Television used to feel limitless. 22-episode seasons. Time to breathe. Time for characters to grow. But in the age of streaming, TV seasons keep getting shorter, and something feels…off. From The Sopranos and Breaking Bad to Netflix originals, Marvel shows, and even Network TV, modern television has embraced the 10–13 episode season. While that shift helped usher in the golden age of TV, it may also be the very thing slowly breaking it. Are shows like Stranger Things, Ted Lasso, and Severance now the norm? Or can shows like Abbott Elementary reach into the past and bring back the 22 episode season?