'Stranger Things' Has Made Just Five Seasons Over Nine Years — What Took So Long?

Although it's one of the most popular shows in the history of Netflix, Stranger Things is also one of the slowest-moving. The show first premiered in 2016, and now, a full nine years later, the show's fifth and final season is getting ready to debut.

The fourth season debuted all the way back in 2022, which has led some people to wonder why Stranger Things takes so long to make, especially considering that the kids at the show's center are now full-on adults. Here's what we know.

It used to be that TV seasons premiered every year, but in the streaming era, shows can be off the air for years at a time between seasons, which can make it difficult for viewers to actually remember what happened. There's no one reason that explains why Stranger Things has taken so long to make. The gap between Seasons 3 and 4 can be explained in part by the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut production down in Hollywood for months (Season 3 premiered in 2019 and Season 4 in 2022).

The equally long gap between Seasons 4 and 5 can be explained, at least in part, by the fact that the writers' and actors' strikes happened during that break, and again shut down production for several months.

What's clear, then, is that the inordinate breaks between seasons are driven chiefly by the three years between Seasons 3 and 4, and the three years between Seasons 4 and 5.

Although those gaps can be explained at least in part by COVID and the strikes, what's also true is that Seasons 4 and 5 of Stranger Things featured supersized episodes and ever more complex productions. For the fifth season, the Duffer brothers have essentially decided to create eight full-length movies, which is certainly their prerogative, but might also explain why the show has gotten more difficult to make.

As it's gotten more reliant on effects, each episode has taken longer to make, stretching out the time between seasons. That means that, even though there are only five total seasons of Stranger Things, and each season has fewer than 10 episodes, the gaps between those seasons have gotten longer and longer.

Fans have understandably gotten frustrated at the appalling gaps between seasons, even as they understand how much effort the show's creative team has put into making the episodes great.

"I remember when shows were 22-24 episodes and came out every year. Now it’s amazing if you get 8 over 2-3 years," one person wrote on Reddit.

Of course, as some fans have pointed out, this is not a problem that's unique to Stranger Things. Severance, which was a hit for Apple TV+ when it premiered in 2022, but then was off the air for three years between seasons. Shows are taking longer to make, and fans are understandably frustrated about how much they forget between seasons. It's unclear, though, whether this will change anytime soon.