To find the straw that broke the camel's back, you had to really load that poor animal up. Well, ladies and gentlemen, we know society has now survived 532 shows in a single year, a 7% increase from the year before, and a helluva list of things to watch across networks, streamers, cable, and digital. 

But it does kind of make you wonder...how's your back feeling?


532 shows...but are any of them good? 

We don't have a metric for that. We do know that critics get stretched thin trying to see EVERYTHING and the rest of us still have trouble picking a show to binge every Friday night. 

But with more streaming networks coming to the forefront and lots of timeslots needing to be filled traditionally, we're going to need more.  

The inherent problem with all this content is that sometimes the best stuff just gets lost. When's the last time you were telling a friend about a show they had never heard about? Or while scrolling you were able to pick something based on a tiny thumbnail? 

But the inherent problem with launching all these networks is that they need their own, specific content that makes them appealing to consumers. 

Yeah, this is a real Catch 22. But good news...

If you're a creator...writing jobs in TV are up 7%! The more shows, the more opportunity to sell your ideas and get them on the air. 

Of course, there are downsides. Instead of having 22 or 24 episode seasons, shows are getting much smaller runs. Now 6, 8, 10, and 12 episode seasons are much more common. If you only work on one show a year, you might not make enough money to survive, especially in Los Angeles. 

Only time will tell if we'll reach 600 shows a year or how the WGA will help improve writers' lives when it comes to staffing this insane amount of content. 

But for now, get watching. 

There are a ton of shows out there.