Do you see 40-minute animated series becoming a trend?

[KaiserLemon]

The animated shows Invincible and Arcane have experienced massive success and grown large fanbases. But what sets them apart from most cartoons is that they each have a run time of around 40 minutes, the average run time of a live action television drama. This is especially notable since most animated shows run for about 11 or 22 minutes.

Recently in 2022 an animated drama called Pantheon is streaming on AMC+. And that too runs for about 40 or so minutes.

Which makes me wonder, could cartoons with 40+ minute run times become a trend? What if the big three animation channels like Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and Disney Channel experiment with this format? (Though in their case, their shows would be rated TV-PG)

 

[CNNickFan]

With more serialized cartoons, I could see.

But as a whole? No. Especially not with Nick, Disney, and CN. TV Scheduling is like pie. Someone takes one piece (In this case, a show), someone else takes another (Or for today's standards, someone gets greedy and takes too many slices). I feel like, if every cartoon airing was at least 44 minutes long, then there isn't really any "Breathing Room" for other shows.

You also have to remember Television Animation doesn't have the best budget. It has certainly improved over the years; but it's still not very ideal, especially with fresh ideas. Making a 44-minute series compared to 11 or 22-minutes would be practically doubling the amount of animation required. And factoring that in with the limited scheduling thing doesn't help the cause.

I'd like to ask you, what about episodic/comedic shows? Would they also have a 44-minute runtime. If the answer is yes, then I would have to draw a red flag. Unless it's a special, then all of the episodes are going to feel "stretched out". And pulling a Family Guy and switching the entire plot of an episode in the matter of seconds isn't going to help.

Speaking of Family Guy, it's a perfect example of why I don't want most cartoons to be 44 minutes long. It's bad enough we have to sit through 20 something minutes of the Griffins treating each other like crap, with unfunny jokes and godawful cutaways. Imagine if it was twice as long? I feel like the series (along with many other adult-animated comedies) would be more disliked regarding the arguments I stated earlier. (And don't get me wrong, Family Guy used to be great, but as the show progressed, it got worse)

So when you ask me if Televised shows on Cable/Network T.V. should last 40 minutes long? Not a chance.

But streaming is a different story. I feel like streaming doesn't have the same limitations regular T.V. has. And don't forget the ability to watch it anytime you want makes 40-minute shows all the more watchable. Like, on cable, you would have to wait for a syndicated rerun of the episode, which could turn you off from the show, especially if it's serialized.

Streaming is very organized with it's orientation. There's a list of episodes, from start to finish. You can pause it and continue it whenever you want. Obviously though, there are some downsides (Many, MANY downsides) that are even worse than traditional TV.

So, to answer your questions:

1. No
2. They most likely won't
3. They only 40-minute cartoons I would see in the future are serialized Streaming originals, of course assuming they don't get screwed over the way they did on HBO MAX.

 

[SuperSuck64]

I'd like to ask you, what about episodic/comedic shows? Would they also have a 44-minute runtime. If the answer is yes, then I would have to draw a red flag. Unless it's a special, then all of the episodes are going to feel "stretched out". And pulling a Family Guy and switching the entire plot of an episode in the matter of seconds isn't going to help.

Speaking of Family Guy, it's a perfect example of why I don't want most cartoons to be 44 minutes long. It's bad enough we have to sit through 20 something minutes of the Griffins treating each other like crap, with unfunny jokes and godawful cutaways. Imagine if it was twice as long? I feel like the series (along with many other adult-animated comedies) would be more disliked regarding the arguments I stated earlier. (And don't get me wrong, Family Guy used to be great, but as the show progressed, it got worse)

Always love when someone on the internet asks a simple question and somebody uses it as a springboard to irrelevantly complain about another thing.

Besides, have hour-long comedy shows in general ever been a thing outside of MST3K?

 

[KaiserLemon]

Always love when someone on the internet asks a simple question and somebody uses it as a springboard to irrelevantly complain about another thing.

Besides, have hour-long comedy shows in general ever been a thing outside of MST3K?

As far as I know, no. Sitcoms are typically 22 minutes long.

 

[Francisque]

A 40-mins show in a 50 mins slot or something, is a bit difficult to schedule in a rather tight 30 mins based scheduling, especially typical of the US, unless it's not a one-off thing

(I agree about Family Guy anyway, it's unfunny as hell; I much prefer South Park's satire these days)

 

[The Overlord]

Things like Arcane and Invincible being 40 minutes long is because they are dramas for adults, that is the standard length of dramas for adult.

The live action Star Trek series are longer than Lower Decks and Prodigy because the live action series are dramas, while Lower Decks is a comedy with dramatic elements and Prodigy is a kids show with dramatic elements.

 

[Neo Ultra Mike]

3. They only 40-minute cartoons I would see in the future are serialized Streaming originals, of course assuming they don't get screwed over the way they did on HBO MAX.

