100 episodes

In the U.S. television industry, 100 episodes is the traditional threshold for a television series to become viable for syndication. One hundred episodes are advantageous for stripped syndication because it allows for 20 weeks of weekday reruns (depending on the number of episodes produced once the program debuts in syndication) without repeating an episode, and such shows can be sold for higher per episode pricing.

It is unclear when conventional wisdom came to decide that 100 episodes was the ideal. One of the first series made specifically for syndication, the 1953-55 sitcom Life with Elizabeth, purposely ended its run after only 65 episodes, concerned that producing more would saturate the market and reduce the syndication package's value. In recent years, the minimum number of episodes for off-network, stripped syndication has been set at 88 (typically four seasons of 22 episodes), although some programs have been relatively successful in syndication with fewer episodes.

Syndication is often a profitable enterprise because series can be rerun for years after they end production. Shows of limited profitability during their first run will still prove to be viable to the production company if they can last 100 episodes. This point is usually reached during a series' fifth season.

Shows that have produced fewer episodes have become syndication successes, in some cases prompting additional episodes to be commissioned specifically for syndication to reach the 100-episode mark. WKRP in Cincinnati was a major success in syndication despite having only produced 90 episodes, eventually prompting 47 additional episodes to be produced a decade after the original ended. The Monkees, a show that lasted only 58 episodes and two seasons, went on to be rerun extensively in the decades that followed. The Honeymooners was a series spun off in 1955-56 from sketches of the same name that aired on The Jackie Gleason Show, an hour-long variety program (1952–55). While only 39 episodes of The Honeymooners were produced, there were enough Honeymooners sketches from The Jackie Gleason Show (which ran again in the 1956-57 season and would be revived in the 1960s) to compile a syndication package with over 100 episodes.Mama's Family was put into syndication despite having only 35 episodes at the time of its cancellation; the surprise success of the show in syndication prompted the syndicator to rush the show back into production, which led to an additional 95 episodes over four seasons in first-run syndication.

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