In the streaming era, we’ve been conditioned to accept that waiting two or three years for a new season isjust how TV works now. Which is whyThe Pittannouncinga January 2026 return–exactly a year after its Season 1 premiere– feels borderline thrilling. And isn’t that absurd? Depressing, even? We’re talking about a one-year gap between seasons of a TV show with the kind of awe usually reserved for moon landings. Our elders, who once enjoyed 22 new episodes of a show every fall without fail, would be ashamed.
But this is where we are: grateful when a series manages to show up again before the details of its last cliffhanger have completely evaporated. Compared tothe black holes between seasonsof shows likeEuphoriaorStranger Things,The Pitt’s quick turnaround feels almost revolutionary– like someone in TV’s “room where it happens” finally remembered that momentum is part of the job. And it sounds like that “someone” was likely prolific writer, filmmaker, and producerJohn Wells.
The man responsible for some of TV’s most iconic shows – fromERtoThe West WingandShameless–recently sat down with The Hollywood Reporterfor a wide-ranging interview. He covered everything from the state of the industry to why he was adamant aboutThe Pittmaking its comeback on January 9. And sure, normally a bit of scheduling news wouldn’t prompt a full thinkpiece freak-out, but Wells' comments on the industry’s worst habits carry weight. Because in a landscape where fans are often left waiting (and forgetting),The Pitt’sspeedy return is quietly calling out streaming’s broken release habits, and teaching TV fans to expect better from the shows they love.
Waiting Years Between Seasons Is Killing TV’s Buzz
It’s been nearlythree years sinceEuphorialast aired, and if you’re honest,how much of its season finale do youactuallyremember?What aboutStranger Things? Netflix’s flagship sci-fi series has been stuck in the Upside Down that is a drawn-out hiatus for so long, its child stars have survived puberty, married the offspring of 80s rock royalty, and lost all their buccal fat.Waiting years between seasons has, sadly, become the norm.What used to be an occasional inconvenience is now baked into how streaming platforms operate. Shows disappear from the cultural conversation for so long that when they finally return, it’s like running into an old high school classmate you barely remember in the produce aisle during a hometown visit over Christmas break. Awkward. Uncomfortable. And mentally exhausting. This shift has changed the way we experience television, turning what used to be a steady, shared ritual into something sporadic, fragmented, and stripped of its communal joy.
Take Netflix’sTim Burtonexperiment, for example.Wednesday’s first season had a chokehold on the cultural zeitgeist, ruling the timeline and filling our feeds with memes ofstarJenna Ortegaand her deadpan delivery. That show seemed to be everywhere at once when it dropped, butafter its explosive debut, the wait for Season 2 stretched on so long that any earned excitement gradually fizzled out. Now, even though fans are tuning in again to see Ortega solve murder mysteries at her Gothic prep school while reciting deliciously morbid monologues and delighting in mayhem, the moment feels muted.
More and more, audiences seem to be checking out, even when it comes to shows they were once invested in. It’s not just about our collectively short attention spans or viewer impatience; it’s about the fundamental way TV storytelling relies on rhythm.Television, especially serialized dramas, works best when stories unfold at a pace that keeps audiences emotionally investedweek to week or season to season. When that flow stalls, there’s nothing keeping fans emotionally tethered to a show’s characters and plot. And in a crowded streaming landscape with so many series competing for a finite number of eyes, that’s a problem no one can afford to have.
‘The Pitt’ Is Bringing Back TV’s Lost Art of Consistency
WhatThe Pittis doing by locking in a January 2026 return isn’t just a scheduling decision;it’s a long-term strategy that just might put the rest of the TV industry on notice. As Wells told The Hollywood Reporter, committing to a yearly rhythm is rare these days, but it’s exactly what keeps a show from having to rebuild its audience from scratch every time it returns. “How am I supposed to keep a fandom with something when I can’t even remember what happened two and a half years later?” he told the mag. “With all due respect to all of my friends who make TV, there is no reason these shows can’t be on every year.” He also called out shows still using the COVID-19 pandemic andwriters' strikesto excuse their long stretches between seasons. “These delays are becoming even more conspicuous now that the series load is diminishing," he continued. “People want shows that can come back on a regular basis with a strong cast and at a number that makes sense for the studio and platform that’s doing it. That’s nothing new, but it seems like we’re having to rediscover it again as if we hadn’t all known this for a long time.”
Steady pacing may not be the sexiest selling point, but it’s proven its value. Shows likeThe Bear,The White Lotus,andAbbott Elementaryhave benefited from reliable release schedules that keep fans talking and tuning in.Their success is a sharp reminder of how network TV used to run things, with reliable calendars that meant viewers could pencil in their obsession without fear of being ghosted. (It turns out dependability is sexy after all.)
The Pitt’s commitment to showing up on time feels like a rare nod of respect for viewers’ time, and honestly, it’s refreshing to see a show act like it values its storytelling enough to churn so consistently. What Wells and company seem to understand is that attention is currency, especially in an era where dozens of new shows drop every month. And it’s a welcome change to see a series treat its own buzz like a living thing that needs constant care, rather than a marketing stunt to be milked only when convenient. Instead of forcing viewers to play a guessing game about when or if it will return,The Pittis quietly betting that honoring fans’ anticipation will pay off. Other shows should take note.
The Pitt is a medical drama developed by veterans of the television series ER. The series will follow healthcare workers set in Pittsburgh, showing he challenges faced in the modern-day United States by nurses, doctors, and other medical professionals.
