodes of
The Honeymooners
were produced, there were enough
Honeymooners
sketches from
The Jackie Gleason Show
(which ran again in the
1956?1957 season
and would be revived in the 1960s) to compile a syndication package with over 100 episodes.
[8]
Mama's Family
was put into syndication despite having only 35 episodes at the time of its cancellation; the surprise success of the show in summer reruns and syndication prompted the syndicator to rush the show back into production, which led to an additional 95 episodes aired over four seasons in first-run syndication.
[9]
[10]
The Munsters
also was put into syndication despite running for two seasons, but with 70 episodes; the series became popular in reruns to the point that an
updated version of the series
was produced in the late 1980s and early 1990s with an entirely new cast and 72 episodes over three seasons.
More recently,
Clueless
had reasonable success in syndication, especially on cable, even though only 62 episodes had been produced by the time the series ended in
1999
.
Chappelle's Show
entered syndication despite only producing 33 episodes, five of which were
clip shows
. Series which have entered the
public domain
, such as
Dusty's Trail
,
Meet Corliss Archer
, and
Life with Elizabeth
are sometimes aired regardless of the number of episodes because there is no licensing fee.
Dramas, which do not require daily runs, have also had success in syndication with shorter runs. For example,
Lost in Space
ceased production in 1968 after 84 episodes because of declining ratings,
[11]
[12]
but did well in syndication for a number of years. The original
Star Trek
series had only 79 episodes available when its network run
ended in 1969
, but after its considerable success in syndication, it spawned
multiple feature films and more than six spin-off series
. Other examples include
The Prisoner
and
Hondo
, both successfully syndicated for more than 30 years
[
citation needed
]
despite having only 17 episodes produced. The original 1978 series
Battlestar Galactica
and its spin-off
Galactica 1980
produced a combined 34 episodes, yet it not only remains in syndication but it also led to a
2003 reimagining
that lasted for 75 episodes. In 2014,
AMC
released
The Walking Dead
for reruns on
MyNetworkTV
after 51 episodes had aired; that series was still in production at the time, and MyNetworkTV airs its shows once a week instead of in a daily strip.
The growth of
cable
and
satellite television
has prompted channels to rerun series more often, with fewer episodes. Reruns of a particular show may air multiple times a day, several days a week, despite having only one or two seasons of episodes produced.
By the early 2010s, the milestone for syndication was accepted at 88 episodes, which is typically reached after four seasons. Shows approaching the 88-episode target are often renewed despite low ratings in order to ensure syndication. Production companies can offer discounts on licensing fees to the networks to encourage renewal. Shows that are approaching the 88-episode syndication milestone while suffering from poor ratings are often moved to
graveyard slots
on
Friday
or Saturday in order to
burn off
remaining episodes.
[13]
By the end of that decade, with the rise of
subscription video on demand
services and different funding models which make continuing series more expensive, the threshold for a series to be profitable in syndication has been dropped even lower to 50 episodes.
[14]
It was noted in 2024 that no American series that had been originally made for streaming television had ever reached the 100 episode threshold.
[15]
An extreme example of a show renewed primarily for syndication purposes was
'Til Death
, which was pulled from
Fox
's lineup just seven episodes into its third season, after it had fallen out of the top 100 in the primetime ratings.
[16]
Cancellation seemed imminent, but the show was renewed for a fourth season after
Sony Pictures Entertainment
offered Fox a discount on the licensing fee. Unaired episodes from the third season were broadcast alongside fourth season episodes from October 2009 through June 2010 (a total of 37 episodes), including four new episodes airing in a
Christmas Day
"
marathon
" and two new episodes being
scheduled against
Super Bowl XLIV
with the knowledge that these episodes would have minuscule ratings. The overlapped seasons led to some comical confusion, because
four
different
actresses
played the part of Allison Stark during this span of episodes.
[17]
[18]
[19]
The show eventually reached 81 episodes,
[20]
[21]
and debuted in off-network syndication in the fall of 2011.
[22]
[23]
Niche genres
[
edit
]
The 100-episode threshold is generally applied solely to scripted prime time programming, since
sitcoms
and dramas are the most prevalent in syndicated reruns. Other programming may follow different patterns. For example, the traditional syndication model seldom works for most reality shows, and both annual and semi-annual contests have also been a relative failure in syndication.
