Wait and Watch: What is the ideal gap between seasons of web series?

Filmmakers and actors talk about the factors that impact the gap between the seasons of web series.

With the growing need for digital content only growing with each passing day, it is now all the more important for fans to get to watch the subsequent seasons of their favourite series sooner rather than later. And many makers have in fact taken that into cognizance and are releasing new season as soon as two months after the airing of the first- case in point being Aashram. But there are others that have taken their own time in getting their second season to the fans such as Mirzapur, Inside Edge and others.

A still from Aashram. The two seasons of the web series had the gap of just two months.

So how long should one wait before debuting a subsequent season of a web series. Filmmaker Ken Ghosh, who helmed seasons one and two of Abhay which released after a gap of over a year, says, “It should ideally be a minimum four to six months. But it also depends on the fans and how mad they are for the show. There is no fixed rule as such.” 

He also feels that having subsequent seasons depends on the confidence level of the platform on the script, makers and the cast. “Sometimes they know that they are very confident so it is pre-planned and sometimes they wait and see the feedback and then decide,” he adds.

In the case of Mirzapur, where in the gap between the first and second season was close to two years, it got frustrating for fans especially with a heavy cliffhanger.

But that wasn’t a worry much for the actors with regards to whether fans would wait that long or not, shares Pankaj Tripathi. He says his fans kept his character and the show alive through memes. 

“The response to the first season was that of a cult following. Logo ne harr ek character ko yaad rakha aur yeh bahut badi baat hai,” he says.

But as an actor there was a little concern that he had because of the gap. “I revisited the character of Kaleen Bhaiya after a long time and it was not easy as I had forgotten the mannerisms and all on first day of shoot. People tend to forget, especially if the gap is long, but I m such an actor that I surrender completely to the director,” he points out.

After the success of her series, Out of Love which released last year, Rasika Dugal has started shooting the second season in October and it is expected to release next year. 

Even the time gap between the first and second seasons of Inside Edge was around 2.5 years. Actor Vivek Oberoi, who had a prominent role in the series, says, “You can’t normally announce another season if the first is not received well. In our case things took time because we didn’t want to compromise on the quality and that is why the gap. But as long as the fans don’t forget the characters and eagerly wait for the series, nothing is a concern.”

Agreeing to the same, Four More Shots Please! actor Kirti Kulhari, says that it depends on a lot of factors. “Sometimes it is easy to make a new season soon after but the production in some shows are very grand so that takes time. I think the gap between our first and second seasons was perfect, not too long not too short.”