Current Events > If you ever wonder why Disney constantly reboots shows...

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https://twitter.com/Bornakang/status/1687425434202390529?s=20

Essentially they use a workaround so that they can pay the people less. They have a system in place where they pay around 88% of WGA rates to the people involved in a show during its first three seasons. Any seasons afterwards, they have to pay 100% of rates. So, they either cancel outright or "reboot" popular shows as technically different shows so they can avoid this.

So yeah, 3 seasons is the magic number for a popular Disney show.

Wait. No wait. Is this why Disney's shows always had this weird 65 episode format for all their shows, animated and live action? They used to always have their shows go for exactly 65 every time, then stop. Always wondered that

Revisited posted...

Wait. No wait. Is this why Disney's shows always had this weird 65 episode format for all their shows, animated and live action? They used to always have their shows go for exactly 65 every time, then stop. Always wondered that

Pretty much.

I always wondered why those live action kids shows always had a major cast shakeup if they made it past three seasons.

Also wtf? Was it really cheaper to rebrand a show as "California style" and have it shot in expensive Cali, than it was simply paying the actors? At that point it's gotta be personal/some lex luthor shit. And I'm talking Jesse Eisenberg version

I had heard of this a long time ago. I remember Hillary Duff on the Tonight show mentioning that Disney only ever does 3 seasons of a show. Never knew the reason, but not surprised it's money related.

Fuck Disney.

Same thing with Netflix they only get 4 seasons tops

I think in an episode of Kim possible the animators hid a no on 65 poster in a locker in an episode

Holy shit I did not know that.

The other aspect of the limited runs is that the value of shows going longer is pretty incremental.

Disney Channel's fanbase is literally developing. The target market for their shows probably only has 3-5 years before they grow out of it. So having a show run longer than that doesn't always makes sense as the people growing up with it have moved on. Storywise they are also limited. Characters aren't making it to late high school or college because it doesn't relate to the market.

What about Ducktales?
65 episodes season 1, then three more seasons and a movie.
Darkwing Duck had 65 episodes first season, then two more seasons.
Dinosaurs had 65 episodes... over 4 seasons.

I've read about Netflix doing the same thing. They write the contracts so that the producers get a pay increase after a couple of seasons but then just cancel the show before the higher pay kicks in.

Foppe posted...

What about Ducktales?
65 episodes season 1, then three more seasons and a movie.
Darkwing Duck had 65 episodes first season, then two more seasons.
Dinosaurs had 65 episodes... over 4 seasons.

The topic title is slightly misleading. It's specifically about Disney Channel shows. The ones you are referring to were not Disney Channel shows.

UnsteadyOwl posted...

I've read about Netflix doing the same thing. They write the contracts so that the producers get a pay increase after a couple of seasons but then just cancel the show before the higher pay kicks in.

Yup and for a similar reason to Disney Channel though the underlying cause is different. Netflix gets increasingly smaller value of subsequent seasons of most shows. Season 2 and 3 often attract a lot less hype and subscribers than new premiers. So Netflix sets all their contracts to basically crap out after that time as they know that the show will likely provide little value beyond that. There are exceptions of course for the smash hit series, but they are uncommon.

Foppe posted...

What about Ducktales?
65 episodes season 1, then three more seasons and a movie.
Darkwing Duck had 65 episodes first season, then two more seasons.
Dinosaurs had 65 episodes... over 4 seasons.

Probably a rare exception, like Phineas & Ferb which had a huge run too

DD_Divine posted...

I think in an episode of Kim possible the animators hid a no on 65 poster in a locker in an episode

Funny thing is that Kim Possible originally ended after 65 episodes.
But it was so popular and had online petitions, so they renewed it for another season.

Foppe posted...

Funny thing is that Kim Possible originally ended after 65 episodes.
But it was so popular and had online petitions, so they renewed it for another season.

Kim Possible and That's So Raven were the two big shows to cause Disney to re-evaluate their model. It became less of a hard rule and more of a guideline.

As cool as they are for fighting against deathsantis theyve well known for being one of the most greedy capitalistic corps imaginable.

Give me back Lizzie McGuire ans Even Steven's

PJ Masks on Disney Jr is surprisingly on their 6th season.

Revisited posted...

Wait. No wait. Is this why Disney's shows always had this weird 65 episode format for all their shows, animated and live action? They used to always have their shows go for exactly 65 every time, then stop. Always wondered that

Walt would not have approved of this. Disney's Zorro once had 66% of the viewing Audience in America. (To be fair, this was 1957. So it was probably competing with the nightly news and a variety show.) ABC wanted to cut the episode length from 27 minutes to 22 minutes and add commercials. Disney wouldn't budge. He kept the actors on contract, paying them for a year in a half despite the show not appearing on television, before cancelling any planned continuation due to audiences moving on in that time.

There's no way that he would stand for strict episode limits or endless reboots just to cut people out of their share of the profits. He wasn't a saint, but he wasn't this ruthlessly capitalistic either.

FortuneCookie posted...

There's no way that he would stand for strict episode limits or endless reboots just to cut people out of their share of the profits. He wasn't a saint, but he wasn't this ruthlessly capitalistic either.

Which is saying something since AFAIK his workers were already complaining back then

65 episode runs are a syndication/reruns thing. there are ~260 weekdays a year, so a 65 episode run can be run through 4 times a year.

mehmeh1 posted...

Which is saying something since AFAIK his workers were already complaining back then

That is true.

Compsognathus posted...

The other aspect of the limited runs is that the value of shows going longer is pretty incremental.

Disney Channel's fanbase is literally developing. The target market for their shows probably only has 3-5 years before they grow out of it. So having a show run longer than that doesn't always makes sense as the people growing up with it have moved on. Storywise they are also limited. Characters aren't making it to late high school or college because it doesn't relate to the market.

Thank you for adding some nuance.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Star Vs didn't get cancelled, heck it got more time than any other non-P&F tier show. As for TOH, nah it was "doesn't fit the Disney brand".....make of that what you will (it ended at 43 episodes and if it got a full s3 it would've ended at like 60,so still under the limit)

Medussa posted...

65 episode runs are a syndication/reruns thing. there are ~260 weekdays a year, so a 65 episode run can be run through 4 times a year.

Yeah, I think this is also a big factor into it. Many of their shows had a hard limit of 65 episodes before an ending would be forced one way or another.