Hiatus

A hiatus is a long stop between either an episode or season. An episodic hiatus would be at least a month, while a seasonal hiatus would be two weeks or 3 months to 1 year. These are the examples of notable hiatuses below.

Notable Hiatuses

NOTE: Hiatuses must last 3 months or more to be listed. No exceptions.

• The Fresh TV animated shows have had a bad case of these throughout the years;
  • 6teen (Went though a hiatus of one year between the episode “Life Slaver” from season 3 and the final season premiere’s episode, “Labour Day”.)
  • Total Drama (perhaps the biggest offender, ever. The show went on it’s very first long hiatus after the World Tour finale aired in November 2010 and would not see any new episodes being released until January 2012 when Revenge of the Island premiered. The second occurrence happened when the show went through yet another long hiatus of one year between the finale of Revenge of the Island in August 2012 to September 2013 when All-Stars first premiered. The third time happened between the Pahkitew Island finale in July 2014 to the premiere of the spin-off, the Ridonculous Race in September 2015. And then the main show went on a extremely long hiatus of seven years until early 2021 when it was confirmed that two new seasons would premiere back-to-back on both HBO Max and Cartoon Network sometime in 2022.)
  • Stoked (was hit with this big time. The series first took a 4-month hiatus between November 2009 to March 2010. Season 2 was hit with it even worse as the series saw an even longer hiatus of one year between January 2011 to April 2012. The series saw a third hiatus, which lasted 5 months. After "Browatch" premiered on September 22, 2012, the series went back to airing new episodes every other week, even leading to "Grom Fest", the series finale, which aired on January 26, 2013. In short, it took the series almost 2 1/2 years to finish the final season.)
• American Dad (Season 17 went on a hiatus that lasted from March 14, 2022 to September 5, 2022. Season 13 went on a hiatus that lasted from May 7, 2018 to February 11, 2019.)
• Danger Mouse (1981) (From season 2 to 3 lasted almost eight months, season 4 to 5 lasted around nine months, season 5 to 6 lasted eight months, season 6 to 7 lasted about 11 months, season 8 to 9 lasted almost 4 years, and season 9 to 10 lasted a full year)
• Arthur (The show has had seasonal hiatus since season 12 until season 21, but it had a big hiatus between season 21 and 22 which lasted 15 months. Another hiatus came between season 23 and season 24, which lasted 17 months with two new specials airing on the gap. Another hiatus came between season 24 and 25, taking 11 months with one new special airing on the gap.)
• Danger Mouse (reboot) (From season 1 to 2 had a eight month hiatus, and Episode 24 to 25 of season 2 lasted for nine months)
• Gravity Falls (From season 1 to 2 lasted a full year.)
• The Fairly OddParents (Had a lot of hiatuses, especially episodic hiatuses (mostly many episodes that aired before the United States). As a result of these hiatuses, ten seasons were completed in over 16 years.)
• Rick and Morty (Like some other Adult Swim shows, it can take longer than one year between two seasons. For example, from season 1 to 2 was about 19-20 months (December 2, 2013 to July 26, 2015).)
• Toddlers and Tiaras (Went for a 3 year hiatus in October 16, 2013.)
• Totally Spies! (The series went on a five-year hiatus after the season 5 finale aired in early 2008 with season 6 premiering on September 4, 2013. After airing its final episodes in the same year, the show would go on a very long hiatus of ten years until 2022, when it was announced that a seventh season, titled Whoop World, which premiere in May 2024).
• Winx Club (Has suffered several cases of this, with the first case being in 2008 where no new episodes would premiere until April 2009. The series would then go on it’s second hiatus between late 2009 and June 2011 with the premiere of the first Nickelodeon special, “The Fate of Bloom”. The third time where this would happen was between October 2015 and April 2019, taking over three years for the rebooted season eight to premiere. In between 2020 to 2024 The show is now on it’s fourth hiatus with a CGI retooled ninth season scheduled to premiere in 2025, meaning it would have been five years since the final episode aired in September 2019).
