by Thinus Ferreira
CBS Studios in the United States has decided to reduce the number of episodes of new seasons of several scripted series because of production challenges given the Covid-19 global pandemic.
Producers and production companies need more time to craft and film episodes given new precautionary measures, including on-set, as well as remote working and social distancing regulations.
Production costs have also increased because of Covid-19, meaning that fewer episodes can realistically be produced within the same budget constraints.
The upcoming new seasons of NCIS (seen on M-Net, DStv 101 and Universal TV, DStv 117), Blue Bloods (seen on M-Net City, DStv 115), Bull (seen on M-Net, DStv 101), The Neighborhood (seen on 1Magic, DStv 103), SEAL Team (seen on M-Net City, DStv 115) and Magnum P.I (seen on M-Net, DStv 101), that were all renewed for 22 episodes, will now all be reduced to either 16 or 18 episodes for their latest seasons.
The modified number of episodes per CBS Studios show for their new seasons are: Blue Bloods (16), Bull (16), Magnum P.I. (16), The Neighborhood (18), NCIS (16), NCIS: Los Angeles (18), NCIS: New Orleans (16), and SEAL Team (16).
As more American studios ramp up production on new seasons, more of them might very well announce truncated and scaled back episode orders for their latest seasons.
