Second Season or Sleep: why are streaming services becoming less inclined to renew their shows? 

My personal favourite comedy series is the highly successful 2009 workplace mockumentary Parks and Recreation (2009). Its first season, a mere six episodes tentatively pushed out as a sort of pseudo-Office (2005), is one of the worst television outings I have ever had the misfortune to watch. Thankfully, in years gone by, first seasons functioned as testing grounds, a way of ironing out problems with shows, many of which went on to become smash-hits, which meant that Parks and Recreation, among others, had time to find a way forwards. But television has changed, shows that aren't dominating in their overture are denied not only their crescendo, but also everything else in between.

In years gone by when television shows were fewer, companies were more likely to attempt to re-invest in concepts they already had in order to try to cut the cost involved in starting over. Now, there's hundreds clamouring for the spotlight, and budgets have utterly skyrocketed, meaning that if something isn't earning millions, there's plenty of potentially cheaper, easier pilots just waiting in the wings. People used to frequent their local cobblers. Now, because of factory production and cheap labour, those who have worn out their shoes don't take them to get fixed - it's cheaper to just get new ones. TV shows have gone the exact same way.

Ultimately, it's overconsumption and reduced patience on a wide scale that's leading to a decrease in second seasons. Spreading your bets is the theory of cheap production - better to keep investing in first seasons in hopes of a winner with than to try to genuinely find and fix issues for properties that haven't immediately become popular. It's the same old story of clawing, desperate media executives, playing the TV market like a casino rather than attempting to sell a good product. That isn't to say every first season is poor, quite the opposite, Netflix and its peers are even cancelling good, reasonably popular TV shows. They're ripping out weeds that are just flowers not quite in bloom, and we can only hope that something changes in the coming years to make them start understanding that creating stories isn't a science, it's an art, and art takes time.