A lot of stories seem to be written taking into account that kind of passage of time... Game of Thrones and Harry Potter is literally and figuratively the story

A lot of stories seem to be written taking into account that kind of passage of time... Game of Thrones and Harry Potter is literally and figuratively the story of the characters growing up. Love on the other hand, is set immediately after season 1. Also, shows that run on a long or continuous schedule don't allow for the kind of care and polish - if you're churning out an episode a week, you can only do sitcom type stuff. No visual effects, no story arcs (too many actors come and go), no locations (can't spend all year outdoors). Doing seasons allows the team to get together, shoot for a few months and wrap, like a 10 hour movie. I think actors prefer few months of intense work per project a year, so they can do other stuff as well. If it's 3 to 5 days a week all year you're locked in too much.