• Bunk'd (The season 2 finale aired on May 24, 2017, but season 3 didn’t premiere until June 18, 2018 over a year later. This unusually long hiatus sparked rumors of cancellation, especially since Disney Channel typically releases new seasons just a few months after a finale. Many fans and even cast members believed the show was ending, particularly as Disney shifted its programming focus. However, Bunk'd eventually returned, but with major changes, introducing new characters like Destiny, Finn, and Matteo, while phasing out original ones like Xander, Tiffany, and Jorge. The delay and cast overhaul drew mixed reactions, yet the show continued to thrive for multiple seasons. There was a second significant hiatus with Bunk'd during Season 7, this time due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike. The Season 7 mid-season finale aired in December 2023, but production for the remaining episodes was delayed due to the strike. This unexpected break led to another extended hiatus, similar to what fans experienced between Seasons 2 and 3. As a result, the rest of Season 7 didn’t resume airing until July 2024, causing concern among fans about the show's future. Despite these setbacks, Bunk'd managed to return and complete its seventh season once the strike concluded).
• Miraculous Ladybug (It’s first hiatus lasted almost one year between December 2016 and October 2017. After the third season finale premiered, the show went on an extremely long hiatus of almost two years beginning in late 2019 with no new episodes (aside from the COVID-19 commercial in May 2020 and the first Miraculous World special in September 2020) premiering until March 2021).
• Homestar Runner (Went on a 5 year hiatus in 2009, with only returning for three shorts in 2010, before returning in April 2014.)
• Super Why! (Had a 6 month hiatus between seasons 1 & 2, a 2 year hiatus between seasons 2 & 3, and had a lot of episodic hiatuses during its run.)
• Family Guy (Season 2 took one year to be finished, and the show went on a one year hiatus after airing the second season before airing the third season before the show went in a one-year hiatus again before airing the episode "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein" on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block finishing the third season. The show was cancelled until amazing reruns and high DVD sales brought it back in 2005 for their fourth season.)
• Futurama (From Season 6 to 7, the show went on a yearly hiatus in between halves of the seasons.)
  • The show have also put on a 4 year hiatus after airing the fourth season before returning for the four films and before airing the fifth season on Comedy Central.
• Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (Went on hiatus in July 2020 after airing the last 10 episodes of the first season as it was announced that there is going be a second season of the show premiering in 2021 or 2022, though possibly delayed and postponed.)
• The Last Kids On Earth (From Book 1 to Book 2 had a seven month hiatus, and from Book 2 to Book 3 had a six month hiatus.)
• Barney & Friends (Has been on hiatus since 2009, and is more likely cancelled after it's "hiatus" in 2010, but what's even worse, the reboot was supposed to air by 2017 but wasn't announced ever since, possibly never came through or is still in development while being delayed.)
• Hilda (Had a two year hiatus in between season 1 and season 2, which came out in December 2020.)
• Johnny Test (2005) (Had a year hiatus from Season 3 to 4. There were also multiple episodic hiatuses throughout seasons 4-6. As a result, Season 4 spanned a year and a quarter, Season 5 a year and a half, and Season 6 a year and 8 months. In total, Johnny Test took over nine years to complete. Not as long as the Fairly OddParents though.)
• Power Rangers (Neo-Saban era) (Went for a 5 month hiatus after 8 episodes or 9 episodes.)
• SpongeBob SquarePants (Despite being released in 2018, Season 12 took 4 years to finish airing, along with a lot of episodes being released on DVD or airing before the United States, an infamous example being the Pineapple RV, which took over a year to launch.)
  • Meanwhile, Season 13 has been airing since October 2020. It should be worth noting that only 10 episodes have aired within this time.
  • Season 3 took 3 years to finish airing from 2001-2004.
  • Season 9 had the worst hiatus in the entire series, with only 11 episodes released between 2012 and 2015, while the rest aired between July 2015 and February 2017, giving a total of almost 5 years to finish.
  • After the airing of “SpongeBob, You’re Fired!” The series went on a long hiatus due to production of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, which led to new episodes not being aired as they used to with 2014 being the worst offender, having only two episodes (which were produced two years prior) airing that year. After the movie was released, new episodes were starting to air normally as they used to starting from Season 9B, with the episode “Lost in Bikini Bottom”.
  • Season 2 took 3 years to finish airing from 2000-2003.
  • Not even the first season was safe from a hiatus, as episode 19 premiered April 1, 2000, and episode 20 premiered March 3, 2001.
• Dora the Explorer (Just like the second season of SpongeBob SquarePants, the show went on hiatus in it's fourth season and it almost took 3 years for the season to end (2004-2007). Production for the show in general was also on hiatus around early-mid 2005, possibly due to the creators making Go, Diego, Go! Thus, the creators resumed production around either mid-late 2007 or early-mid 2008.)
