| abstract | - Show pilots are a very tricky process. They are made, and even if they get a chance on the air, the vast majority of them fail within a few weeks. With other shows, they sometimes will build up a dedicated audience that will fail to keep the show alive long enough. Most of the time. Most full television seasons are between 20 and 26 episodes long. There are various exceptions, animated shows can go from 13 episodes to well over 40 episodes. With such a vicious market, the ability to reach the 100 episode mark is a rare and coveted thing. So when a show does achieve that milestone, they plan something big to not only draw ratings, but to break out into the three digit episodes. This will often coincide with the Very Special Episode, but it could also be the Tonight Someone Dies or other similar episodes. It may avoid all of that and the episode is just given an additional polishing to make it one of the best episodes of the series. It may also result in a Milestone Redo, when elements (or even the entire plot) of the series' first installment is directly homaged in celebration of the event. In the case of Long Runners and shows where a hundred episodes is not that big of a deal, the celebration is sometimes in the form of "10 Year Anniversary" or something similar. Part of the celebration is that pure money is offered with syndication rights, which a general rule of thumb is to have 100 episodes to air in certain time slots like Nick at Nite does. Because the show was already financed and produced, this will bring in the nostalgic viewers without much effort. But no matter what, remaining in the public view for five years is an impressive event in any form of media. Examples of Milestone Celebration include:
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