A common criticism leveled against some of Netflix’s original programming — particularly Marvel shows like Jessica Jones and Luke Cage — is that seasons have too many episodes and are filled with inconsequential material, resulting in a slow-paced viewing experience.
During her recent appearance at the Television Critics Association summer press tour, Netflix’s VP of original programming Cindy Holland addressed the phenomenon known as “Netflix bloat”, explaining that in many cases, the number of episodes in a Netflix season is dictated by the deal that Netflix initially struck when the project was picked up.
“In some of the earlier negotiations and deals that we did with third-party studios, we were sort of hamstrung a little bit by the convention of the 13-episode cable series pattern,” Holland pointed out. “And if you look at the content that we’ve been making out of Netflix Studios and even with third-party partners now, often the seasons are generally no more than 10 episodes.”
Netflix
