Netflix renews 'Orange Is the New Black' for THREE more seasons (hitfix.com)

Chris_from_Germany

Pretty surprising that it is for that long in my opinion. Just like Allan Sepinwall in below linked article mentions I am on the one hand side happy to get more of good television, on the other hand (especially with the history of Jenji Kohan) a little more than a little bit concerned what they will make of it. Maybe they really could move on from the character of Piper as our gate to the prison (e.g. by introducing a new character in season 5 who is kind of Pipers "protegee" when she now might be one of the stronger or more powerful personalities in this prison and when she (mid season 5) leaves prison we go with this person)...but there are many risks no matter which way they choose to go in these (at least) 4 seasons to come.

I remain really excited.

Another question: At the end of last season @A_Ron_Hubbard sounded a little doubtful about the coverage (I am not quite sure (anymore) if it was just the format of the cast or the cast itself). 

Could you maybe give us an update if a coverage of season 4 is planned or not?

Link to the source

ryanfoster

Yeah, I agree with Sepinwall both that season 3 was not as good as the first two and that it was still very good. I am glad there will be more seasons. But for sure everyone who watched Weeds is worried about this show falling off a cliff.

amyja89

Jenji Kohan just doesn't know how to go out on top! She completely killed Weeds with two (or three) unnecessary seasons, hopefully the rest of the creative team can keep OITNB on track.

A_Ron_Hubbard

Yeah, I'm leaning more towards Amy's pessimissm, honestly.  I was hoping Jenji would go out on a high note, not it seems obvious the show will wear out it's welcome.  But maybe not.  She just has to be willing to get rid of Piper, Alex, and any other short timers and bring in new and interesting cast members.  I guess that's one of the central points of interest this year, how will the sudden new influx of inmates be handled?  If this season is compelling I'll be a LOT more excited.

aberry89

I cannot watch Piper for three more seasons

amyja89

There was a female prison show here in the UK called Bad Girls that was mega popular in the late 90s in to the mid 2000s, and it managed to keep a good flow of regular and new inmates whilst at the same time switching character focus and letting leads go when their time felt up. As most shows with 8 seasons do, it started to outstay it's welcome, but it kept relatively fresh until at least the 6th series so I'm hoping OITNB can replicate that.

Australia's 70s/80s classic Prisoner: Cell Block H was another female prison show that committed to a long run, and in a fucking crazy way too! The show used to put out two new episodes a week and had eight seasons that totalled some 692 episodes! 

What was Piper's sentence? I have totally forgotten at this point because I don't care about her at all! 

Dee

@amyja89 Oh wow, you're bringing it all back for me with Prisoner and Bad Girls! Loved both of those shows back in the day, but to be fair, they were far more on the soap end of the spectrum than OITNB so they had a huge revolving cast and storylines.

Doug El

Piper's sentence was 18 months, but hey, M*A*S*H* lasted three times longer than the Korean War in which it was set, so who knows?

Michelle

Happy to hear this news, but seriously, just release Piper from prison and focus on the other ladies. They're much more entertaining to me. I can't take much more Piper.