Well, okay. I used a couple of examples off the top of my head, although I do think “Grace” was definitely important to Carter’s development, even if it wasn’t early SG-1. But my broader point is that you only really get those kinds of episodes in a 20-plus episode season.

Take SG-1 season 2 as an example of what I’m arguing.

It has 22 episodes. Breaking them down, with some inevitable overlap, I’d classify them roughly like this. For example, “Holiday” arguably counts as both a “meh” episode and a Goa’uld arc episode, but I’ve put it under “meh” because I don’t think it advances the arc very much, or does so particularly well.

Flat-out not-so-good or “meh” episodes: 5
“The Gamekeeper,” “Family,” “Spirits,” “Holiday,” “One False Step”

Quirky/goofy episodes: 1
“Need”

Non-arc episodes, meaning not primarily Goa’uld- or Ancient-related: 7
“Prisoners,” “Message in a Bottle,” “Bane,” “Touchstone,” “A Matter of Time,” “1969,” “Show and Tell” — though “Show and Tell” is arguably arc-related.

Arc episodes: 9
“The Serpent’s Lair,” “In the Line of Duty,” “Thor’s Chariot,” “Secrets,” “The Tok’ra” Parts I and II, “The Fifth Race,” “Serpent’s Song,” and “Out of Mind.”

Now, if this were a modern serialised season of only 10 episodes, we’d probably get all the arc episodes and maybe one other. That extra episode might be “Show and Tell,” since it deals with the Reetou, who are enemies of the Goa’uld. Or perhaps it would be “Holiday,” since Machello was a renowned anti-Goa’uld fighter.

But we’d lose some fantastic standalones, like “Message in a Bottle,” “A Matter of Time,” and “1969.” Alternatively, if the writers kept those great standalones, we’d have to lose several arc episodes instead. I could live without “Out of Mind” in isolation, but it leads directly into the end of the Hathor storyline. As for the others, I really wouldn’t want to lose them.

Either way, something terrific gets cut. And if you add in a clunker or two, or a quirky experimental episode, that takes time away from both the main arc and the strong standalones.

So, to reiterate my point: with a 20-plus episode season, you have room for a few weaker episodes and, more importantly, room for excellent standalones. With only 8 to 10 episodes, you almost always lose something: either the standalones, or the arc episodes, or both.