When TV shows become famous, fans start clamoring for the next season to come as soon as possible. But not all TV shows manage to do it. Some end up being trapped in a lengthy hiatus that hurts both the fans and the network.
Stranger Things – 21 Months
The hit Netflix sci-fi thriller series has become a staple of the streaming platform. But the Netflix Original hit a snag when it was making its third season. After the second season ended, fans had to wait for a long time before they could feat their eyes with Stranger Things season 3. Netflix has now done its best to reduce the hiatus time that mars most of its hit shows that are making a return. But a 21 month gap was still enough for fans to get really angry and drop a million mails to Netflix for bringing them the third season as soon as possible.
Homeland – 22 Months
Everyone wanted to see how Carrie Mathison’s story would end. But unfortunately, the network almost pulled the plug on the show due to on-set issues. The fans had to wait for almost two years before the Showtime thriller series could give us a concluding season. And the ending was just as abrupt and tragic. Homeland’s concluding arc remains one of the most unsatisfying series finales of all time.
Hunter X Hunter – 8 Years
We rae taking into account the original Japanese air date here. Based on that, the cult hit anime series has been on a hiatus since the last episode aired on the 24th of September, 2014. The reason the anime remains on a hiatus is because there’s not enough material in the manga for making another season. Togashi’s failing health is what’s keeping him from giving the fans the closure they desperately seek.
The X-Files – 14 Years
The iconic sci-fi mystery thriller series was the crown jewel over at FOX in the 90’s. It remains a cult-classic to this day. But the show was fated to meet a watery grave after lead stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson tried jumping ship. Duchovny wanted to get involved in other projects. Anderson had her own familial problems to take care of. The network tried replacing the two actors with new faces but that did not work out. In the end, the original stars returned and the series got a satisfying ending. After 2008’s The X-Files: I Want to Believe, flopped, the future of X-Files looked bleak as plans for a sequel series were put on a hiatus. In 2016, X-Files returned with a brand new season with most of the talent from the original show returning to the small screens.
Doctor Who – 16 Years
When BBC first reported that they were contemplating pulling the plug on Doctor Who in 1985, there was visible fan outrage. The management back then had very little creative head-space and didn’t realize the sheer value of the franchise. Thankfully, Russell T Davies, a fan of the show, convinced BBC to not go with a hard reboot. Davies’ Doctor Who was just as smart and sexier as the original Doctor Who that signed off in 1989. The fans of the series had to wait for a long time but in the end, the wait was worth it.
Twin Peaks – 26 Years
Before we had TV Shows like Game of Thrones, we had class, masterfully crafted shows like Twin Peaks. Before we used to chant “You know nothing, Jon Snow”, we used to ask “Who killed Laura Palmer?” ABC was getting rave reviews and ratings until the show finally revealed Laura’s killer. Everything went downhill after that and the series ended up crashing its own arc. Laura Palmer did say she will see Special Agent Dale Cooper in “25 years” in the final episode of season 2. Twin peaks season 3 did come but it was a weird exercise in trying to dismantle the nostalgia and the lore around Twin Peaks.