  • Speaking of the revival seasons (seasons 6-8), the last episode aired on August 9, 2019 after a 5 year hiatus in the United States. However the last episode aired in foreign countries somewhere between 2014 to 2017.
• Oswald (It took for two years to end the show for 26 episodes lasting only for one season.)
• Green Eggs & Ham (Had a 2 year hiatus between season 1 and season 2.)
• Thomas and Friends (Season 2 would end on December 17, 1986 and the series would experience nearly a 5 year hiatus before season 3 would premiere on November 11, 1991. Season 11 would have the worst hiatus as after the airing of the episode, Percy and the Luggage, which aired on September 12, 2007, the show would experience a 4 month hiatus before the episode, Skarloey Storms Through aired and the season ended on January 15, 2008.)
• Buddy Thunderstruck (From the first season to the Maybe Pile had a 4 month hiatus and gone on hiatus again as of July 2017 when Ryan Wiesbrock said "No season 2 in the works yet.")
• LEGO Ninjago (Had a year hiatus from season 2 to 3, though it made sense because it was planned to end at season 2. There was also an eight month hiatus from season 5 to 6 in the United States, a three month hiatus from season 6 to Day of the Departed, a seven-month hiatus from Day of the Departed to season 7, then an eleven month hiatus from season 7 to 8 in the United States, while in Austrailia it lasted for ten months, then there was an eight month hiatus from season 9 to 10.)
• Dexter's Laboratory (From season 2 to 3, the show had a 3 year hiatus, even though the "Ego Trip" was supposed to be the series finale.)
• Johnny Bravo (From season 3 to 4, the show took a 2-year hiatus, even though the special "It's Valentines Day, Johnny Bravo!" being released in 2003.)
  • After Season 1 aired, the show went on a hiatus before season 2 aired two years later.
• Ed, Edd n Eddy (From season 4 to 5, took 1 year hiatus, the same happened to Season 5 to 6, Speaking of Season 4 and Season 5, both took 2 years to be finished.)
  • Season 2 has episodic hiatuses which took 1 year to finished.
• Pokémon (The "Electric Soldier Porygon" incident caused a four month hiatus of the show in Japan from December 1997 - April 1998, with "Pikachu's Goodbye" airing as the first episode to air after the incident.)
• Fanboy & Chum Chum (Had a year hiatus from season 2.)
• Ni Hao, Kai-Lan (The last two double-length episodes, "Princess Kai-Lan" aired on October 8, 2010 on the Nick channel, 5 months after The Hula Duck Dance Party aired on May 28, 2010, and the finale, "Journey to Monkey King Castle", aired on the Nick Jr. channel on August 21, 2011, 10 months since the last new episode aired.)
• Team Umizoomi (While season 3 aired through January to December 2012 of the same year, season 4 took two years to finish from February 2013 to April 2015.)
• The Wonder Pets (Season 3 aired through April 2009 to March 2016, taking seven years for the series to finish up airing in the US.)
• Ben 10 (Went on a hiatus after airing its fourth season.)
• ThunderCats Roar (Before airing the shows final episode, the show went on a six month hiatus.)
• Planet Sheen (It took one season and 3 years for the series to end.)
• T.U.F.F. Puppy (Like The Fairly OddParents, had episodic hiatuses, which led the series to have 3 seasons in 5 years, ended in 2015.)
• Back at the Barnyard (The show's 2nd season went on a 1 year hiatus, before airing its last 6 episodes in 2011 on Nicktoons.)
• Central Park (Has been going on hiatus since when season 2 aired it's 8th episode, titled "Sir Bricks-a-Lot", with a chance of it being it's season finale, on July 30, 2021, possibly due to the staff still focusing producing Bob's Burgers.)
• Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness (In the middle of season 3, it took a 2 year hiatus, until the last episodes premiered on Nicktoons in 2016.)
• The Penguins of Madagascar (The last 7 episodes were not released until 2015, leading the series to end after 7 years.)
• Robot and Monster (It had a year hiatus, the last 3 episodes of which were aired on Nicktoons until 2015, and one on Noggin, lasting 3 years on the air.)
• Welcome to the Wayne (It got a year hiatus, until it was moved to Nicktoons before being officially cancelled.)
• My Hero Academia (A new season comes out about every 3/4 to half of a year.)
• Cyberchase (After season 8 was finished, Cyberchase went on a hiatus for 3 years, and it has now consistently taken long breaks in-between seasons.)
