Summary
- Some shows, like Sherlock and Attack on Titan, have had long gaps between seasons, leaving fans waiting for resolutions for years at a time.
- Cliffhangers can serve as a tool to keep audiences interested between seasons and ensure the show is renewed.
- Delays in making shows can be caused by strikes, pandemics, exits from cast or crew, and studio interference, leading to longer than usual gaps between seasons.
In the age of streaming, shows tend to be released in a relatively short period, with whole seasons dropping at once, and consistent gaps between seasons, but some shows have had much lengthier gaps, dragging out incredible cliffhangers. A cliffhanger can serve as a solid tool for shows to ensure audiences stay interested between seasons and hopefully ensure the show is renewed. Despite including strong cliffhangers, sometimes, shows take longer to make, with strikes, pandemics, exits from cast or crew, and studio interference all potentially causing delays.
Most shows aim to release each season on a fairly regular basis, but this is not always the case. Shows like Game of Thrones, and 24 usually had a steady release schedule, but things were held up for one season. Other Attack on Titan, and Sherlock have a much looser, lengthier release schedule and keep fans waiting for resolutions for years at a time. Some waits feel longer than others, but thankfully, every show below eventually continued the story and tied up the loose ends.
10 Game Of Thrones Season 7
13 Months: Daenerys Sets Sail
Game of Thronesfollowed a large ensemble cast as they all raced towards the goal of taking control of Westeros. One challenging wait which occurred during the show's time on-air was between season 6 and season 7. Game of Thrones season 6 concluded with Cersei declaring herself Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, and her brother Jamie returning to King's Landing to her. On the opposite side of the Narrow Sea, Daenerys sets sail with the Greyjoys, her armies, and her dragons toward Westeros for an epic conflict. The gap between the seasons was slightly longer than normal, taking all of 13 months before the season 7 premiere.
9 Attack On Titan Season 2
4 Years: Titans At The Wall
Attack on Titan is no stranger to lengthy breaks between seasons, but perhaps one of the most painful was after the cliffhanger of season 1. A titan stands outside the walls of the city, ready to attack as they create a small breach in the final clip of season 1. Fans would then have to wait four years before the next season revealed what happens next. In addition to this lengthy wait, the fourth and final season of the show actually took three years to be released as the episodes were slowly released in small batches.
8 Cobra Kai Season 3
2 Years: Miguel Is In Hospital And Ali Reaches Out To Johnny
At the end of Cobra Kai season 2, Johnny Lawrence finds himself at the lowest point in his life. After trying to do better and grow beyond his old Master's violent and merciless teachings, he loses his dojo, some of his students get into a fight with others from the Miyagi-do, resulting in one of the kids being paralyzed and in a coma, and his girlfriend dumps him. To add insult to injury, as Johnny discards his phone in a frustrated and broken rage, his ex-girlfriend Ali sends a friend request, potentially opening the door for a new relationship.
It wouldn't be until 2 years later that these events would be addressed again in Cobra Kai season 3. The terrible accident and whether Miguel would survive his injuries, or how Johnny could ever recover from the pain and suffering he felt and couldn't stop weighed heavy on fan's hearts and minds for two years until the next season was finally made available. Fortunately, Miguel was then able to make a full recovery, with help from a deeply remorseful Johnny, seeking to right the wrongs of his past.
7 Better Call Saul Season 6
2 Years: Jimmy And Kim Hatch A Plan
Better Call Saul follows the slow descent into crime from a shady Jimmy McGill. Season 5 finally saw Jimmy McGill using the moniker of Saul Goodman and in the finale, he hatches a plan with his wife Kim to discredit and destroy a rival lawyer. However, this is the first time Jimmy is leaning so heavily into committing outright crimes and framing someone to benefit himself and his clients. This is the turning point where Jimmy finally becomes Saul Goodman, but it isn't until two years later that the sixth and final season begins, with Saul becoming the man he was always meant to be.
6 24 Season 7
19 Months: Chloe Is Pregnant And Audrey Is Free
24 as a show featured a staggeringly long gap between the eighth and ninth seasons of four years. Although it did soften the blow that season 8 was created as a conclusion to the story, and season 9 served as a follow-up set years after the original. However, the action-packed series also featured a 19-month gap after the explosive season 6 finale, which revealed bombshell after bombshell.
