Will We Ever Have Another 'Succession'?

HBO

With the recent announcement that HBO's hit drama Succession's upcoming fourth season will be its last, it begs the question: will we ever see anything like it again?

This question is not intended in the broadest sense. HBO will still continue to be the preeminent force in prestige television; it will still produce some of the biggest shows of the year and never find itself starving for hits; but what constitutes a hit in today's entertainment climate is drastically different from even just five years ago when Succession premiered.

Contrary to what it may seem like now, Succession was not the golden goose for the premium cable network when it premiered in the spring of 2018. Sure, it was still marketed heavily and had the backing of Adam McKay and Will Ferrell's production company, but it was not the show. Look at how HBO is marketing The Last of Us currently and you would find no such thing for the Jesse Armstrong-created satire. That honor went to the second season of Westworld and the premiere of the Bill Hader-led dramedy Barry.

And can you blame HBO? The show is about a wealthy media family with absolutely zero redeeming qualities enacting loathsome act after loathsome act on one another. At first glance, many would never think that would be the recipe for creating the biggest show on television. But HBO gave it a chance and that chance provided a massive hit.

However, in this current entertainment landscape with HBO and its fellow streaming competitors vying for constant subscriber growth, those "chances" are becoming harder to come by.

Succession's climb to arguably the biggest show on TV was a slow burn in both quality and viewership. We've all found ourselves at times trying to convince someone to watch one of our favorite shows by telling them "just wait until it gets good." Succession is no exception to that rule. You could make the case that the pilot episode is one of the weakest in the series and that it didn't truly become Succession until around the midpoint of the first season.

The ratings were no different. Of all of HBO's Spring 2018 slate it actually rated near the bottom in viewership. If Succession came out today those same ratings could very well get the show canned in today's ever-saturated content market.

And that right there is one of the roots of the above question. Think about all of the recent shows that have been canceled after just one season over the past few months. Much has been made about Netflix being extremely friendly with their ax but HBO Max has been no exception either. In the midst of HBO's parent company WarnerMedia merging to become Warner Bros. Discovery there have been some extreme changes. We saw multiple shows (Minx, The Nevers) that were filming their second seasons after previous renewals receive notices that their shows were being canceled or moved elsewhere in the name of tax write-offs.

Who's to say that some of those shows couldn't have had a Succession-like bump in viewership and quality if given the proper time? But the fact of the matter is, there are so many shows now and so many options to watch them that first impressions are the only things that matter now. Nearly 600 original scripted series were released in 2022 alone; if you're not a heavily marketed show based around well-known IP or an incredible high- concept, you better nail it on your first try and hope for a little luck as well.

As mentioned above, first impressions are all that seem to matter now in today's streaming landscape. While much of that used to fall negatively on the executives, creators are now fully bought into that idea positively.

Of the 599 scripted shows that came out last year, a good chunk of those came from the mini/limited series sphere. It makes sense that many creatives would start flocking towards these projects. With so much content in their faces, consumers like to know there's an immediate end point to strive for when checking out a show. Knowing you can complete a seven to ten hour series and come away with a satisfying conclusion with no worries of unresolved cliffhangers due to cancellations is certainly enticing.

However, are many of these mini-series bloated and overstuffed? Yes. Would they be better off as tight, two hour movies? Also, yes. But the fact of the matter is streaming television is booming and mini-series have a reputation of being sure-fire hits. Why mess with the dreaded box office (which lately hasn't been kind to non-IP driven films) when you can have a sure-fire hit on a streaming service?

So how does Succession tie into all of this?

Succession is going to wrap up its story in four seasons and nearly forty episodes. Much has been made about how Better Call Saul wrapping its show up after six seasons was the end of "the golden age" of peak, long-running television, but Succession has a ground to stand on in that argument as well.

Both are shows based on original ideas (although there is some gray area for Saul as a prequel to Breaking Bad) that were given time and space to tell long-running, character driven stories. Can you think of any mega shows out today that afford the same luxury?

There's Stranger Things but it first premiered in 2016, long before today's streaming boom and is unlikely to be replicated; there's The Mandalorian but it's based on a Star Wars property and there will always be an audience for anything set in a galaxy far, far, away; The Last of Us is massive right now but there's no guarantee it runs longer than 2-3 seasons at this pace.

We can certainly hope that the long-running original drama series will not die. It's doubtful they will go away completely but it appears they will mostly come from established names or known IP.

If anyone has the juice to make it work, it's HBO and let's hope they still have the motivation to do so.

Nevertheless, let's celebrate shows like Succession while we still have them and prepare to bid adieu to one of the greatest drama's of the 21st century.

Here's to its imminent end on top and while we hope it’s not the last of its kind, prestige television will still only adapt from here.

As Logan Roy once said, "Nothing is a line. Everything, everywhere is always moving. Forever. Get used to it."