[24]
[25]
Game shows
[
edit
]
On rare occasions, game shows have been rerun on broadcast television. Despite having very high output as far as numbers of episodes (a typical 13-week run of even an unsuccessful game show yielded 65 episodes) are concerned, most networks instead opted to
recycle the tapes
of those shows, as it was viewed at the time as a more profitable practice than trying to sell reruns of daytime programming. The practice of rerunning some of the most popular game shows in syndication was rare, but not unheard of, in the 1970s and 1980s;
Gambit
was rerun in 1978 and
Match Game
was rerun in syndication in 1985. In addition,
Classic Concentration
was rerun by NBC between September 1991 and the summer of 1993.
Jeopardy!
and
Wheel of Fortune
, which have produced thousands of episodes over their runs of 35 or more years in syndication as of 2019, offers a package of reruns (with the former using the title
Daytime Jeopardy!
) as companion series for stations with an extra time slot.
[26]
With the advent of cable channels such as
Game Show Network
, the subchannel network
Buzzr
, and advertising-supported linear video services such as
Pluto TV
, rerunning game shows has become more common; for instance,
Merv Griffin's Crosswords
, which lasted one season and 225 episodes in syndication during the 2007-08 season, ran continuously for several years thereafter, originally in syndication and later on
RTV
.
GSN
has rerun several game shows that ran less than 100 episodes, including
Greed
(44 episodes),
Dog Eat Dog
(26 episodes),
Power of 10
(18 episodes), and perhaps the most extreme case,
Million Dollar Password
, which ran for only 12 episodes. Even among shows with hundreds (and even thousands) of episodes, since the early 2010s, GSN typically has only acquired the rights to 50 to 65 episodes at a time for most series.
[27]
Rerunning game shows has proven to be successful;
Stirr
, the free over-the-top service run by
Sinclair Broadcast Group
, stated that Buzzr was the service's most popular nationwide channel.
[28]
Pluto TV and
The Roku Channel
have launched 24-hour linear channels devoted to individual game shows, a trend that began with
The Price Is Right
: The
Barker
Era
in December 2020
[29]
and since expanded to other game shows. A dedicated channel generally requires more than 100 episodes for optimal rotation, since a series of that length will begin repeating within less than three days; Pluto's
Jeopardy!
channel,
Jeopardy! Hosted by
Alex Trebek
, initially used a 250-episode package before expanding to 500 episodes in 2023.
[30]
Cartoons and children's programming
[
edit
]
Rerunning children's programming generally requires fewer episodes than programming for adults. For most children's series, reruns are aired for a short period of time after the series finishes production, then are replaced. For weekly series, this practice dates to at least the 1960s, when
Saturday morning cartoons
would, after the end of their 13-week run, begin rerunning continuously for about a year (usually four runs/year) until being replaced by the next show, either new or archival. During the 1970s, 22 episodes was typically the number a producer sought in order for an animated program to be rerun beyond its first year.
[31]
After several years, once the previous generation of children outgrew the show, it could be reintroduced for the next younger generation by airing reruns. For shows that are rerun daily, the time span is usually on the order of months. This also meant that
cancellations
of children's programming was extremely rare; because of the long lead time to produce a cartoon, networks usually bought a full season of a show before it began airing, meaning that it would be far too late to have any appreciable financial benefit by ending it.
[32]
It was noted in a study that when the animated series
Robotech
aired in 1985, daily strip syndication for a series for children required 65 episodes at minimum.
[33]
Until the mid-2000s, the
Disney Channel
notably stuck to a 65-episode limit?which allows for four series to be shown every weekday for a year?until
That's So Raven
was renewed to end at 100 episodes.
[34]
References
[
edit
]
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What's so magical about 88 episodes? The prevailing Hollywood mindset is that 88 episodes is the minimum number of episodes necessary to be able to 'strip' a show in syndication, i.e., run it Monday?Friday at the same time. All shows, regardless of number of episodes can be sold into syndication, but shows that can be stripped can command higher per-episode pricing. The magic number for being able to strip a show in syndication used to be 100 but for the last few years it has been 88.
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