The HBO Max murder mystery thriller, based on author Chris Bohjalian's bestselling book, was originally supposed to be a limited series. But its popularity led to HBO Max ordering a second season. "Although the show’s return is welcome, season two of The Flight Attendant doesn’t feel as fresh, necessary, or as exciting because the first season was so clearly finite," says Carrie Wittmer. The Flight Attendant isn't the only popular TV show that was unnecessarily renewed. Winning Time, recently renewed for a second season, was originally announced as a limited series. The acclaimed Emmy-winning Big Little Lies Season 1 was brought back for a disappointing Season 2. And Stranger Things, originally planned as an anthology series, has been renewed with "messy, meandering seasons that... feel more like packaged 80s nostalgia and Netflix merch than a tight, cohesive story," says Wittmer, adding: "The beauty of the limited series is that they tell one story from beginning to end like a film, and thusly have more time to develop characters and plot like a television show. But over the past few years, limited series have, like absolutely everything else on the planet, become IP inspo. Limited series lose their cultural significance the further they go beyond their original one-season structure."
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TOPICS: The Flight Attendant, HBO Max, Big Little Lies, Stranger Things, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, Peak TV, Prestige TV