Listen Live
Donate
 on air
    Schedule

    KCRW

    Read & Explore

    • News
    • Entertainment
    • Food
    • Culture
    • Events

    Listen

    • Live Radio
    • Music
    • Podcasts
    • Full Schedule

    Information

    • About
    • Careers
    • Help / FAQ
    • Newsletters
    • Contact

    Support

    • Become a Member
    • Become a VIP
    • Ways to Give
    • Shop
    • Member Perks

    Become a Member

    Donate to KCRW to support this cultural hub for music discovery, in-depth journalism, community storytelling, and free events. You'll become a KCRW Member and get a year of exclusive benefits.

    DonateGive Monthly

    Copyright 2026 KCRW. All rights reserved.

    Report a Bug|Privacy Policy|Terms of Service|
    Cookie Policy
    |FCC Public Files|

    Back to Screengrab

    Screengrab

    Are longer episodes better episodes?

    'Westworld' is back on HBO and the drama has even more puzzles to solve and timelines to unravel...which may explain why the season two premiere was more than an hour long.

    • rss
    Download MP3
    • Share
    KCRW placeholderBy Michael Schneider • Apr 24, 2018 • 4m Listen

    The 69-minute-long premiere of Westworld's season 2 comes off a full 90-minute finale. 'Game of Thrones' is also known for it's long episodes, though HBO isn't the only network pushing the clock. FX has long been known for stretching episodes beyond an hour. In some cases it's a treat, but other times, especially for people who watch a lot of TV, it can start to feel like bloat. Part of the episode time limit expansion may be related to networks wanting to be "creator friendly," and giving showrunners as much time as they need to tell their stories. On the other hand, seasons themselves are so much shorter than in the past, most TV seasons are still putting forward many, many fewer minutes of content than in the past.

    More

    • Overly Long Episodes Are the Manspreading of TV

    • KCRW placeholder

      Michael Schneider

      Senior editor at Variety

    • KCRW placeholder

      Josef Adalian

      Vulture

      CultureEntertainmentArts
    Back to Screengrab