why ony 9 episodes this season?

[JJ77]

I just noticed that this season only has 9 episodes scheduled. Anyone know what's up with that?

season 1 &2 both had 12 eps each. season 3 had 10 eps....
could it be the show is in danger of being cancelled or something?

[BigLoveRocks!]

I really don't know, but I feel cheated as a viewer.

[JJ77]

I tired a quick google search to see if i could answer my own question, but (without much effort) didnt really find anything.

I feel a little ripped off as well... but mostly I'm wondering WHY? I'd feel a lot more jipped if they got cancelled and we didnt get a propoer finale.

[duets]

Maybe it has to do with the previously ended writer's strike. LOL Or was that last season?

[yancykin]

Last year 10 now 9. They couldn't pull together a full series by January so they cut back.

[BigLoveRocks!]

Next season there will be 4...LOL!

[duets]

Hope we don't have to wait 2 yrs for that season... LOL

[JJ77]

wow, you guys are super encouraging... LOL

seriously though I do feel kinda ripped, and i wonder if the lesser number of eps this season is influencing the pace of the show. kinda feels like they're cramming too much in at once IMO.

[rissmeek]

I think it sucks that they keep cutting episodes. Maybe now they are back on a normal schedule and next year we will get a full 12.

[BigLoveRocks!]

I truly believed the short season would only be a one time thing, and this season we HAD to get a full season.

I was surprised and disappointed that we got stuck with yet an even shorter season than last!

Is there someone at HBO we can ask as to WHY this is happening? Well...Someone that might give us an honest answer lol!

[southernsong]

I can't figure out the 9 episode thing. All of the episodes feel rushed and it also feels like they had to cut a lot out of them. I also think I remember hearing that they were going to have some stuff with Rhonda this season, but ended up cutting that stuff, as well due to time constraints. When I originally heard that there would only be 9 episodes, I thought that they must be running out of material and that this would be the last season. Now, it really doesn't seem like they ran out of material, but rather time. I can't figure it out.

[BigLoveRocks!]

I can't either...

I mean there are soap operas on daytime television that have a show every day of the year that is an hour long...

How can HBO not get 12, one hour long shows done in an entire year? How do you run out of time?

[rhinestone_cowgirl]

I do worry its because HBO are trying to kill the show. I cannot imagine why but perhaps it is something to do with the fact that not very many of the countries who showed it originally are doing so; and perhaps they are losing money that way? It seemed from pics posted on the facebook hbo big love site that they have not yet finished filming this series such as one of Chloe on set last week (unless they renewed for a fifth without telling us) which would surely give them the option to refilm some stuff to make a 'tidy' ending, if HBO say in a week or so's time that they are not renewing (just judging that time frame on the time they took to say they were renewing last season).

[BigLoveRocks!]

It would be tragic if they didn't continue the show past season 4.

[JJ77]

I dont know that this fully explains the shortened season, but it does lend some explanation.

All of this will take place in just a nine-episode season. "It was a demand about getting the show ready for January that shortened the order," says Scheffer. That, and Olsen was recovering from open-heart surgery last February (and was then getting over the swine flu that had made its way through the writers' room, which was why he was absent from this interview). "We would have preferred to go on in March, but [HBO] had already booked the miniseries 'The Pacific' for March," continues Scheffer. "So we had to come to some sort of compromise. The compromise was nine shows."

Taken from an LA times article, link to the full article is on the "big love in the news" board