The Walt Disney Company joined the oversaturated streaming service market with its prized entry, Disney+, and quickly rose through the ranks among its competitors. Its prestige outshone similar platforms such as Netflix, as it offered fresh, new, and exciting content that was guaranteed to draw in a diverse subscriber base. Disney+ doubled as a home for fandom of all forms, rehousing previously distributed films and television shows, while crafting exclusive media. The multifariousness of what Disney+ unlocked presented the streamer as a “one-stop-shop” for entertainment fans, and the Disney+ bundle elevated just what was possible for what could be made possible through a streaming service alone.
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Disney+ boasts an accomplished list of achievements after only being in the industry for two years. Between MCU series like the Emmy-nominated WandaVision to, most recently, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Disney+ has offered blockbuster franchise-fans stories that have expanded upon the worlds they’ve loved for so long. That said, a major drawback threatens to damage the reputation of Disney+’s most recent television releases. Specifically, the six-episode structure has been unable to impress subscribers as more television series are designed for a streaming release. More popular studios beneath the Walt Disney Company conglomerate have been faulted for their low episode count, as outlined by Screen Rant, and have resulted in disappointing reactions due to concerns around the show’s overall pace and performance. Disney+ has a promising roster of series prepared to launch on the streaming service from an array of studios, but further poses the question of whether the six-episode structure is hurting them after they are released in full.
What the 6-Episode Structure Accomplishes
Marvel Studios
When evaluating the positive aspects of Disney+’s method of sharing new content on its platform, the six-episode is not completely a negative concept. The idea of breaking down a six-hour running time (with the exception of credits and post-credit scenes) has reintroduced a week-by-week schedule to the modern television industry. The retention of subscription rates has benefited from Disney+’s business model, as it requires audiences who want to watch a series through its entirety to commit to a certain amount of time with the streaming service. An elongated release schedule additionally up-keeps internet trends around a particular series or show. The conversation generated around these series experiences a peak of four to seven weeks across social media, if not even longer in some instances, and promotes a rewatch of the six-episode stint. If a show is granted more to follow, the six-episode run can acquaint an audience with what to expect by teasing important events through forms of foreshadowing. They fulfill the purpose of reaching a potential audience and indicating consumer interest.
Smaller series packaged in six episodes can position themselves as a metaphorical “launching pad” that addresses pivotal moments in narrative construction, introduces new conflict, seeks out new resolutions in troubled storylines, and encourages growth within a series. They are able to introduce transitional aspects into franchises both large and small through their run and participate in more momentous events in each. Six-episode structures can be viewed as a starting point for new eras or chapters in ongoing sagas, or in some instances, act as an introduction to a new franchise.
Is the 6-Episode Structure Hurting Its Series?
In theory, yes. Disney+ has proven that the six-episode roadmap can require an audience to tune in on a weekly basis, though there are frustrations that are attached to a redundant formula. By only allotting a creative team a mere six hours to tell a complete story — or part of it if subsequent seasons are greenlit — there is not enough time for a complete story to be articulated to the best of its ability. Internet discourse has expressed disappointment with some Disney+ titles feeling incomplete, rushed, or unorganized as a result of such limited time frames. Within six episodes, some series can be all too forgettable or are unable to stress their own importance. High expectations are commonly associated with shows or featurettes that are constricted to a run time that feels far too small for ambitious artists.
There is no means of discrediting titles that have met their goal within a six-episode span, though the choice to cut back on episode count has resulted in significant concerns. Missed opportunities due to poor planning or uneven weight distributed throughout six episodes have raised skeptical attitudes towards shorter seasons. A viewership should be left anticipating the next installation of said six-episode event instead of longing for missed opportunities that could not make the final cut. Per Paste Magazine, pacing issues have been an overwhelming consequence of these abbreviated runs and have stunted the reception of these series. These narrow six-episode spells have suffered a reduced run time that has eliminated possible potential. Even an episode or two more past the six-episode mark gave creative teams more room to fully conclude whatever mission a first season is determined to execute.
How Disney+ Can Reconsider the 6-Episode Structure
The feedback and criticism made over the streaming platform’s rollout method of choice can provide constructive suggestions for the future of any series in development. Vocal Disney fans and fans of Walt Disney Company properties have voiced their experiences watching these series, and have expressed wishes for limited shows to be converted into longer series or even movies. Disney+ can take into consideration that they have the ability to earn back their spending more on elaborate and lengthy productions through subscription costs. While the service is filled with original media, they are able to reconsider the reception of highly anticipated titles being condensed into unnecessarily limited spaces. Earlier models of eight-episode series that could lean into double-digit territory fared well over time. The six-episode structure should be used less liberally and only when it feels natural to do so.
Longer series have struck an equilibrium of creative success and consumer satisfaction. The six-episode structure should be used at a more sparing pace where there really are no unanswered questions or unresolved plot holes left to mend. That’s not to completely call for the abandonment of the six-episode total altogether but to reserve it for the most appropriate situations. A collection of smaller bite-sized shorts are the perfect form of articulating short-form series. Their loose connection to parent projects anchors them to a specific title, series, or saga, without feeling the pressure to carry the weight of more important narrative arcs. Feature-length films or series that are permitted a higher episode count are more suited for larger, more ambitious work that is constructed with the intention of bearing more importance. By reviewing how each series is constructed, Disney+ can find shared space for both six-episode media and more traditional long-form releases.
