Why the term "series" to note a season?

[tone76]

Really, it all comes down to leaf springs on Corvettes and the war in Iraq.

:lol:

I was going to say it's the same reason why the word 'fanny' has two totally different (yet oddly similar) meanings in the US and the UK, but your explanation is much, much better.

 

[Janus]

A season is made up of episodes and a series is made up of all of the seasons of a show.

That is what I was trying to say.

 

[Dygear]

Re: Why the term "series" to note a season?

Why the term "series" to note a season?

To denote it's part of a grater whole.

 

[ishigakisensei]

A season is made up of episodes and a series is made up of all of the seasons of a show.

And that is why we in the US say. I was asking if the Brits have anything for series is made up of all of the seasons of a show. As there has been no answer, I can assume there is no such term?

 

[M3Plus]

I would say that simply a season is identical to a series in terminology, it's just traditional for each country. Due to this, I believe this statement is false - "a series is made up of all of the seasons of a show".

 

[kekekeke]

I guess a better question to ask would be "Why does the US call it a season instead of series?" since it was always called a series in UK.

 

[TGUKGLM]

There's also a historic point to note here. Traditionally, British shows are made in much shorter runs than in the US.

E.g.) The Office was two series of 8 shows, whereas something like 24 or Lost will run to more than 20 episodes in a 'season'.

This means that no show would ever run long enough to warrant being called a 'season' which (as I think someone above has said) derives from the US TV habit of planning programming around the year's seasons, hence the 'Fall season' or 'Spring season' or whatever.

I don't think the TV announcers here would ever use 'season' in describing a set of programmes, I can even remember instances of very long-running shows being described as 'series' when they come to an end.

This is also the reason why there are so few episodes of 'Fawlty Towers' - it originally ran for just two series, so there are only 12 episodes.

Interestingly, and without wishing to bore you all, I think there's a school of thought developing that suggests both sides have got it wrong, in that UK series are too short to engage the viewer and US seasons are too long to keep a show fresh.

 

[ishigakisensei]

Interestingly, and without wishing to bore you all, I think there's a school of thought developing that suggests both sides have got it wrong, in that UK series are too short to engage the viewer and US seasons are too long to keep a show fresh.

I would have to say that I am a graduate of that school. Japan has shows even shorter - nearly all dramas are 12-15 episodes and that's it, over.

 

[Overheat]

A season is made up of episodes and a series is made up of all of the seasons of a show.

And that is why we in the US say. I was asking if the Brits have anything for series is made up of all of the seasons of a show. As there has been no answer, I can assume there is no such term?

We call it a "TV Show" for example, we would say that Lost is a TV Show that is currently in its second series.

 

[Walter Goldsworthy]

A season is made up of episodes and a series is made up of all of the seasons of a show.

In the U.S maybe. Not here. I don't appreciate you waving your stupid statements around willy-nilly without the foggiest idea of what you're talking about.

 

[Viper007Bond]

A season is made up of episodes and a series is made up of all of the seasons of a show.

In the U.S maybe. Not here. I don't appreciate you waving your stupid statements around willy-nilly without the foggiest idea of what you're talking about.

Wow, how about you calm the fuck down? If you were paying attention, at the bottom of the last page was a discussion as to what was meant by season and such, so I explained what things are called here in the US. I know very well what I'm talking about.

And to be frank, I wouldn't go around pissing off admins...

 

[ishigakisensei]

We call it a "TV Show" for example, we would say that Lost is a TV Show that is currently in its second series.

So saying On the series, Lost, this week we...... would be stated in the UK as On the TV show, Lost, this week we.....?

 

[hype]

We call it a "TV Show" for example, we would say that Lost is a TV Show that is currently in its second series.

So saying On the series, Lost, this week we...... would be stated in the UK as On the TV show, Lost, this week we.....?

no we dont even bother with all that, it would just be on lost this week

 

[Vette Boss]

Chaps, this is all just different terms used America and UK/Europe, that's all it is. No need to argue about it.

Americans say a season is a run of episodes, brits say it's a series. They're using different terms to describe exactly the same thing.

 

[Plissken]

Interestingly, and without wishing to bore you all, I think there's a school of thought developing that suggests both sides have got it wrong, in that UK series are too short to engage the viewer and US seasons are too long to keep a show fresh.

I've noticed that. Way back in the day - when it was all just fields around here, etc, etc - a British series would be six episodes. Now the average seems to have crept up, to around 8 or 10.

Agreed that US seasons are too long. 20-26 episodes becomes a really long haul for everyone involved, including the viewer.

 

[Webmonkey]

I think Season makes more sense to American shows, becuase their TV structure is far more regimented in structure than ours.

A big show, like Lost or 24 will run in a "season". That being the 2005/2006 "season".

Advertising is sold on American networks each year, in advanced. Which is a structure we just don't have in the UK.

I prefer season to be honest. But TG would have two season per year, and that makes less sense.

Anyway, its still s08e08, so it makes little difference

 

[Dr. Blau]

I prefer season to be honest. But TG would have two season per year, and that makes less sense.

But doesn't the calendar have four seasons per year?
And that makes sense...

 

[M3Plus]

If it were up to me, I'd install a word filter to replace "season" with "series" and "fall" with "autumn". But alas, this is an American site for a British show.

 

[ishigakisensei]

But doesn't the calendar have four seasons per year?
And that makes sense...

Something I think would make sense is:

2002: Season 1 and Season 2
2003: Season 1 and Season 2
2004: Season 1......etc

As the UK system is the way it is, the systems above offers greater organization.

 

[Webmonkey]

If it were up to me, I'd install a word filter to replace "season" with "series" and "fall" with "autumn". But alas, this is an American site for a British show.

Yeah, the term "fall" for "autumn" was clearly coined by a complete and utter retard.