Chloe is pregnant and decides to move back in with Morris, Jack captures Cheng and manages to free Josh, Audrey Haines is freed and resigns from her post, and Jack breaks into Heller's place to confront him. With so much happening, it was a nightmare for fans who then had to wait 19 months before finding out what the aftermath would look like in 24 season 7. There was a movie that was released in between, 24: Redemption, but this focused on a story that takes place almost 4 years after the season 6 finale.
5 Doctor Who Season 11
15 Months: The Twelfth Doctor Regenerates
Doctor Who has had large gaps in the series before, especially considering the hiatus that took place between 1989 and 2005, but another gap that left fans on the edge of their seats was between season 10 and season 11. Doctor Who season 10 concluded with Peter Capaldi's iteration of the Doctor receiving several fatal shots from the Cybermen as he did all he could to save the people on the ship. This marked the end of Capaldi's reign as the Twelfth Doctor and would ring in the beginning of Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor, along with the changing of showrunners from Steven Moffat to Chris Chibnall.
However, Capaldi's Doctor ended up having one last adventure in between regenerations in "Twice Upon A Time," a 2017 Christmas special episode. As brilliant as the episode was, it did mean that it would be even longer before Jodie Whittaker had her debut adventure as the Doctor in late 2018, marking a 15-month gap between seasons. The changing of a Doctor is always an exciting moment in Doctor Who, but the extensive delay was challenging for viewers who had to wait it out.
4 Sherlock Season 3
2 Years: Sherlock's Death
Another incredible British television series by creator Steven Moffat with his co-creator Mark Gatiss, Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, was an immense success from the moment it began airing in 2010. Sherlock season 2 saw the series reach new heights with the titular character facing off against his nemesis, Moriarty, and the final episode of the series marked an incredible stand-off between the two. Due to the complex events, Sherlock ended up jumping from a tall rooftop as his best friend John Watson (Martin Freeman) looked on, helplessly.
However, nothing is ever straightforward in Sherlock and Watson could not accept a reality where Sherlock was truly dead. Despite a bloody corpse which apparently belonged to his best friend being carted away in front of him and a funeral with a grave for his remains, Watson held on to his hope. As the episode wraps up, Sherlock is revealed to indeed be alive, and watching his friend from the shadows nearby, but one question blew up across the internet as the season ended, "how did Sherlock survive?" It wasn't until two years later that season 3 would be released to finally shed light on the mystery.
3 Stranger Things Season 4
3 Years: Hopper Could Be Alive, And Eleven And The Byers Move Out Of Hawkins
Stranger Things is one of the most successful shows to have ever come from Netflix, and it has amassed a loyal fanbase who religiously follow the show. So, when the season 3 ending left things in an uncertain state, with Hopper possibly having died, and the Russians having a mystery American in their custody along with a monstrous mind flayer, fans could hardly contain the excitement for season 4. With Jim Hopper presumed dead, Joyce Byers adopts Eleven and moves her family away from Hawkins to escape the terrible events that keep happening there. And while fans were desperate to see what came next, the gap between season 3 and season 4 was ultimately three long years.
2 Atlanta Season 3
4 Years: Van Needs To Return To Atlanta
Donald Glover blew up as a successful actor, comic, musician, and writer almost all at once. Creating the hit show Atlanta, which he also starred in, it was inevitable that the show would suffer some delays between seasons, but when the gap between season 3 and season 4 was four years, there were loose ends that needed clearing up. While the show plays with an anthology format for some episodes, there is a connected narrative, focusing on Earn (Glover) and his on-again-off-again partner Van (Zazie Beetz). Season 3 saw Van explore Europe and go through several odd experiences, but the conclusion left her yearning to return home to Atlanta and her daughter.
1 Twin Peaks Season 3
26 Years: Cooper Is Possessed
Twin Peaks by extraordinary experimental director David Lynch aired its first two seasons between 1989 and 1991. The show follows an FBI Detective investigating mysterious murders in a small town, by the name of Twin Peaks. The season 2 finale featured the infamous Red Room, and a series of unusual occurrences, with the show ultimately revealing the primary protagonist, Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) becomes possessed by the supernatural killer plaguing the town. With one of the longest waits in television history, a follow-up season of the show was created in 2017, 26 years after the original, to tie up any loose ends, and bring the mysteries of Twin Peaks to light once again.