Stranger Things creators defend long gaps between TV seasons

27 September 2025, 18:19 | Updated: 27 September 2025, 18:24

Stranger Things' Duffer brothers defend long gaps between seasons of TV. Picture: Netflix

By Katie Louise Smith

The Duffer Brothers are fans of making viewers wait years between seasons, telling Variety that they "like the buildup".

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It's been 84 years since we were blessed with a new season of Stranger Things and even though we're now finally in the home stretch, fans have been massively frustrated about the long wait for season 5.

Believe it or not, Stranger Things began filming season 1 exactly 10 years ago, and the wait between seasons 4 and 5 has been the longest one yet. Stranger Things 5 will be released in three parts starting November 26th, more than three years since season 4 came out.

Long gaps between seasons of TV have now become the norm, with viewers having to wait years for shows with only 8-10 episodes per season. Posts from frustrated fans calling out shows for taking so long frequently go viral on social media.

Now, Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer have addressed and defended the long wait between seasons, and they have no plans to stop doing it as they move on to their next projects.

Read more: Stranger Things 5 runtime and episode length teased by Duffer brothers

Stranger Things 5 will be released over three years since season 4. Picture: Netflix

Speaking with Variety at their Entertainment and Technology Summit in Los Angeles, Matt and Ross discussed their new TV deal with Paramount and what that might look like. (Spoiler: If you're hoping for a show with more than 10 episodes, you're not in luck.)

"I get fatigued watching 20-episode seasons," Matt Duffer said. "We didn’t grow up interested in any of that. We only watched movies. That’s the weird thing that we ended up in TV, because we had almost zero interest in television.”

Alluding to the gaps between seasons of Stranger Things, Matt argued: "If TV shows come out every year, it’s diminishing return.

"I like the buildup.”

Stranger Things 5 reveals release date in new teaser

It's not just Stranger Things that has caught this criticism either. The long gaps between seasons of shows like The Last of Us, Severance, Squid Game and Wednesday (to name a few), have left fans feeling impatient.

Euphoria, which doesn't have anywhere near as much post-production as Stranger Things, has also taken years to return. Bridgerton viewers are also growing frustrated with the 18-month gap between each 8-episode season.

Of course, it must be noted that the past five years have had some pretty unique circumstances for film and TV production. On top of a global pandemic, there was a writers strike followed by the actors strike which put everything on hold again.

While some shows still manage to put out new seasons every year (The Bear! Only Murders in The Building!), that specific TV schedule is now very few and far between.