Systems and methods are provided for presenting an interactive content item matching a user-selected category to a user for a desired duration. A user selects a category and selects a first interactive content item on a media system. The system calculates a total duration of a storyline from the selected interactive content item that matches the selected category (e.g., a genre “comedy”) and compares the calculated duration to a desired predetermined duration for which the user wishes to watch the selected show. If the system determines, for instance, that the total duration of the selected storyline is less than the predetermined duration, the system identifies scenes from another show and interleaves them with scenes from the first interactive content item to generate a combined interactive content item that satisfies the user viewing preferences.