Wednesday Season 2’s Release Date Update Continues A Disappointing TV Trend

Although any news on Wednesday season 2 is often exciting, the show’s recent release date update is not just disappointing but a continuation of an unfortunate TV trend. Prestige shows and streaming hits, defined by their high-quality production values and universal acclaim, have become television staples these days, and upon release, the Wednesday series ranked among them. Following the Addams Family franchise’s titular Wednesday Addams as she attempted to solve a murder mystery at her school, the coming-of-age horror comedy became an instant, certifiable triumph and a popular television series among audiences.

In line with other smash streaming hits, like HBO’s The Last of Us or Netflix’s Stranger Things, Wednesday garnered record-breaking viewership numbers, positive reception from audiences and critics, and a massive fan base waiting eagerly for the next new season to drop. The series performed so well that, even now, it is ranked in Netflix’s Top 10 most popular English-language TV series and maintains an average 72% Rotten Tomatoes score with critics and 85% with audiences. Despite its overall success, the Wednesday series is hampered by one incredibly disappointing aspect, and unfortunately, most streaming hits like it are as well.

Wednesday Season 2 Will Premiere More Than Two Years After Season 1

The time that audiences have to wait for a new Wednesday season has become a largely unfavorable facet of the series. Already, a good deal of time has passed since season 1’s November 2022 premiere, and a recent update clarifying the release of Wednesday’s highly anticipated second season confirms that the wait will continue for a while. According to a Deadline report, Wednesday season 2 won’t premiere until 2025, which amounts to a nearly two-year delay between seasons that audiences have to bide their time on.

Wednesday season 2’s exact release date is still unknown, and only a few details about what the new season will entail have been revealed, making the wait all the more exasperating. Reportedly, like many hit series, Wednesday’s delay resulted from the Hollywood strikes that occurred last year. While the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike is a completely valid reason for the hold-up, Wednesday is just the latest example of a trend in television that has been occurring well before the start of the strikes.

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Wednesday Is The Latest Example Of A Hit TV Show Taking Years To Return

The SAG-AFTRA strike affected shows and movies alike, but popular streaming series that hinged on new seasons were arguably hit the hardest. Like Wednesday, series that were confirmed to be adversely affected by the Hollywood strikes have years-long delays tacked upon them. Popular streaming television shows like Stranger Things, The Last of Us, Disney’s Andor, and countless more have noticeably confirmed new seasons well after the debut of their last.

However, the television trend of popular series taking years to return is certainly not born from the strikes, and the hiatuses between seasons of shows like Succession, House of the Dragon, Squid Game, and The Crown have long proven that it takes a while for prestige shows and streaming hit series to produce new content. In fact, hiatuses have become somewhat of a norm for popular streaming television series, which is very different from the usual release format of network and cable shows that develop new seasons much quicker.

Why Prestige Shows & Streaming Hits Are Taking So Long To Release New Seasons

Aside from the unfavorable effects the unprecedented SAG-AFTRA strike had on numerous TV series, the hiatus between seasons of prestige shows and streaming hits is lengthy for many reasons. For one, prestige and streaming series have short seasons, especially compared to network and cable TV, as well as most shows in television’s history. Set side by side, an 8-episode streaming series’ hiatus between seasons would feel much longer than a hiatus between the seasons of a standard 22-episode network television show.

More often than not, however, prestige shows and streaming hits have incredible budgets and far more incredible expectations that pressure them to produce a season as good as or even better than the last. The long gaps in time between seasons give prestige series and streaming hits the time to lay out the season to audience’s expectations and ensure the production value is just as great. The delay of Wednesday and other hit series is sorely disappointing and may always feel that way, but at the very least there’s hope that they will continue as strong as their previous seasons.

Source: Netflix, Rotten Tomatoes, Deadline

Wednesday

Netflix’s Addams Family series takes place at Nevermore Academy, a school that nurtures outcasts, freaks, and monsters. The Tim Burton-directed series follows Wednesday Addams as she tries to master her emerging psychic powers and solve the supernatural mystery surrounding her family history. Jenna Ortega stars in the popular series, which originally aired on Netflix on November 23, 2022.

Release Date

November 16, 2022

Cast

Jenna Ortega , Catherine Zeta-Jones , Luis Guzman , Gwendoline Christie , Riki Lindhome , Jamie McShane , Christina Ricci , Hunter Doohan , Emma Myers , Joy Sunday

Seasons

1

Writers

Miles Millar , Alfred Gough

Franchise(s)

The Addams Family

Directors

Tim Burton , James Marshall , Gandja Monteiro

Showrunner

Miles Millar , Alfred Gough