So you've wondered about who's coming back, who's not coming back, who's joined the cast, who's doing what in real life, and then you've finally gotten to binge all thirteen glorious episodes of Season 2 of Orange Is The New Black . Now we have just one question left: When the heck is Season 3 gonna premiere? It feels like we've been looking forward to more episodes of Netflix's prison dramedy for ages now, right? It's hard to imagine having to wait that long again for Season 3.
Well, that's what happens when we binge: The wait for more becomes infinitely longer, since we watch an entire season in one day instead of spread out over three months. Netflix isn't singlehandedly responsible for the phenomenon that is binge-watching, but its revolutionary model of dropping entire seasons at once certainly didn't hurt. The subscription service debuted this new model of television business back in 2012 with the premiere of their first original program, Lilyhammer. All eight episodes became available on the same day, and it must have worked well, because that's how Netflix has debuted all its original programming since then (including House Of Cards , Arrested Development, and Hemlock Grove).
It worked especially well for OITNB. Netflix doesn't release viewership numbers (and obviously isn't subject to Nielsen ratings since, you know, it doesn't actually air on TV), but the streaming service did announce the fact that it had their best premiere of original programming to date, beating the numbers for both the Kevin Spacey-helmed Cards and cult favorite Arrested... And OITNB's audience can only have grown in the 11 months since Season 1's July 2013 premiere. If you're in the hardcore binging segment of that audience, you should probably be done with all of Season 2 right about now — unless, of course, so many people are watching that Netflix crashes (a la HBO's Game Of Thrones catastrophe.)
So how long do we have to wait for the next batch of episodes? Well, Season 1 premiered on July 11, 2013 and Season 2 on June 6, 2013, so it's safe to assume that Season 3 will bow around the same time next year. However, Netflix has yet to confirm a solid release date, so we can't put a giant orange sharpie circle around the premiere day on our 2015 calendar just yet. I know, I know. So sad.
However, you'll notice that Season 2 premiered about a whole month earlier than Season 1 did. And Season 3's renewal came even earlier in the year than Season 2's did. That should mean the next season will go into production earlier, as well. Which should mean that we'll get the next 13 episodes earlier than ever.
That's right. We're predicting a May 2015 release for OITNB Season 3. Sure, that sounds far away right now, but there's plenty of other TV you can binge in the meantime. Or you can make the time go even faster by hibernating for the next 11 months. Just be sure to set your alarm for next May.
Images: Netflix; Wifflegif (4)
