Talk:Disney's 65 episode policy

Is this even real?

I'm not debating that Disney has a habit of stopping production on shows as soon as they reach 65 episodes. It's true. They're also not the only company who does it. Lots of animated programs cease being made once they hit 65. It has nothing to do with some corporate directive though, it's a common practice borne out of syndication practices.

Most weekly children's television shows only have 13 episodes made per season. So the same 13 episodes air 4 times in one year. This is generally acceptable because children are less likely to complain about the repeats - heck, kids LOVE repetition (that's why they'll watch the same DVD over and over and over again). Kids tend to need structure and routine in their lifes at first (only later do we crave change and excitement). So the children's season is 13 weeks long.

For daily shows, though, more episodes are needed. 5 episodes a week (Monday-Friday) x 13 weeks = 65 episodes! The so-called "65 episode policy" is the minimum needed to ensure a full children's season worth of new programming. And sadly, if you can get away with airing something 4 times in one year, there's no point to spending money on MORE. That's where the illusion of a cut-off exists.

The point about "getting stale" is valid, though, since if the company wanted to produce MORE episodes, they technically should cough up 65 episodes EVERY SINGLE YEAR. And um, that's kind of hard. Notice how shows that do continue after 65 slow to a trickle. It's because coming up with 65 new ideas is not easy, if not impossible.

The long animation lead time also means they that each season would come very far apart, leaving a gap with no new programming in it. It's easier to have teams they could swap around on each new program (same program generally means they have to keep some of the same staff).

I'm not trying to defend the "policy", just pointing out that this article seems more a subset of the syndication article than a separate concept on its own. I also can't find actual PROOF that such a policy exists, just people saying it does and they know for sure it does. But not HOW they know. Just observations on shows ending after 65 episodes. Speculation does not make a good article.

I've altered the article slightly to make it a little more factual and grounded. Juse because I don't think it's a real policy doesn't mean the term won't still come up, and as such, it should be referenced here. --Lampbane 12:20, 31 March 2006 (EST)