Totally agree on that. I will say it actually is really nice to actually see popular hour long animated series be a thing now because before the only shows we had like that in America were Invasion America and Justice League and even those were still able to be split up and separated into half hour segments if need be. But yeah, that's something that is only available due to streaming having fewer regulations and allowing for more experimentation on that sort of thing. Hell I'm pretty sure on Cartoon Network all of their originals have to be told in 11 minute segments with only the occasional half hour special or maybe an hour special if they're lucky/super popular enough. Disney and Nick (mostly Disney0 are a bit more lax on shows just being half hour but yeah still typically that and you aren't going to really see that ever change.

I would be down for more shows like Arcane and Invincible though on streaming sites coming out. Like for the first time it truly feels like there are actually companies who realize the full potential of the medium of animation and that it doesn't have to be segmented sitcom comedies and can encompass so much more range on TV and are being rewarded for that and it's something I hope is encouraged there even if it won't ever be replicated on basic cable channels or prime time TV networks.

 

[Ace]

I think something like a miniseries could work but I think the issue is being fresh and creative with the medium for that long for more than a few outings. Animation was made to be visually impressive medium and holding my attention gets a lot harder the longer you try to do it. Sometimes it's best to just cut the filler and not go any longer than you need to. The standards are a lot higher for visual representation are a lot higher than something like a drama.

A lot of animated films that have great concepts and ideas but they seem to make me wish they were much shorter and got straight to the good stuff rather than have tons of filler.

 

[KaiserLemon]

I think something like a miniseries could work but I think the issue is being fresh and creative with the medium for that long for more than a few outings. Animation was made to be visually impressive medium and holding my attention gets a lot harder the longer you try to do it. Sometimes it's best to just cut the filler and not go any longer than you need to. The standards are a lot higher for visual representation are a lot higher than something like a drama.

A lot of animated films that have great concepts and ideas but they seem to make me wish they were much shorter and got straight to the good stuff rather than have tons of filler.

Animation is also a painstaking, time-consuming process from what I've heard. So I imagine trying to animate 40-50 minute episodes for an entire series would be torture for the production crew. Then there's all the potential problems with filler like you mentioned.

 

[JoeMabbon]

As @The Overlord said, all three of those shows are essentially adult focused, prime time dramas. Since Disney, Nick, and CN all target kids I don't see it happening there. CN in particular has gone all in on 15 minutes shows for over a decade.

 

[CNNickFan]

Always love when someone on the internet asks a simple question and somebody uses it as a springboard to irrelevantly complain about another thing.

To be fair, I wasn't really using it to complain about Modern Family Guy, instead use it as a reason as to why I don't want most Cartoons to be 40-44 minutes long.

When I watch most modern adult-animated comedies (Especially the ones on Netflix), I often think to myself, "I'm so thankful these episodes last a reasonable runtime." Because IN MY OPINION (I am only capitalizing this so nobody will take this as fact), most comedy shows really aren't as funny these days. In fact, most of them are pretty bad. Which is why I don't want them to last an hour long.

The reason I used Family Guy as an example is because even though it lasts 21 minutes, it still feels dragged out (Which, in honesty, was a problem with the older episodes too).

Remember those "Conway Twitty" cutaways they used as 2-minute filler? Or 45 seconds-a minute long cutaways they use that feel dragged out? (Thankfully, in the recent season they've cut back on those) It feels like the episode is 16 or 17 minutes, minus deleted scenes (Do they even do those anymore?). I use family guy because most adult-oriented comedies try to follow Family Guy's formula, and end up unsuccessful. I'm pretty sure no one wants to sit through a 44-minute Family Guy clone.

Specials are different, though; They can take a normal episode's plot and expand on it a ton, which is why I like them so much (One of my favorite Family Guy episodes is Road to the North Pole). But specials should only be done once in a while, or once a season for animated sitcoms.

I probably shouldn't have used Family Guy as an example, because it is controversial, but I failed to find a better example. The Simpsons isn't really better cause I don't have many problems with it being 22-minutes long (Other than the fact that it jumps plot to plot in seconds), but I do think they should do a 44-minute special, like every two seasons.

I haven't watched Bob's Burgers since the third season. Would that work well as a 40-minute show?

 

[Ace]

To elaborate, Animation tends to be better as a series than as a movie. I mean more often these 22 minute spinoffs are better than the films they came from (Jimmy Neutron, Penguins of Madagascar) one of the only exceptions I've seen are that Kung Fu Panda movie.

Even going the other way around the films aren't as well received critically as the TV series they came from or just not do as well in the box office. I think there's something to be said about that. It shows that says it is easier to do 11 or 22 minute episodic stories with animation than long films.

More often than not films don't need to be made. They just are because they make money. They struggle to fill the runtime with something meaningful when it would have been better made shorter.

Even looking at Family Guy or the Simpsons as @EJ :) mentioned. The more well received episodes of those shows are the anthology episodes. The ones with short stories in them.

I don't see this being a trend especially now as most animated movies already have trouble staying interesting for that long. In the modern age with social media and YouTube people are going to be more inclined than ever to sample shorter forms of animation. People love watching clips and short 5 minute videos more than even a 22 minute show.

 

[CNNickFan]

I'd love to see a 44-minute anthology series. That sounds like the kinda thing I'd want to watch.