[jguimont]

To be honest your examples were aired on TV some time ago where the normal season was 24 episodes (about 40-45 min long for seasons like Lost) and a half season 10 or 12.

Most of the new shows are between 8 and 12 episodes about an hour long.

[boomboomsubban]

I think you just stopped watching as many major network shows, as a quick look at NBC's current lineup still shows 15+ episode seasons is the norm.

[duhi88]

but shorter due to commercial breaks.

[pwinnski]

I can't find any links for this off-hand, but I think the last time commercial time was increased was in the 1980s.

"One-hour" shows have been 42 minutes long on US TV for decades now.

[lkbm]

I recall it changing when Star Trek: Voyager was on the air -- at least for Voyager.

Looking at Amazon Prime, seems the episode length changed from 46 minutes to 44 minutes going from Season 5 (1999) to Season 6 (2000).

(What I was remembering was 47 to 45, but this is a vague memory of a Usenet post I read twenty years ago.)

EDIT: Also, I should note that Voyager was on Fox. If you're talking about NBC specifically, I have no data.

[olyjohn]

Voyager was on UPN. Maybe in some areas where there was no UPN station, the local Fox station picked it up.

[lkbm]

Ah, you're right. I forgot UPN even existed. Thanks.

[pwinnski]

Good point, it's likely different for different networks.

[gsich]

Most of them can be mass produced, like the usual crime story nonsense.