Talking Point: are double-bills the future?

It just occurred to me how many channels opt to air episodes of some TV shows in double-bills these days, for various reasons. Of course, this is nothing new; many TV premieres and finale's air in two-part chunks as "events". 24 is a great example; sometimes launching a season with two double-bills spread over two consecutive nights, often with another double-bill mid-season!

Earlier this week, the UK Sci-Fi Channel premiered the first two episodes of Dollhouse's second season back-to-back, despite meaning the show ended at midnight as a result. Did it pay-off? Well, no. The premiere got 115,000 viewers compared to season 1's 263,000 -- but I blame the lack of advertising about its return for that. Sky1 fared much better with their own double-bill debut of Stargate Universe a few weeks before.

Recently, BBC Three made the astute decision to run Harper's Island in "feature-length" installments; a move that helped alleviate the pacing issues that many US critics bemoaned early in its season. In a mere seven weeks 13 episodes had been ravenously digested. Only last night, space soap Defying Gravity aired two episodes to start its season.

Back to Dollhouse, Fox now intends to put the show in hiatus during November "sweeps" and air double-bills throughout December. Of course, this could be perceived as Fox wanting to "burn off" an underperforming show as quickly as possible, but it'll be interesting to see if a two-hour timeslot helps ratings.

So are double-bills the way to go for broadcasters? Are you more inclined to watch something if it's on for 90-minutes or more? Or do double-bills eat into your free time too much? Maybe you quite like to watch one episode "live", then record the next one to catch-up later at your own pace? In an age where DVD box-sets are still extremely popular, is it justified that TV try to ape the experience however it can? BBC2 recently aired The Wire every weekday in the 11pm hour, burning through all five seasons in under four months. Did you find yourself gripped by that intense scheduling, or was it overkill?

For me, I think double-bills suit certain types of programming. I think 24 and Damages would be helped enormously if they aired in double-bills every week, as the traditional "one per week" diet feels interminable for serialized thrillers of their ilk. But I'd hate to see the likes of Lost double-up, as part of that show's appeal is the weeklong discussion of events between each "chapter", and most shows telling self-contained stories would perhaps overstay their welcome.

What do you think? Do you hate double-bills eating into your time, or do you relish extra portions?