‘Star Wars: Skelton Crew’ Is Repeating One Disney+ Mistake

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  • How Does ‘Skeleton Crew’ Compare to Other Series
  • How Did We Get Here with Disney+?

As a long-time fan of both Star Wars and Marvel, I must say that the recent trend of shortening episode lengths on Disney+ has left me feeling a bit frustrated. With decades of binge-worthy dramas under my belt, from The Sopranos to Breaking Bad, I’ve grown accustomed to an hour of quality television time.

The much-anticipated Disney+ series, titled “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew“, has officially premiered, and initial reactions are overwhelmingly positive. With a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 67 reviews, the first two episodes have been a refreshing addition to the Star Wars universe. The show introduces a fresh set of characters unrelated to the larger cosmos, setting up an engaging mystery in the process. It seamlessly blends elements from timeless classics like “The Goonies“, “E.T.“, pirate tales such as “Treasure Island” and “Peter Pan“, offering fans a fresh, thrilling take on the Star Wars franchise.

Despite all the efforts, it remains a pervasive issue that the episode lengths across various series on Disney+, including Star Wars and Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as Disney+ originals, are inconsistent. For instance, the second episode of Skeleton Crew on Disney+ is labeled as 32 minutes, yet the actual show content only amounts to approximately 25 minutes, with the remaining 6 minutes dedicated to credits. This means that a live-action, premium Star Wars series on Disney+ shares a similar runtime with animated series like The Bad Batch or even popular sitcoms such as Modern Family. It’s puzzling why so many Disney+ shows have shorter runtimes when there are no commercial breaks to consider.

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How Does ‘Skeleton Crew’ Compare to Other Series

The first two episodes of Skeleton Crew have a combined runtime of 76 minutes, or about one hour and 16 minutes. That is a little over an hour, and while that certainly would appear like a big premiere, compared to other streaming platforms like Max, Prime Video, and even Disney’s own Hulu, this is barely on par with them. For comparison, the average length for an episode of FX’s award-winning Shōgun was one hour, with the first episode premiere running at 1 hour and 11 minutes. That means it took two episodes of Skeleton Crew to equal the first episode of Shōgun’s. Meanwhile, The Penguin had each episode run for about an hour, with the premiere running 67 minutes, just nine minutes shy of Skeleton Crew‘s two episodes.

In all Disney+ series, including the new Star Wars series, The Acolyte, which premiered in June 2024, there’s a pattern. The two-episode premiere of The Acolyte was 82 minutes long combined, but that duration doesn’t include the lengthy credits typically found in Disney+ series. However, when you exclude the credits, the actual content is roughly 25 minutes for both episodes, indicating a relatively short storyline for each episode. In total, the eight episodes of The Acolyte with credits amount to approximately five hours and 29 minutes, which is longer than a typical movie but shorter compared to most streaming dramas’ average runtime.

This isn’t even a problem exclusive to Star Wars. Many MCU series have episodes that barely reach over 40 minutes, with very few series having episodes that are an hour, like other streaming platforms. Agatha All Along ran for nine episodes, and the combined runtime was about six hours and 19 minutes, not counting credits. Episode 5, “Darkest Hour/Wake Thy Power,” is listed at 35 minutes, but the episode finishes at the 25-minute mark, meaning there are 10 minutes of credits. What’s frustrating is that Disney+ can have these episodes be whatever length they want, so they choose to have them this short. Disney+ should not just make episodes longer for the sake of it and possibly disrupt the flow of a series, but it does feel like they are not correctly using the potential time they have.

How Did We Get Here with Disney+?

Traditionally, television series durations varied: comedies averaged 22-25 minutes, while dramas ran approximately 43-45 minutes. These lengths included time for commercial breaks. However, the advent of premium cable networks such as HBO enabled shows to extend their runtimes without considering ad breaks. This trend was further amplified by streaming television, which found freedom in not having to shorten content for advertisements. Consequently, streaming platforms began to explore different runtime options, often favoring longer episodes to maintain viewer engagement on the platform.

At times, this can result in going overboard, as demonstrated by the latest season of “Stranger Things” having episodes akin to a full-length movie’s duration. The underlying thought was that premium streaming platforms would offer extended runtimes to allow viewers to develop deeper connections with characters. However, boundaries between genres, such as comedy and drama, are becoming increasingly blurred with series like “The Bear” and “Ted Lasso”, boasting episodes on par with “Game of Thrones”. It seems Disney is considering the feedback suggesting that streaming series might be too lengthy and have excessively high episode counts.

In the 2010s, Netflix’s model of hour-long episodes in series was widely accepted, but it did raise some concerns about the excessive number of episodes and lengthy runtime in some cases. For instance, the Marvel Netflix series that formed the Defenders Saga often faced criticism due to their first seasons consisting of 13 one-hour television episodes, resulting in a total of 13 hours of story. Critics and fans alike pointed out that while these series began well, they tended to slow down in the middle because they were repeating plot points. This could be why most Marvel dramas typically have six episodes, and live-action Star Wars series usually span eight, with exceptions like The Book of Boba Fett’s seven episodes and Andor’s 12-episode run.

Instead of the Netflix Marvel series being criticized for having excess filler, it appears that the Star Wars and Marvel series on Disney+ are struggling with the opposite issue. These shows seem to rush through their plots, barely allowing time for character development due to the need to move quickly from one plot point to another. Unlike traditional television series which often include character-focused episodes or “bottle” episodes, these shows lack such opportunities. Additionally, they fail to utilize the narrative space that their shorter episodes provide, as demonstrated by The Mandalorian’s short episodes, some of which could have included flashbacks to further develop the various characters.

It seems that Disney’s choice to vary the runtimes of their shows, ranging from 25 to 55 minutes, suggests some challenges with their streaming platform. Critics often argue that these series feel like feature films divided into parts instead of traditional TV seasons. Although not entirely accurate, it appears that many of these productions are structured and arranged more like full-length movies rather than a typical season’s episodes. This results in episodes ending abruptly at random points, giving them a beginning and end, but making certain episodes appear uneven or awkwardly cut.

Investing heavily in two-episode premieres for Disney+ could be due to the fact that many series’ initial episodes often serve as extensive setup for the main plot, leaving audiences wanting more if they only receive a single episode. For instance, in shows like Skeleton Crew, the kids don’t get lost in space until the closing moments of Episode 1 and don’t encounter pirates until the second installment. Similarly, in Agatha All Along, Agatha doesn’t recruit the main cast of witches until Episode 2, while the first episode focuses on a crime drama spell that she’s under.

Essentially, the quality of each episode is crucial for viewer satisfaction, rather than the brief runtime. However, the episodes’ brevity might lead to disappointment among viewers as the story seems promising but abruptly ends. This situation appears to violate an unspoken agreement between audiences and Disney+ when they decide to watch a live-action streaming series.

After decades of dramas like The Sopranos, Lost, Game of Thrones, American Horror Story, Breaking Bad, The Boys, and many more conditioning audiences to expect an hour of television, finding out the newest episode of a Star Wars or Marvel series might be shorter than the latest episode of The Sex Lives of College Girls is bound to be frustrating. This leads to some fans waiting to watch the series as a binge, and by that point, if it builds up in the queue, they might never get around to it. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is streaming now on Disney+.

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2024-12-08 00:02