It's time for television to embrace the mini-series again. I don't mean those two or three part movies which are mistakenly called mini-series, but the mini-series the way it was intended; as 12 or 13 episode shows.

The mini-series doesn't have a definite length, but generally is between six and twelve episodes in length. Originally it was defined as "a series too short to fill a full season." Somewhere along the way they became shorter and shorter until many were calling two episode movies mini-series.

The mini-series is a particularly American invention. In England they just refer to them as a regular series. One of the best examples of this is Life on Mars, which was two eight-episode series. In the US, that wouldn't even be enough for a full season.

Networks started making mini-series because they wanted to produce a show that was too long for a TV movie but too short for a full series. And budget also became a factor. Many shows, like V, were made as mini-series because the network couldn't afford the cost of a full series since each episode cost so much. (Ironically, the last episode of the V mini-series had a very unclimactic ending and made it appear that the producers ran out of money. The subsequent series fixed this to some degree.)

While the mini-series seemed to rule during the 70s and 80s, the abundance of them along with other changes in television made them less attractive to viewers. As such networks didn't want to risk running long runs of mini-series which they might, and sometimes did, cancel. So many mini-series, such as 10th Kingdom, were jammed into a few weeks and others shorted to being nothing more than two or three part movies that ran subsequent weeks or even days.

Now the trend seems to be getting back to the mini-series, but for regular series. Crusoe wasn't intended as a mini-series but since it's only thirteen parts, if it ends the story reasonably then it could be considered one. Although generally a cancelled show is not a mini-series. The ending of the mini-series is pre-planned. (This is the sort of show that normally would just have been cancelled in the past, but since the networks are so short of shows this year they have had to make concessions. And it does help DVD sales, which can be used to make back lost revenue.)

Another trend, apparently influenced by the writer's strike, is to split regular series into two parts. The most obvious use of this is with the last season of Battlestar Galactica. Heroes is also making use of this technique by dividing the stories for each season. While there has always been a split during the Holidays, deliberately planning on the hiatus is relatively new.

Many TV shows started as mini-series. V was one of the first, although Battlestar Galactica was a way for the networks to judge whether the story would have enough viewers to support a regular series.

TV movies have been used in a similar way. The Bionic Man started as a TV movie, which in turn led to a popular series with a moderately successful (three season) spin-off. Coincidentally, the end of The Bionic Man came at the same time as the start of the Roots mini-series. (Possibly helping the ratings for Roots.) Hercules started as a movie, which led to a few more, then onto a successful syndicated series which spawned another popular series, Xena.

Although this doesn't always work. Man from started as four movies. Their success led to a series which wound up getting cancelled in it's first season. So even a mini-series can't always gage the popularity of a show since many will only commit themselves for the short run. But overall, it's still better than running a full season of a show that just doesn't appear to the viewers and winds up stranding those viewers that aren't interested.

Some of the best shows started as mini-series or movies, and some of the shows I've most liked started that way. And there's still a few mini-series that I've liked that have never been more than mini-series. 10th Kingdom was a good length for a mini-series and I've watched it many times since. (I initally taped it then picked up the DVD later.)

Unlike a regular TV series, a mini-series doesn't require as much of a time commitment. And a popular mini-series could then become a regular series or at least follow with a subsequent mini-series. With many turning away from TV to other time-consuming forms of entertainment, the mini-series just might be the way for television to go.