• Kamen Rider (After Kamen Rider Black RX ended in 1989, the series went on a 11 year hiatus until Kamen Rider Kuuga premiered in 2000, making Shin Kamen Rider: Prologue, Kamen Rider ZO and Kamen Rider J the only Kamen Rider media released in the 1990s.)
• The Boss Baby: Back in Business (went on hiatuses three times, it went on a six month hiatus between season 1 and 2, then a 2 year long hiatus between season 2 and 3 and later a six month hiatus between season 3 and the interactive special, Get that Baby as well as an 8 month hiatus between season 3 and 4.)
• Battle for Dream Island (Has not made a single episode in both 2014 & 2015, also there was a year-long gap between the release dates of episodes 12 and 13 of season 4, season 5 had a year-long hiatus between episodes 1 & 2.)
• Wayside (Had a 3-month hiatus on the airings on Nickelodeon in the US when the 8 episodes Kidswatter: The Movie, Safety Monitor, Be True to Your Elf, Sideways Protest, The Rat Truth, Free Stewy, Oh, Brother, and Snow Day aired from October 16-19, 2007 on the main channel.)
  • Then a 2-month hiatus when the episode "Wayside Christmas and Extra-Curricular Ridicular" premiered on December 24, 2007 (although it premiered as a preview on Nicktoons Network on December 12, 2007), and then another 1 and a half month hiatus, when the last episode airing (on Nickelodeon) Pull My Pigtail and Class Cow aired on February 14, 2008, and was pulled on the main channel on February 15, 2008.
  • Then the series had a 6-month hiatus when the remaining 6 episodes aired on Nicktoons Network from August 26-September 17, 2008.) Click here for more information.
• The Magic School Bus Rides Again (Had a two-year hiatus after Season 2 before three specials were released in 2020.)
• Steven Universe (During the fifth season he had two hiatus: The first lasted 6 months between the episode Lars' Head and the episode Dewey Wins. The second lasted 5 months between Legs From Here to Homeworld and Familiar.)
  • Between Change Your Mind and the movie there was a hiatus of 9 months.
  • In Spain, the series had a year in hiatus after premiering the episode Escapism.
• Numberblocks (Had a 1 and a half year-long hiatus after series 4 until series 5 aired in March 2021.)
• Ready Jet Go! (Had a five-month hiatus in-between "Scientific Sean" and "Beep and Boop's Game".)
• Pelswick (The show took 2 years for the series to end.)
• Hey Arnold! (Had episodic hiatuses during the final season for 4 years.)
• Catscratch (The series airings of the show went on 3 and a half month hiatus when the last episodes (Spindango Fundulation/Duck and Cover) aired.)
• The X's (This took for one year to end the series.)
• Rainbow Butterfly Unicorn Kitty (Went on hiatus before it's final episode aired and went on a hiatus since 2019.)
• Dragon Tales (Went on a one year hiatus after season 1 before season 2 aired.)
  • From season 2 to 3, the show took a 3-year hiatus, even though Let's Start a Band DVD was released in 2003.
• Power Rangers (Neo-Saban era; went on midseason summer hiatus.)
• Dyaboy/NostalgiaSquare (The channel got a hiatus for two years due to it being blocked, but thankfully returned in 2021.)
• The Backyardigans (Got a year hiatus before season 2 aired.)
  • Seasons 2-4 took for some years to finish for 20 episodes on the last three as due to this being aired before the United States and released on DVD.
• DC Super Hero Girls (Been on a 7 month hiatus from December 2020 to June 2021 when it's second season premiered and is currently on hiatus since October 2021.)
• Stressed Eric (Had a 2-year hiatus before season 2 aired.)
  • Same could be said for another BBC Two animated Show, Rex the Runt, that had a 3-year hiatus before season 2 aired.
• The Nutshack (After season 1 aired, the show went hiatus for 4 years before season 2 aired.)
• F is for Family (Went on a year hiatus only two times. Season 2 didn't come out on Netflix until 2017, and season 4 wasn't released until 2020.)
• Ducktales reboot (Had many hiatuses, one of five months between "The Impossible Summit of Mt. Neverrest!" and "The Spear of Selene!", three months between "Last Christmas!" and "What Ever Happened to Della Duck?!", seven months between season 2 and 3, four months between "The Rumble for Ragnarok!" and "The Phantom and the Sorceress!", and three months between "How Santa Stole Christmas!" and "Beaks in the Shell!".)
