Usually, a show that has successfully been greenlit — and even getting that can be a challenge — only gets one guaranteed season. If the producers want to renew it for further seasons, they have to fight for it by convincing the network/studio that their show deserves another season. It has to be profitable, appealing to a large enough demographic, and not too costly for the network/studio before they will agree to a renewal.
But sometimes, a show is renewed before it officially premieres, which shows how much the network and/or studio believes in it.
Production Lead Time is also frequently a factor, especially if it's something that takes longer to produce like animation or genres that need a lot of effects work, sets, and props. If the entire production pipeline shuts down for months while waiting to see how the first season is received it means the next season will be more expensive and take longer to come out. It also ensures the creators get their money's worth out of any expensive props or sets.
It is the opposite of Only Barely Renewed, in which the show's fate is uncertain for an amount of time before it is finally renewed.
See also Adored by the Network.
Examples:
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Films
- The early buzz of The Godfather was so positive that a sequel was planned before filming was even finished.
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2: Both the third movie and the Knuckles TV series were confirmed in February 2022, two months before the movie was released.
- Superman: The Movie and Superman II both began principal photography in the same month.
Live-Action TV
- The original Amazing Stories got a two-season commitment from NBC from the beginning.
- Awkwafina is Nora from Queens received a second season before the first premiered.
- Cobra Kai was renewed for a fifth season ahead of the fourth season premiere.
- Diavoli: It was renewed two days before it officially premiered.
- FBI: Near the end of it's sixth season it was renewed for a seventh, eighth, and ninth.
- Glee: While it had already been renewed for a second season halfway through the first, the trope comes into effect when a third season was also commissioned before the first ended. It was also renewed for a full fifth and sixth season before the end of the fourth, though these ended up being shortened when star Cory Monteith passed away unexpectedly between seasons.
- High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: Was renewed for a second season before the first premiered, though that one was delayed for a year due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. A fourth season was also ordered a few months before the third premiered.
- The Hulu adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was renewed for a second season
before the first one began filming.
- George R. R. Martin announced in 6 November of 2023 for BANGCAST that the third and forth seasons for House of the Dragon are already in discussion. This is almost a month before the first official teaser for the second trailer to even come out.
- Interview with the Vampire (2022): Due to near-universal praise from TV critics (the series received an impressive 98% note on Rotten Tomatoes), AMC greenlit Season 2 on Sep. 28, 2022, four days before its Season 1 television premiere (and one day before its debut on the AMC+ streaming service).
- Amazon ordered a second season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power back in 2019, before pre-production had even started on the first.
- Level Up: It was renewed before the first 10 episodes even aired.
- Mrs. Brown's Boys was renewed in 2020 so as to keep running until 2026.
- The Politician: It was renewed a full year before the show even premiered.
- Sesame Street, upon moving to HBO Max, was instantly renewed for seasons 51-55.
- Star Trek: Strange New Worlds had season 2 enter production before the premiere of season 1.
- Star Wars Disney+ series:
- The Mandalorian: Season 2 entered preproduction four months before Season 1 premiered.
- Andor: Season 2 was ordered months before the series premiered.
- Super Pumped: 12 days before the premiere of the first season, it was renewed for a second season that will focus on Facebook.
- This Is Us was renewed for a second and third season shortly after the end of the first. Shortly after the third season ended, it was renewed for three more.
- The Wheel of Time (2021): The show was renewed for a second season in May 2021, six months before its premiere in November, while the show was presumably in editing phase. It was also renewed for a third season shortly after the first season had aired.
- The Witcher: Season 2 was announced one month ahead of Season 1's premiere. Season 3 was announced a whole four months before Season 2 premiered.
- Young Sheldon was renewed for Seasons 5, 6, and 7 at the same time.
Western Animation
- The Amazing World of Gumball: Was renewed months before the official airing of the first season.
- Amphibia was renewed for a second season before it premiered, as well as a third season prior to the Season 2 premiere.
- Big City Greens was renewed for a second season before it even premiered. The fourth season was also announced before the premiere of the third season.
- Big Hero 6: The Series: The show was renewed before the first season started airing.
- Blaze and the Monster Machines was renewed for a fourth season ahead of the third season premiere.
- Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese: The series was renewed for a second season in June 2019 before its premiere in October that year.
- Captain Flamingo was renewed for a second season before it even premiered.
- Central Park was renewed before the first season even premiered and was renewed for a third before the second season even aired.
- The Cleveland Show was renewed for another season before its premiere.
- DuckTales (2017): The show was renewed for a second season before the first premiered, with the third season also being confirmed before season two aired.
- Fancy Nancy: Renewed before the first season premiered and was also renewed before the second season aired.
- The Ghost and Molly McGee: Renewed for a second season ahead of its first season premiere.
- Grimsburg: Renewed for a second season in 2022 before the first season premiere in 2024.
- A second season of Hazbin Hotel has already been greenlit before the show airs in 2024.
- The Legend of Korra was renewed for its third and fourth seasons at the same time. However, those were also its final seasons.
- Comedy Central renewed Legends of Chamberlain Heights ahead of its premiere.
- Moral Orel: Became a bit of a double-edged sword for this show. It was such a success Cartoon Network / [adult swim] ordered season three before season two was even halfway done. Then the executives actually SAW season three and were so disturbed by it that they cut the order in half and canceled the show afterward.
- Mira, Royal Detective: Renewed for Season 2 before airing.
- Cartoon Network renewed both My Adventures with Superman and Batman Caped Crusader for two seasons long before the first season of either show had aired (Caped Crusader would eventually be sold off to Prime Video, and Superman would be re-assigned by its premiere to Adult Swim.)
- Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur: On October 8, 2022, fresh from its appearance at New York Comic Con, the series was given a Season 2 order ahead of its February 10, 2023 debut.
- The Owl House: Renewed for Season 2 before airing, and renewed for Season 3 before the Season 2 premiere.
- Entertainment One renewed Peppa Pig into 2027, ensuring that it stays on the air for over 20 years.
- Puppy Dog Pals was renewed for a fifth season before the fourth could air. It helped break the "four-season curse" trend for shows on Disney-branded networks.
- Rick and Morty was renewed for an additional 70 episodes between Season 3 and 4, which was more episodes than the show had at the time.
- Spider-Man: Freshman Year got a second season announced, entitled Spider-Man: Sophomore Year, before the former's 2024 debut.
- South Park was renewed through Season 26 before Season 24 could air.
- Star vs. the Forces of Evil was renewed for a second season six weeks ahead of its premiere. Its third and fourth seasons were also ordered ahead of the preceding season's premiere.
- Star Wars Rebels: Series voice actor Freddie Prinze Jr. explained it was essentially a blank check at the time to make as many seasons as they wanted without being cancelled, though the fact that some of the other shows on that list were cancelled anyways may mean he was wrong or Disney changed how it worked.
- Tangled: The Series: Its entire 3-season run was greenlit before airing.
- Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go had its first two seasons greenlit before the show aired.
- T.O.T.S. was renewed for a second season prior to the series premiere, and for a third prior to the second season premiere.
- Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy: In addition to being renewed before it even officially aired, it was given a special preview a month before the official premiere.
- Vampirina was renewed for a third season ahead of the Season 2 premiere.
- X-Men '97 had a second season announced at the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con. The first season premiered on March 20, 2024.
