why do brits say series instead of season?

ok...still dont get it

Yeah, I was also wondering at this.

@mielr, that's how I see the difference between series and season.

As said above, a UK series may not be broadcast consecutively over the years. For instance, there have been long gaps between series of Absolutely Fabulous and Red Dwarf. Sometimes it is due to script/story development to create a season, sometimes it is due to availability of actors (Red Dwarf with Craig Charles' legal problems, before Series 6). US tv is built around a season of Fall to late-Spring/early-Summer. In the US, regular shows ran until then, then would be replaced by Summer shows. Over time, those shows were replaced by reruns of the regular shows. Syndication packaging also affects how many episodes are in a US season. Syndicators look for 64 episodes or about 3 seasons. This allows the broadcasting of episodes 5 days per week, for 13 weeks. UK shows were filmed as series of 6 or 7, with 13 as the desired number for overseas sales. Some shows had 13 episode series, such as Monty Python, for its middle years. ITV shows more closely reflect the American style, as they were often sold for the US market, like The Avengers and The Saint. Cable has changed much of this on both sides of the Atlantic, however budgets are usually smaller for UK shows, so they tend to stict to the shorter episode runs.

Again, as said above, UK shows tend to have the same writer(s) for the entire series, and often the same director. This allows for a greater consistency across the series. US shows are run by producers, with a story editor and multiple writers. The story editor is responsible for maintaining consistency and continuity across episodes. US shows are more star and producer driven.

Personally, I think the UK system works better, in terms of quality. There are fewer wasted episodes and they don't have to resort to clip shows to fill out a season.

the same reason they call a flashlight a torch and a cigarette a fag

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