• Chuggington (The show went on a hiatus after season 5 ended, season 6 came out three years later.)
• 101 Dalmatian Street (Went on hiatus after the first season finale "The De Vil Wears Puppies" aired on Disney Channel UK before it shutdown by the end of September 2020, with no word of a second season officially coming, resulting in many fans having questions on what is happening during the production of the show. It was later announced it was cancelled, but due to it trending on Twitter, there is possibly that a second season may happen, though very unlikely.)
• Alvinnn!!! and the Chipmunks (Had a 9-month hiatus after "Tee Fore Two" aired in the United States on April 13, 2018, and stopped when "Dave Rebooted" aired in the United States on February 10, 2019.)
  • Season 5 hasn't aired any new episodes since February 25, 2021.
• Nella the Princess Knight (After Freezing Out the Fleagles & The Big Concert aired on the Nick Jr. channel on December 8, 2019, the show was then put on hiatus and was eventually pulled out of the Nick Jr. channel. The last three episodes arrived on Paramount+ on July 21, 2021 when the show was added to Paramount+.)
• Object Terror (The show has been on hiatus since 2018, with no word of episode 6 being in development hell or the show being cancelled.)
• Dennis and Gnasher (1996) (Like Stressed Eric, the show went on a 2-year hiatus before season 2 aired.)
• Elliott from Earth (After two weeks the series premiered, the series is already on hiatus since April 2021.)
• Time Warp Trio (It took for one year to end the show as lasting only for 26 episodes only about one season.)
• Oggy and the Cockroaches (Only 7 seasons have aired despite the show running for 23 years and counting.)
• Amphibia (There was almost a year gap between the end of season 1 and the beginning of season 2.)
• Big City Greens (There was an 8-month seasonal hiatus between season 1 and season 2. There was also an episodic gap in season 2 between the episodes "Animal Farm" and "Desserted" that lasted for 5-months, resulting in season 2 taking over a year to finish. There was another seasonal hiatus between season 2 and 3 lasting for 6 months.)
• Eddsworld (There was a hiatus between the end of the Legacy era and the start of the Beyond era that lasted for over four years. This is somewhat excusable though as Eddsworld is an independent web-series.)
• Bravest Warriors (There was a hiatus between the end of season 2 and the start of season 3 that lasted for two and a half years. There is currently a hiatus that has been ongoing since the end of season 4 in December 2018. A year later, a Catbug spinoff was announced, but it has yet to come out, possibly due to the creator is still producing the Adventure Time: Distant Lands specials and the upcoming non-canon spin-off with Fionna and Cake.)
• Re:Zero - Starting Life in Another World (There was a hiatus between seasons 1 & 2 that lasted over four years.)
• Zombie Land Saga (There was a hiatus between seasons 1 & 2 that lasted over two years.)
• That Girl Lay Lay (Experienced a 7 month hiatus between seasons 1 & 2.)
• Is the Order a Rabbit? (There was hiatus between seasons 2 & 3 that lasted over four and a half years.)
• Happy Tree Friends (Several hiatuses, though the most prominent is probably one that lasted for over a year. This got so bad for the fandom, the animators began to reuse old TV bumpers, with the caption "Happy tree friends is dead!" This put the fandom into panic until a new episode came due to some people actually thinking it was over. The show is currently experiencing another hiatus that has lasted over five years. Due to budget issues, it is unlikely it will ever come back.)
• Top Gear (Following the firing of Jeremy Clarkson on March 25, 2015, BBC put the program on a 3 month hiatus, leaving several planned episodes to be cancelled. The program eventually returned on June 28 with a farewell episode for James May and Richard Hammond, who would then leave Top Gear and join Clarkson in creating The Grand Tour on Amazon Prime.)
• Wallace and Gromit (There was a four year hiatus after the first short was released until 1993. After the second short was released, there was a two year hiatus until 1995, and then a ten year hiatus until the movie was released in 2005 (if you don't count the Cracking Contraptions shorts from 2002). There has not been any new W&G media since 2010. These are mostly understandable since claymation is hard work, though.)
• Starter Squad (due to the series being made by 1 person. Many episodes took around a year to 2 years to make, some notable examples are Episode 9 and 10 which took 2 years to make. It is understandable since 3D animation takes a long time to make, and delays happen since Shippiddge is hiring some people to help him out in which many of the people he hires might be unavailable to work on important things for the episodes such as environments and character models.)
• RWBY (a year of volume 9 and currently a year of volume 10.)

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